 |
| Jason Schwartzman-Bored to Death |
Judith Klassen
Movie Entertainment
September 2009
How fantastic to have HBO and Showtime competing to kick out the best new shows, since it keeps them both on the hunt for fresh TV meat. Bored to Death, HBO’s new series based on author Jonathan Ames’ almost autobiographical musings, is fresher than live monkey brain soup—and about as politically correct.
Jason Schwartzman plays Jonathan Ames, a writer who decides to moonlight as a private dick when his personal life implodes. And, weirdly, I completely relate to this character. Ames is a newly single writer—check. He confesses his innermost thoughts to strangers—check. He is tolerated by his editor—check. He has a thing for white wine and herbal remedies—check (love one of those!) He is moderately baffled by the opposite sex—big check. Bored to Death is both wickedly funny and surreptitiously deep. Unlike Entourage (don’t get me wrong – I love Entourage, but…) BTD shows the confusion and pain that men experience in the skirmish of the sexes—as opposed to the separation of heart and package that Entourage espouses. Comedian Zach Galifianakis plays Ames’ buddy, comic book illustrator Ray Hueston. Hueston draws desperate, heroic caricatures of himself, and is a weepy mess when his girlfriend dumps him for not spending the night when she’s too bagged to shag.
These men actually discuss romantic relationships (and not just in correlation to their egos) saying the kinds of misguided things about women that women say about men. From my daily eavesdropping in cafes, I know this to be true. At the risk of sounding like a cheesy self-help book—there are actually thinking fellas out there trying to figure us gals out, just like we’re trying to figure them out.
The following line, spoken by Ames’ boss, magazine editor George Christopher (Ted Dansen) is a great example of the male / female disconnect so brilliantly explored in the show. “Men live in reality. Women don’t. That’s why men drink.”
Funny, and seemingly true. Nevertheless, I must retort, “Women live in reality. Men don’t. That’s why women suck it up and clean the toilet.”
Season one of BTD airs Sundays at 9:30.
Judith Klassen is a Toronto writer and podcaster.