L-R: Ricky Gervais, Warwick Davis and Stephen Merchant

Fans of uncomfortable comedy (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and the Ricky Gervais brand of uncomfortable comedy in particular (The Office,免beian主机. Extras) may be drawn to HBOs Lifes Too Short (10:30 tonight), but its a little too miliar.

Moviegoers have seen Warwick Davis, often covered in makeup, in some of the eras biggest movies, including as Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi, as Professor Filius Flitwick in the Harry Potter films and as the title character in 1988s Willow.

This highlights the challenge of maintaining Lifes Too Short: Its a thin premise. There are only so many jokes to be made about a person who behaves above his station in life — never mind that Extras and The Office already made many of them — and Lifes Too Short ticks off several obvious ones in the first two episodes.

Rob Owen writes this Sunday TV column for Scripps Howard News Service. Contact him at:rowen@post-gazette.comor 412-263-2582. Read the Tuned In Journal blog at post-gazette.com/tv. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook.

10:30 tonight, HBO.

Collaborators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (The Office, Extras) executive produce Lifes Too Short and appear as versions of themselves. Warwick visits them frequently — oddly, theyre usually both seated on the same side of a shared desk — and they clearly detest having Warwick stop in.

Tuned In: Lifes Too Short is HBOs new uncomfortabl funny short plays,In Extras, Mr. Gervais starred as an unlucky movie extra who often playTuned In: Lifes Too Short is HBOs new uncomfortabl funny short playsed the part of a fool. In Lifes Too Short, that role goes to the U.K.s go-to dwarf, actor Warwick Davis, who plays a fictionalized version of himself. Hes followed by a camera crew thats recording his life for a ux documentary, a la The Office.

In episode two, Warwick attends a sci-fi convention where hes humiliated by an obnoxious local TV news reporter and lands a gig appearing at a ns wedding, which, naturally, turns into a disaster.

Its funny but another distraction, as if Mr. Gervais doesnt have enough ith in the Lifes Too Short premise that he has to keep butting in. Maybe thats necessary. The show conjures the most funny short playslaughs when Mr. Gervais is on screen, but his presence doesnt mesh naturally with Warwicks world.

In between he gets hired by Johnny Depp, whos preparing to play the title role in Rumpelstiltskin, directed by Tim Burton (of course). Mr. Depp, also playing a version of himself, demands Warwick act out hopping and dancing.

Hes a pathetic character whose wife is divorcing him — after he walked out on their marriage in search of a younger, more beautiful woman — and whose new, dim-bulb secretary, Cheryl (scene-stealer Rosamund Hanson), suggests he embark on jobs too dangerous for children, such as being used as bait to catch a pedophile.

In Lifes Too Short, the fictional Warwick portrays himself as a sophisticated dwarf about town who carries himself with dignity, a cue that its time for him to tumble out of his own SUV.

During one encounter, actor Liam Neeson drops by to try out some comic stand-up material that includes, Ive contracted AIDS from an African prostitute. Its a funny scene about the lack of humor in Mr. Neesons public persona but also rather random. What does Liam Neesons comedy aspiration have to do with the story of a dwarf actor who runs a casting agency for fellow little people actors?

Hes kind of like a grub coming out of an apple seeing the world for the first time, Depp says. But Depps showcase scene comes when he squares off with Ricky Gervais, who made jokes at Mr. Depps expense at the Golden Globes last year.