Jonathan Ames’ story of a man named, well, Jonathan Ames is a simple, yet fun series of adventures.
Jonathan is a struggling novelist. He is supposed to be knee-deep in his second novel, but instead he’s knee-deep in pot and a broken heart. Struggling to find his muse, Jonathan substitutes his need to right with his need to solve problems by becoming an unofficial private investigator. He solves mysteries ranging from a missing sister (who really is into bondage and ‘kidnapping’ with her boyfriend) to a stolen skateboard, all the way up to finding stolen sperm. Along the way through his adventures his two best friends help him. The first is his boss George Christopher, an aging man who is going through a midlife crisis. The second friend is a struggling cartoonist named Ray Hueston, who can’t seem to get published anywhere. Together each mystery brings about wacky humor and some sort of subtle resolve.
This show is one of the more intelligent, free-flowing shows I’ve seen in some time. Jason Schwartzman is a perfect choice as lead character Jonathan Ames. He brings a soft, sweet sensitive side of comedy that hasn’t been seen in some time. What’s great about Schwartzman is that he never gets rattled about any of the situations he is put into, which makes the audience (namely me) calm when the situations generally don’t call for it. He’s believable as a writer and even more so as a leader in his ship of fools.
Speaking of fools, Ted Danson’s career has been very resurrected as Ames’ midlife crisis buddy, George. Ever since his role as Sam in the television show Cheers I have never been able to believe he’s anything outside of that bartender. Even when he played the nasty, honest doctor Becker did I believe for one second that he wasn’t Sam Malone. When I saw that he was in Bored to Death I fully expected him to bring the same charm and same character that he always has in the past. Well, I can safely say that Danson has found a new role for himself and a new character to embody with George Christopher. His lack of knowledge of the outside world beyond his CEO and rich life is refreshing, as he hangs onto Jonathan’s youth as if it were his last chance to live. Danson really embraces this role and I’m absolutely thrilled for him.
Finally, the last fool in the bunch is Zach Galifianakis. Galifianakis’ Ray is a lovable loser; this is something Galifianakis is use to in most things he is in (including his stand-up). Instead of bringing his usual outrageous roles, and idiocy to the screen, Galifianakis stretches his talent a bit further and keeps himself contained a bit more. He does nothing too outrageous outside of having his sperm stolen over a series of episodes and he actually ends up playing a very respectful, caring character that you’ll adore. The best way to describe him is that he’s the mangy mutt you find begging for food and showing respect after you feed him. He does well in Bored to Death.
Producer/writer Jonathan Ames has done well with his first television show. He brings real characters to life and puts them in ridiculous, but still very subtle situations. Even when he brings the outrageous story of two high-profile editors boxing each other at the end, he still adds a ‘caring’ element that tones down the ridiculousness. He crafts his stories carefully and he simply relaxes his viewers with good humor and well put together stories. Again, his storytelling is strikingly similar to Frasier, except with a refreshing youthful twist to them.
Ultimately, Ames and company have put together a very good show that deserves the acclaims that it receives. Hopefully it survives and thrives on HBO.
Now that you know about the show, let’s talk a bit about the DVD. The Bored to Death: The Complete First Season on DVD is good. You obviously get all the eight shows in the package and you get some nice bonus features to boot. The highlight of the features is ‘Making of Bored to Death‘. This is the blueprint to how to do a ‘making of’ featurette, as you’re going to get interviews with all the actors and Jonathan Ames. It runs through how the show was created, even down to the opening theme, and it talks about how the cast was hand picked. Other interesting notes about this feature are how Ames put together the story by the same name. Honestly, it’s a great feature.
The next feature is interesting, but not quite as much as the first. You get a wonderful tour with Jonathan Ames and Jason Schwartzman in ‘Jonathan Ames’ Brooklyn’. The feature tours the area that Ames writes about and talks about how the show was shot and what areas they really wanted to focus on in particular episodes. It’s very interesting, but like I said not quite as good as the ‘making of’.
As for the other two features, the deleted scenes were okay as was the commentary (though much better than the deleted scenes).