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Yes, there is such a thing- on HBO
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/ar...ref=television
For Every Action, an Unequal Reaction
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
It takes gall to riff on Raymond Chandler, which doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Robert Altman did it brilliantly in his 1973 movie, “The Long Goodbye.” And now Jonathan Ames is putting a droll, Brooklyn hipster spin on the genre with “Bored to Death.”
Altman shocked Bogart purists by casting Elliott Gould as a sleepy, muttering Philip Marlowe adrift in a post-Woodstock Los Angeles populated by Malibu beach bums and hippie chicks (or as Mr. Gould put it, “crazy ladies”).
“Bored to Death,” which begins on Sunday on HBO, stars Jason Schwartzman (“Shopgirl,” “Rushmore”) as Mr. Ames’s fictional alter ego, conveniently, if unimaginatively, named Jonathan Ames. Jonathan is a blocked writer, stoner and white-wine tippler who falls into a funk when his girlfriend dumps him. He consoles himself by reading “Farewell, My Lovely,”
and that inspires him to advertise as a private eye on Craigslist.
Very quickly he attracts clients, though the cases are Craigslist-level mysteries — a stolen skateboard, a cheating boyfriend. And Jonathan doesn’t have many qualms about his imposture.
“I say that I’m not licensed, and that makes it more legal ... ish,” Jonathan tells his best friend and fellow Brooklyn loser, a graphic artist named Ray (Zach Galifianakis, “The Hangover”), who is appalled.
On the other hand, Jonathan’s sometime boss, George (Ted Danson), a dissipated magazine publisher and socialite, is all for it — as long as it doesn’t prevent Jonathan from being on call to supply pot and last-minute companionship.
Mr. Danson steals every scene in the role, which he plays as a loonier, more endearing version of Arthur Frobisher, the amoral business tycoon he portrays on “Damages.” When Jonathan asks George if he really needs so much Viagra, George primly replies: “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. My heart medicine and heavy drinking have taken a toll.”
“Bored to Death” is as idiosyncratic and delightful in its own way as “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which returns on Sunday for a seventh season. The two shows are linked, and not just by Mr. Danson, who plays himself on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Together they form the twin pillars of HBO comedy, equally funny in mirror-opposite ways.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” finds humor in unleashing operatic hostility and rudeness on the blandest of settings. “Bored to Death” reverses the conceit, injecting a counterintuitive fillip of sweetness and tolerance into seemingly implacable social confrontations.
Larry David, the creator and star of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” posits a universe in which people respond to friends and strangers without manners or inhibition. It isn’t just that Mr. David gives offense; offense is always taken, instantly and loudly, by blind dates, receptionists, store clerks, doctors, old friends and new acquaintances.
In real life, people usually respond to a verbal affront by ignoring it or smoothing it over with nervous laughter. In Larry Davidland, even ladies snarl and snap at his faux pas like unchained Rottweilers.
On “Bored to Death” the surprise lies in the way incendiary conflicts are deflected or turned upside down. The opening scene has Jonathan outside his Brooklyn apartment watching woefully as Israeli movers heave the possessions of his girlfriend, Suzanne (Olivia Thirlby), into their van.
Jonathan, though distraught, is distracted by the movers’ ethnicity. It’s easy to envision that Larry, in the same situation on an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” would also say something along the lines of Jonathan’s remark: “It seems unusual, you know, to have Jewish movers, right? Doing such muscle-oriented work?”
But Larry would most likely not respond as Jonathan does to the mover’s scalding retort, “What are you, another self-hating New York Jew?”
Jonathan gazes at the mover with Buster Keaton gravity, then nods, as if relieved at being accurately assessed. “Uh huh,” he says. “I guess I am. Yeah.”
There are other reversals. One of the underlying jokes of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is that Larry and his clan of Hollywood movers and shakers are as placidly idle and relaxed as unemployed musicians in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. One of the charms of “Bored to Death” is that the hero, a pothead and screw-up, secretly moonlights as a man of action, tracking missing persons and solving mysteries.
This season Larry putters around as usual, doing small though usually daunting errands, but he also takes on a television project, not because he craves work, but because he wants to get back together with his wife, Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), who moved out last season. (As the season begins, Larry is living not so happily ever after with Loretta, played by Vivica A. Fox.)
Cheryl is trying to restart her acting career, and Larry, who has rejected every entreaty to write a “Seinfeld” reunion show, decides that he if he agrees, he could create a part for Cheryl, and regain her respect, or at least a sense of obligation.
Jonathan also hopes to win Suzanne back, but finds it hard to live up to her demand that he quit drinking and smoking pot. He is impressed, however, when Ray tells him that he gave in to his girlfriend’s request that he have colonic cleansing to improve his mood.
“If I had changed for Suzanne, she wouldn’t have moved out,” Jonathan says mournfully.
Ray is more pragmatic: “I’m not going to change, I’m going to pretend to change. I can’t change, that’s impossible.”
Both “Bored to Death” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” have heroes who are hell-bent on doing the impossible and are doomed to fail. And it’s impossible not to prefer them just as they are.
BORED TO DEATH
HBO, Sunday nights at 9:30, Eastern and Pacific times; 8:30, Central time.
Created and written by Jonathan Ames; directed by Alan Taylor; Mr. Ames, Sarah Condon, Stephanie Davis, Dave Becky and Troy Miller, executive producers; Tracey Baird, co-executive producer; Mark Baker and Anna Dokoza, producers. Produced by HBO.
WITH: Jason Schwartzman (Jonathan Ames), Ted Danson (George Christopher), Zach Galifianakis (Ray Hueston) and Olivia Thirlby (Suzanne).
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
HBO, Sunday nights at 9, Eastern and Pacific times; 8, Central time.
Directed by Larry Charles; Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Gavin Polone, Alec Berg, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer, Tim Gibbons and Erin O’Malley, executive producers. Produced by HBO.
WITH: Larry David (Larry), Cheryl Hines (Cheryl), Jeff Garlin (Jeff) and Susie Essman (Susie).
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/ar...ref=television
Altman shocked Bogart purists by casting Elliott Gould as a sleepy, muttering Philip Marlowe adrift in a post-Woodstock Los Angeles populated by Malibu beach bums and hippie chicks (or as Mr. Gould put it, “crazy ladies”).
“Bored to Death,” which begins on Sunday on HBO, stars Jason Schwartzman (“Shopgirl,” “Rushmore”) as Mr. Ames’s fictional alter ego, conveniently, if unimaginatively, named Jonathan Ames. Jonathan is a blocked writer, stoner and white-wine tippler who falls into a funk when his girlfriend dumps him. He consoles himself by reading “Farewell, My Lovely,”
and that inspires him to advertise as a private eye on Craigslist.
Very quickly he attracts clients, though the cases are Craigslist-level mysteries — a stolen skateboard, a cheating boyfriend. And Jonathan doesn’t have many qualms about his imposture.
“I say that I’m not licensed, and that makes it more legal ... ish,” Jonathan tells his best friend and fellow Brooklyn loser, a graphic artist named Ray (Zach Galifianakis, “The Hangover”), who is appalled.
On the other hand, Jonathan’s sometime boss, George (Ted Danson), a dissipated magazine publisher and socialite, is all for it — as long as it doesn’t prevent Jonathan from being on call to supply pot and last-minute companionship.
Mr. Danson steals every scene in the role, which he plays as a loonier, more endearing version of Arthur Frobisher, the amoral business tycoon he portrays on “Damages.” When Jonathan asks George if he really needs so much Viagra, George primly replies: “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. My heart medicine and heavy drinking have taken a toll.”
“Bored to Death” is as idiosyncratic and delightful in its own way as “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which returns on Sunday for a seventh season. The two shows are linked, and not just by Mr. Danson, who plays himself on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Together they form the twin pillars of HBO comedy, equally funny in mirror-opposite ways.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” finds humor in unleashing operatic hostility and rudeness on the blandest of settings. “Bored to Death” reverses the conceit, injecting a counterintuitive fillip of sweetness and tolerance into seemingly implacable social confrontations.
Larry David, the creator and star of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” posits a universe in which people respond to friends and strangers without manners or inhibition. It isn’t just that Mr. David gives offense; offense is always taken, instantly and loudly, by blind dates, receptionists, store clerks, doctors, old friends and new acquaintances.
In real life, people usually respond to a verbal affront by ignoring it or smoothing it over with nervous laughter. In Larry Davidland, even ladies snarl and snap at his faux pas like unchained Rottweilers.
On “Bored to Death” the surprise lies in the way incendiary conflicts are deflected or turned upside down. The opening scene has Jonathan outside his Brooklyn apartment watching woefully as Israeli movers heave the possessions of his girlfriend, Suzanne (Olivia Thirlby), into their van.
Jonathan, though distraught, is distracted by the movers’ ethnicity. It’s easy to envision that Larry, in the same situation on an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” would also say something along the lines of Jonathan’s remark: “It seems unusual, you know, to have Jewish movers, right? Doing such muscle-oriented work?”
But Larry would most likely not respond as Jonathan does to the mover’s scalding retort, “What are you, another self-hating New York Jew?”
Jonathan gazes at the mover with Buster Keaton gravity, then nods, as if relieved at being accurately assessed. “Uh huh,” he says. “I guess I am. Yeah.”
There are other reversals. One of the underlying jokes of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is that Larry and his clan of Hollywood movers and shakers are as placidly idle and relaxed as unemployed musicians in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. One of the charms of “Bored to Death” is that the hero, a pothead and screw-up, secretly moonlights as a man of action, tracking missing persons and solving mysteries.
This season Larry putters around as usual, doing small though usually daunting errands, but he also takes on a television project, not because he craves work, but because he wants to get back together with his wife, Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), who moved out last season. (As the season begins, Larry is living not so happily ever after with Loretta, played by Vivica A. Fox.)
Cheryl is trying to restart her acting career, and Larry, who has rejected every entreaty to write a “Seinfeld” reunion show, decides that he if he agrees, he could create a part for Cheryl, and regain her respect, or at least a sense of obligation.
Jonathan also hopes to win Suzanne back, but finds it hard to live up to her demand that he quit drinking and smoking pot. He is impressed, however, when Ray tells him that he gave in to his girlfriend’s request that he have colonic cleansing to improve his mood.
“If I had changed for Suzanne, she wouldn’t have moved out,” Jonathan says mournfully.
Ray is more pragmatic: “I’m not going to change, I’m going to pretend to change. I can’t change, that’s impossible.”
Both “Bored to Death” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” have heroes who are hell-bent on doing the impossible and are doomed to fail. And it’s impossible not to prefer them just as they are.
BORED TO DEATH
HBO, Sunday nights at 9:30, Eastern and Pacific times; 8:30, Central time.
Created and written by Jonathan Ames; directed by Alan Taylor; Mr. Ames, Sarah Condon, Stephanie Davis, Dave Becky and Troy Miller, executive producers; Tracey Baird, co-executive producer; Mark Baker and Anna Dokoza, producers. Produced by HBO.
WITH: Jason Schwartzman (Jonathan Ames), Ted Danson (George Christopher), Zach Galifianakis (Ray Hueston) and Olivia Thirlby (Suzanne).
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
HBO, Sunday nights at 9, Eastern and Pacific times; 8, Central time.
Directed by Larry Charles; Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Gavin Polone, Alec Berg, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer, Tim Gibbons and Erin O’Malley, executive producers. Produced by HBO.
WITH: Larry David (Larry), Cheryl Hines (Cheryl), Jeff Garlin (Jeff) and Susie Essman (Susie).
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