Premieres this Sunday 9/20 on HBO at 9:30pm (following the Curb Your Enthusiasm season premiere). But the first episode is available for free in the podcast section on iTunes and here:
The reviews I've seen so far have been pretty good, although many say it takes a few episodes to get going.
FYC:
Drama Series: Big Love Drama Actor: Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment Drama Supporting Actress: Hope Davis, In Treatment Drama Supporting Actor: Michael Emerson, Lost
Posts: 3534 | Location: New York | Registered: November 02, 2002
I caught this premiere tonight and loved it... a hilarious episode that did a great job introducing the characters and a smart premise. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next few weeks. Ted Danson looks to be great in this show- can't wait to see what aspects they add to his character.
Favorite quote: "Men see reality, and women don't. That's why men drink."
Posts: 955 | Location: USA | Registered: November 29, 2002
This show actually has a theme song! I expect a nomination for its main title design.
I liked the premiere, thought it was good. I also liked the "Men see reality, and women don't. That's why men drink." quote. It's nice seeing Zach Galifianakis back on tv (liked him in Tru Calling) and Ted Danson is just great.
I absolutely loved the pilot. It's not laugh-out-loud funny, but it's very appealing. I adored the cinematography, especially the night scenes. Very film noir-ish!
Jason Schwartzman is perfect for this role, and that scene with Ted Danson in the bathroom was the funniest!
Nice to see Zach Galifianakis & Heather Burns too!
Kristen Wiig is guesting next week! Awesomeness!
This show looks very promising. Hope the rest of the season delivers!
Didn't like the pilot. Excessively arch and ironically detached. I felt like the entire story was surrounded by air quotes.
Jason Schwarzman's sad-sack writer decides to put out an ad as a private detective after his girlfriend leaves him. Why? Well, he likes detective stories, I guess, though that still doesn't make the introduction of this premise any less abrupt. A lot of pilots spend too much time with setup, but this one doesn't spend enough.
Jonathan meets with a client and whines about his girlfriend leaving him. He goes to a bar for information and whines about giving up hard liquor for his girlfriend. He finds the missing girl (tied up, not consensually) and her boyfriend (kidnapping her) and proceeds to whine some more about his girlfriend. Really? I know that he's high all the time, but if this kind of lackadaisical bellyaching will be his approach to his cases, I'll pass.
Ted Danson as his pot-smoking boss. Meh. Zach Galifianakis as his even-sadder-sack best friend. Meh.
The dreary, depressive tone is sort of what I was afraid "Hung" would turn into but didn't. I'll give "Bored to Death" a couple more looks, but it will have to improve sharply to keep me watching.
Grade: C
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"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
I saw the pilot and really liked it. Jason Schwartzman is just amazing here as he usually is and the tone of the show is just great. Loved that it's very noir but a comedy at the same time. Ted Danson looks like he could do some fun crazy stuff and well, Zach Galifiniakis was the only low point for me, but not him, the character, didn't think he was needed.
The titles and the theme song are great, hope they can get a nomination next year.
This show has really started to grow on me. I already liked the show but was on the fence about whether or not it had any potential but after last week's episode I am sold. That was one of the funnest half hours of comedy of the season. Danson was terrific and I am a huge fan of Jason Schwartzmann already. However, it's sad it hasn't been picked up for a second season yet as with HBO they usually make this call 3 episodes in with the half hour comedies.
Originally posted by robbypop: This show has really started to grow on me. I already liked the show but was on the fence about whether or not it had any potential but after last week's episode I am sold. That was one of the funnest half hours of comedy of the season. Danson was terrific and I am a huge fan of Jason Schwartzmann already. However, it's sad it hasn't been picked up for a second season yet as with HBO they usually make this call 3 episodes in with the half hour comedies.
It was picked up for a second season back on October 7.
I did not like the premiere of this show but my brother told that after the first episode the show gets really good so during a two day bout of the stomach flu I watched the show ON DEMAND and he was totally right. The show has a cool, wistful vibe (while the premiere had a smug, trying-to-hard to-be-cool vibe) and is very funny and often surprisingly sweet. Jason Schwartzman is terrific in the lead but the best reason to see the show is Ted Danson. He gives a performance of real comic brilliance as a crazy, up-for-anything, pot smoking millionaire. "Cheers" is probably my favorite show of all time but I would still say Ted Danson has never been more hilarious than he is on "Bored to Death". The more he is on an episode the better it is. The best episodes have a lotta Ted Danson and a lot of pot.
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Posts: 27284 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: February 02, 2003
This show is a bright little gem. I normally loathe Schwartzman, but he works well here.
However, Galafinakis and Danson steal every episode. In a perfect world, Danson would be a strong supporting actor contender for this, but that'll never happen.
Posts: 3794 | Location: Earth | Registered: April 11, 2005
Originally posted by MissyGal: This show is a bright little gem. I normally loathe Schwartzman, but he works well here.
However, Galafinakis and Danson steal every episode. In a perfect world, Danson would be a strong supporting actor contender for this, but that'll never happen.
I don't know that it is impossible. Last year Emmy voters showed they watch even low rated HBO programming when they nominated "Flight of the Conchords" in several major categories. Ted Danson is a multiple Emmy nominee and winner. It could happen and I hope it does.
Posts: 27284 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: February 02, 2003
the show really picked up after the blackmail episode. Before that it was a little boring but you wanted to keep watching. Schwartzman is great in this role, and Danson is very very fun to watch and funny as hell. Galifianakis was useless for a bunch of episodes, but the blackmail episode and last week's episode were great for him.
Just finished season 1. Quite entertaining at times, nothing amazing. I did love the blackmail episode though, that's when it started getting a lot more interesting to me. And I agree about Ted Danson, he was pretty great and should probably get some recognition (all three guys were great really).
