Bored to Death, "Take a Dive": What's my name?

Quick spoilers for last night's "Bored to Death" season finale coming up just as soon as I role-play Nosferatu...

"You think we learned anything tonight?" -Jonathan
"No. But that's okay. It's good to stay in the dark about things. Keeps life interesting." -George

As that exchange suggests, there really isn't a whole lot of depth to "Bored to Death," but in episodes like this one, it can be an entertaining enough trifle to compensate for its lack of ambition.

Just as the show tends to subvert private eye cliches by putting a neurotic Jewish pot-smoker into the trenchcoat, here we got to see a traditional boxing movie as seen through the eyes of three men not really qualified for it. (Well, two; George seemed pretty good, and he does already know krav maga.)

There were a few hints of growth - Jonathan moves on to a new girlfriend and decides he'd rather write about his private eye career than this kama sutra book he proposed, George finds a way to get back in with his ex (even if he has to be humiliated in public to do it), and even Ray seems on better terms with his girlfriend - but mainly "Take a Dive" was an excuse for more goofy humor. We got Jonathan finally seeming genuinely hard-boiled (but only because his blackmailer was so inept), Jonathan and Ray's exchange about Stella (Jonathan: "She's sexy as hell, smart, Jewish, has a great vaporizer..." Ray: "Sounds like your mother."), Jonathan using his New York Times book review as smack talk during the fight, and just the spectacle of Oliver Platt as Antrem in the boxing ring.

Plus, the episode just piled on the New York hipster guest star quotient, with Sarah Vowell (as the interviewer) and Todd Barry (as the blackmailer) joining the likes of John Hodgman, Platt and the rest.

I don't know that the series ever quite entirely found itself this year, but I laughed enough to want to give it a look again next season.

What did everybody else think?

Bored to Death, "The Case of the Stolen Sperm": Who's your daddy?

I'm too busy watching the World Series to write much about tonight's penultimate episode of "Bored to Death" season one. After last week's George/Ray breakthrough, I was disappointed that the two had so little shared screentime tonight, but at least "The Case of the Stolen Sperm" had one of the show's funnier faux-noir storylines so far, with some nice guest work by Jenny Slate (filmed before she was cast on "SNL") as the stoner from the food co-op, and some good Schwartzman/Galifianakis teamwork throughout.

What did everybody else think?

Bored to Death, "The Case of the Beautiful Blackmailer": Because they got high

Quick spoilers for tonight's "Bored to Death" coming up just as soon as I dispute my Amazon.com ranking...

"The Case of the Beautiful Blackmailer" did two very wise, albeit well-overdue, things: it let George in on Jonathan's double life as an amateur private eye, and it put Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis together. Danson and Galifianakis are from two different generations, and have two different styles of comedy, but funny is funny, and the two of them getting baked together was an inspired, hilarious sequence.

The one downside of the pairing is that it hung a lamp on how much the two sidekicks are carrying the show, and how little I care about Jonathan as either neurotic singleton, struggling novelist or bumbling private eye. He's as oblivious about his shortcomings as Jason Schwartzman was as Max Fischer in "Rushmore," but Max had a bravado and unswerving belief in himself that compensated for how inept he was at most tasks. I don't like Jonathan, nor do I find him especially funny most of the time, and watching the Ray and George scenes, I started imagining an alternate version of the series where Ray and George accompanied Jonathan on cases, but they - and we - never got out of the car.

What did everybody else think?

Bored to Death, "The Case of the Lonely White Dove": Who doesn't love Danny Kaye?

Odd-numbered "Bored to Death," which means I didn't like it and have very little to say about it, save that Romany Malco was very funny as George's escort. Next week's is a big improvement; looking forward to discussing that one.

Bored to Death, "The Case of the Stolen Skateboard": Hey, big nose!

Spoilers for tonight's "Bored to Death" coming up just as soon as my feet feel really interesting in my shoes...

We're even-numbered, and this was a pretty good one, with probably the best noir parody moment yet, as the skate punks chased Jonathan down the hill, and with a good intersection between the fake private eye gig and Jonathan's real life as an annoying Brooklyn hipster.

Ted Danson continues to be hilarious, they're starting to use Galifianakis more, and I liked Parker Posey a lot as Jonathan's radical vegan client-cum-pseudo-girlfriend.

This isn't a great show, but episodes like this feel like it could at least be an entertaining weekly diversion if they can get some more consistency.

What did everybody else think?

Bored to Death, "The Case of the Missing Screenplay": Shrink rap

If I'm sticking with my "Star Trek" movies theory for "Bored to Death," where I enjoy the even-numbered episodes but not the odd-numbered ones, then I guess "The Case of the Missing Screenplay" would be "The Search for Spock." Not only is it third in the series, but it's the only odd-numbered one that kinda/sorta worked for me. Even though they ditched the faux-private eye schtick for the week, there were amusing cameos from Oliver Platt, Jim Jarmusch and Denis O'Hare (as the pushy shrink). Not a highlight, but not as true-to-the-title as the pilot, either.

What did everybody else think?

Bored to Death, "The Alanon Case": I never drink... white wine

Very quick thoughts on the second "Bored to Death" coming up just as soon as I tell you what upsets me most about the environment...

Of the six "Bored to Death"s I've seen, this was probably the best, both in terms of nailing the form and tone (effete, neurotic Brooklyn guy plays at being hard-boiled private eye) and in terms of being funny (if Ted Danson gets nominated for an Emmy a year from now, he'll have to submit this episode for the cold sore/Krav Maga scene).

The guest casting was very good, including Kristen Wiig as the alcoholic client and Michael Potts (aka Brother Mouzone from "The Wire") as the cheerful colonic technician ("I am going to find all your treasures!").

Watching the first episode, I couldn't fathom why HBO picked this show up. Watching "The Alanon Case," I got it, and it kept me watching even though I ran hot and cold on the later episodes.

What did everybody else think?

Bored to Death, "Stockholm Syndrome": Soft-boiled

As I said in Wednesday's Ted Danson column, I found "Bored to Death" to be terribly uneven, and in particular I found the pilot kind of unbearable in its smug twee-ness. But I love Danson, I found next week's episode a dramatic improvement.

No time or interest to do a full write-up on the pilot, but I'm curious what everybody else thought, and whether you think you'll be back next week.

Ted Danson talks 'Bored to Death' - andreikirilenkotattoo on TV

In today's column, I talk with Ted Danson about his supporting turn on HBO's "Bored to Death," which debuts Sunday after "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (the topic of tomorrow's column). As I say in the column, I found the show very hit-or-miss (and am not sure how often I'm going to blog about it, especially since the pilot was easily the worst of the six I've seen), but Danson is hilarious. And I don't just say that because I idolized him as Sam Malone.

As with "Community" yesterday, I'm aware HBO has put the "Bored" pilot online, but we're going to follow the usual spoiler rules around here and avoid discussing the show in any detail (beyond liked/hated) until it airs Sunday night.