Ricky Gervais needs a strong collaborator, like he had with Stephen Merchant, if he wants his new Netflix comedy to succeed

Indiewire

Gervais hasn't found much success since splitting with Merchant, his fellow co-creator of The Office and Extras, as Liz Shannon Miller points out. By the sound of it, Gervais' newly announced dark sitcom After Life could use a strong creative person to help him out. Gervais is intent on being offensive just to be offensive, as his recent Netflix special Humanity showed. "Daring to be offensive is funny when it’s honed and targeted towards the right people, and it’d be amazing if that proved to be the case for Gervais’ new show," says Miller. "But in order for that to happen, he might have to listen to other people. Bringing in a strong collaborator who might challenge him would be a start."