Sunday, October 11, 2009

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?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok episode and dude you don't watch curb?

Alan Sepinwall said...

Curb? What's that? I prefer to watch streets, rather than the curbs.

Andrew said...

Jonathan Ames, both the character and the writer, continue to drag this show down. Galifinakis and Danson were at their best of the series thus far in this one, but when it was just Schwartzman, I didn't laugh once. I realize that there is something supposedly satisfying about the case of the week tying in with the side plot, but the case was so simple with no real stakes (getting beat up by teenagers just doesn't do it for me) that I just didn't care. I hope that wasn't emblematic of the best the show can do.

I have decided that they need to switch the focus of this show to the Galifinakis character. Have the show be about a sad sack cartoonist and his demanding and bitchy girlfriend, who is occasionally roped into helping his quirky writer/amateur detective best friend with cases. And get high with Ted Danson from time to time. They wouldn't even need to change the title.

Ptid said...

"This isn't a great show"

For my part, i think it is... And every episode gives me the same pleasure i had when i was discovering the first season of weeds, five years back.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, Danson and Galifinakis was very funny in this episode. I myself kinda like Schwartzman in Andersons movies, but I mostly find this Ames character annoying, and, worse, truly boring. Will keep watching the show though.

olucy said...

I still really like the show -- a lot of good throwaway lines. I see where people may not embrace the Jonathan character, though. They need to dial back the sad sack-whiny characteristics a bit. He's starting to remind me of Ted in How I Met Your Mother by Season 2.

Also, I wonder what holds together the George/Jonathan friendship. I understand how they met--through work. But I don't understand why they're friends.

Still, it was just a weaker ep of a show that I really like.

Alan Sepinwall said...

Also, I wonder what holds together the George/Jonathan friendship. I understand how they met--through work. But I don't understand why they're friends.

George views Jonathan as his gateway to feeling young and hip. Jonathan views George as a mentor, and a source of income.

Anonymous said...

This show had an actual 21 minutes of "content"...wayyyy too short. Curb and Entourage can work in that time allotment but this show needs to get closer to 30 minutes. I feel like they barely scratch the surface of anything each week. I want to like this show but it frustrates me weekly.

Unknown said...

Agree. It's not a great show..right now. I feel like the pieces are in place--good concept, really good actors, cool setting--but it's not clicking yet. Luckily it's been picked up for a second season so there's plenty of time for it to develop.

Alan, can you put your finger on why it feels sort of flat even though it's hard to deny there's something very appealing about it? So-so stories/writing thus far?

Also, agree 21 min. is WAY too short. Can Ames not come up with a few more interesting things to happen in this episode?