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?
Don't feel bad, Alan. "Stop Being a Hater and Learn to Love the OC" is currently ranked 906,676 on Amazon...
ReplyDeleteThis should have been the second or third episode. A good case that actually managed to create some tension and have some twists, plus the phenomenal scenes in the car and the spy gadget shop. "I'm going to do all of my shopping here from now on."
I was expecting good things from Galifinakis in this show, and he has delivered the last few episodes, but I am finally coming around to Ted Danson now. He was coming off as such a space case at first, and it just didn't make me laugh. But I feel like I and, to an extent, the writers have found a better voice for him than his original characterization, which was bored rich guy wants to get high. While he still encapsulates all of that, there seems to be a richer layer of sadness to him that I am really responding to.
Best episode to date.
"I'm on marijuana minutes."
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad, Alan. "Stop Being a Hater and Learn to Love the OC" is currently ranked 906,676 on Amazon...
ReplyDeleteThat high? Really? Wow. All things considered, that ain't as low as I was expecting.
I'm a little confused why you seem to be enjoying this show even though you admit that the characters are either very broadly drawn or not at all engaging and that half of the stories don't really seem to go anywhere, yet you're considering dropping Flas hForward already for basically the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteAlan said:
ReplyDelete"That high? Really? Wow. All things considered, that ain't as low as I was expecting."
It's available for a hefty penny, too. Maybe it's the pink cover. Pink is a hostile color. Next time push for seafoam green.
Maybe it's the pink cover. Pink is a hostile color. Next time push for seafoam green.
ReplyDeleteCover's more red or orange than pink. Must be a bad photo.
I'm a little confused why you seem to be enjoying this show even though you admit that the characters are either very broadly drawn or not at all engaging and that half of the stories don't really seem to go anywhere, yet you're considering dropping Flas hForward already for basically the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteBecause at least some of the time, it makes me laugh, whereas FlashForward elicits no kind of emotional reaction from me whatsoever. As I so often say, funny forgives a lot.
dude whos the hot chick.. the blackmailer girl.. shes smokin
ReplyDelete"Cover's more red or orange than pink. Must be a bad photo."
ReplyDeleteYes, the palm tree implies the entire book is about The O.C. Something that appeals to the common man might have been more successful, like a five patty bacon cheeseburger, or a democrat on fire, or a television. Or three televisions. With a seafoam green background.
This was the funniest episode so far for me.. Also, Allan I think you hit one out of the park with that idea! Or at least some show thats some alternate version of that idea, where we witness only what would seem the alternate/menial side of whats going on.
ReplyDeleteI just sent a copy of "Stop Being a Hater..." to my daughter at college. Hopefully I helped its ranking.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the lyrics to Bored to Death, (caught?) mad and lonely? (cut?) mad and lonely? Bodred to death (but?) mad and lonely.
ReplyDeletelilic7@gmail.com TIA
I love the Jonathan character... he's vulnerable, likeable... sweet, but not a wuss... he's *so* vulnerable, and *so* honest, and therein lies his strength. The paradox is sexy, imo.
ReplyDeleteGeorge and the cartoonist are funny as sidekicks. All three share a sort of pathetic, yet endearing quality.
I've laughed more at this episode that in all the others together.
ReplyDeleteI kept expecting George to offer Ray the job as his assistant instead of Johnathan, which would have immediately upped the awesome on this show.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the lyrics to Bored to Death, (caught?) mad and lonely? (cut?) mad and lonely? Bodred to death (but?) mad and lonely.
ReplyDeleteIt's bored to death, cut, mad and lonely. Try watching with you CC turned on. The lyrics show up there.
Danson broke the sound barrier in this episode: he is worthy of being the icon of the aging hippy generation. I'm tolerant of a bland episode now and then, but I agree - the sidekicks are the focus, and that comes off as a fresh approach that makes this show something special. Let it mature and expand in that direction and we can perhaps expect a few seasons more.
ReplyDeleteThis was the best ep to date, especially George's glee while shopping in the spy store and George and Ray in the car.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do understand your point about Jonathan being the weakest link. But if I used that criteria when watching Seinfeld, I would have stopped watching far earlier than I did (two years before the show ended). Because Jerry Seinfeld was easily the weakest character/actor on his own show, and yet he was the glue that held everything together.
Same thing with whiny Ted on HIMYM.
Hey fans, we are having an event at the Paley Center with Jonathan and Jason, and Ted Danson is now coming. Bored to Death: Raymond Chandler meets Craigslist 11/2
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/yf8ewjv
IMO, best episode to date. And I'm actually enjoying Jonathan's character.
ReplyDeleteHBO must agree that Danson's carrying "Bored to Death", because their latest promo for show is All Ted All the Time.
ReplyDelete