RECENTLY VIEWED: AFTER LIFE

I am not a big television fan unless I am watching classic movies or re-runs of The Office or The Twilight Zone. However, I finally entered the modern age and became a Netflix member. I was recently lucky enough to catch the new series After Life. After Life is a British dark comedy web television series created, executive produced, and directed by Ricky Gervais (who also plays its main character), that premiered on 8 March 2019, on Netflix.

After Life follows Tony, who has a perfect life before his wife dies from a battle with breast cancer. After contemplating suicide, he then decides to live long enough to punish the world for his wife's death by saying and doing whatever he wants to. Although he thinks of it as sort of a superpower, the situation turns tricky when everyone around him starts trying to make him a better person again.

No review can do justice to the show. Season one is six episodes long, and I have never had a television show affect me the way that Gervais' show did. I laughed. I squirmed. I cried. This is all within a 28 minute episode. Luckily, I have never lost a spouse, but I have lost extremely important people in my life like my grandfather and my father. Ricky Gervais' portrayal of Tony is just amazing. He manages to capture every emotion that someone has when they lose a loved one. I have always liked Ricky Gervais' work, and he makes me laugh hysterically with his stand up comedy specials, but I never realized what a striking actor he is. He deserves and Emmy for this role.

After watching the sixth and final episode the other night, I crawled in bed with my wife who went to bed earlier, and I just looked at her and held her hand as she slept. (Unfortunately, she woke up and was none to happy with me!). This show made me laugh, but it also made me realize that I will never take my wife for granted. After Life made me realize that I want to make every moment to matter with my wife and kids, because life is too short.

If you want a show that will make you ball your eyes out as well as cause you to pee your pants in laughter, then Ricky Gervais has really given us a treat with this new show. Keep the tissues and clean underwear handy when you watch this one. The only fault I could find with After Life is that a six-episode season is too short. I hope there will be a season two...

MY RATING: 10 out of 10