Bored to Death S3 Comp

This show kept up its high quality in season three with the same trio of characters being at the center of the action. This is a show I would recommend seeing in order but it isn't absolutely necessary. However, it helps because you see the initial friendship between Jonathan and George expand to include the comic book creator. Jonathan's detective duties have increased and he gets himself into as much trouble as ever with this unlicensed occupation. Time and again the other two are called to come save him from some job where he's about to die.

For anyone unfamiliar with the show, Jason Schwartzman plays Jonathan. He is a novelist but also increasingly an unlicensed private investigator who picks up his clients off Craig's list. His friend who is his age is Ray (Zach Galifianakos) He is a comic book writer and often dresses in his character's caped costume. He has a loyal band of fans and followers. Jonathan's other friend is George, a former magazine editor who now is a restaurant owner. George is played by Ted Danson and is absolutely hilarious.

In a way this is like a very sophisticated, uptown version of the Three Stooges. The three of them have so many women problems that they may as well remain single and hang around one another. In this series, Jonathan discovers he has a biological father and tracks this person down. Only problem is that he ends up becoming enamored of his half sister while doing so without realizing they are related.

One hilarious episode involved Jonathan's taking George's daughter to a stake out. The action is so wild at this stake out with the people they are watching that George gets mad at Jonathan for corrupting his daughter and they end up in therapy together. I also loved it when George and Ray both became Don Quixote for awhile singing the Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha as they run to their daughter and ex girlfriend.

A host of other famous actors come and go in this series. They don't seem to use anyone who isn't top flight. For example: Kristin Wiig, Oliver Platt, Olympia Dukais, Bebe Neurvirth and so forth. It is a who's who of the sitcom tv world.

As anyone knows who read my reviews of Seasons One and Two, I have been a cheerleader for "Bored to Death" ever since it came out. I adored Season One, thought Season Two was brilliant, and Season Three...well...

I hate to be a wet-blanket. I so deeply loved this series, and had such high hopes for Season 3 after waiting an INTERMINABLY long time for it, that perhaps disappointment was the only reasonable end to this love affair. But I simply could not get into Season 3. Ray (Zak Galifianakos) got on my nerves. What used to seem to be hilarious quirkiness and insecurity just began to seem like annoyingly exaggerated immaturity. Jonathan (Jason Schwartzman) was as adorable as ever, but seemed to be lost in his own cuteness. There were some clever scenes -- the one in which he discovers his paramour was really his sister comes to mind here -- but more often, Jonathan's considerable charm seemed wasted. The only character that didn't disappoint was George (Ted Danson). When they brought in Mary Steenbergen (his real wife) as his love interest, both were hilarious in their respective roles.

But for me, this season never quite took off. Jonathan Ames seems to have given up on it too. I don't know whether he simply ran out of ideas, or if Ted Danson getting the CSI role put the hex on it, but for some reason, it ended. As all good (and great) things do.

Alas. Maybe the brilliant Ames will come up with some other wonderfully witty, esoteric, quirky series. I hope so, because I will miss him.

This show is witty, silly, and smart -- a great watch. Such a shame this show was cancelled, although three seasons is not a bad run all in all. After watching all three seasons in an embarrassingly short amount of time, I think it might be time to start reading some of Ames' books.