HBO takes center stage
The comedian mines the topic hosting Golden Globes and in HBO’S ‘Life’s Too Short.’ Lena Dunham talks about ‘Girls.’
Producers and actors in Pasadena talk about “Life’s Too Short” and “Girls.”
If you don’t get Ricky Gervais, who on Sunday will be the most feared man in a Beverly Hills ballroom as the host of the Golden Globe Awards, there’s probably a good reason. You’re not very smart. Speaking at the winter TV press tour Friday morning in Pasadena, the British comedian who was widely attacked after his last stint as Globes host said people who were offended are misinterpreting his comic jabs and barbs.
People often “confuse the target of the joke with the subject,” Gervais said. “I think smart people know what we’re trying to do.”
Gervais opened HBO’S day of panels along with executive producer Stephen Merchant and actor Warwick Davis. The trio are behind the upcoming series “Life’s Too Short,” which takes aim at the overblown culture of celebrity. The comedy premieres Feb. 19 and is centered around Davis, who plays a fictionalized version of himself trying to navigate back into the spotlight.
“There’s no difference now between fame and infamy,” Gervais said, adding that it’s impossible to exaggerate the absurdity of show business today. “There’s no shame, there’s no shame in anything.”
Gervais said he has complete control over what he will say Sunday night — and as long as he’s satisfied with his performance, he’ll have no qualms about whatever the critics think.
“What’s the worst that can happen,” Gervais said. “If I’m happy with my performance, then you’re bulletproof.”
A later panel focused on “Girls,” the new HBO comedy created by and starring Lena Dunham (and executive produced by Judd Apatow and Jennikonner).
The series is closely based on Dunham’s experience as a young woman in New York struggling to escape from her parents’home and find a path to independence in recessionary America.
Although the show will inevitably invite comparisons to “Sex and the City,” with its quartet of young female characters struggling with friendship, sex and work, Dunham pointed out that she, like her characters, only wish they could have the glamorous, sophisticated lives of Carrie and friends. “‘Sex and the City’ is like a ghost following us around.... [My boyfriend] in the pilot is not Mr. Big. He literally does not have bedsheets!”
Dunham’s indie movie “Tiny Furniture” featured a smart, funny lead character who put herself in some self-destructive situations (among them having sex with a guy outside in a pipe).
“Girls” takes matters even further at times. As Dunham says, “I feel like I brought my desire to share my shame with the world and be comforted by how these experiences can feel universal.”
Asked by a reporter why she heaps so much humiliation on her character instead of spreading it around, Dunham chuckled. “It’s something I’ve been discussing with my therapist.”
“Girls” premieres April
15. martin.miller@latimes.com joy.press@latimes.com