Bored to Death - Season 2 [DVD]

The excellent original series from writer Jonathan Ames returns for a second series with Jonathan (played by Jason Schwartzman) continuing his private detective work while trying (admittedly not very hard) to get his second novel published. The series opens with Jonathan now teaching an evening creative writing class to repay the advance his publisher gave him for the second novel which was rejected. Meanwhile Ray's (Zach Galifianakis) girlfriend Leah (Heather Burns) breaks up with him so he tries to win her back by putting all of his effort into his comic book "Super Ray" which doesn't win her back but makes his comic book an unexpected success. George (Ted Danson) receives some bad news in this series which he takes with his usual good humour and which subsequently changes the character's world.

"Bored to Death" gets better with this second series. Ted Danson is still the most likeable man on television and still doesn't look like he's in his early 60s and his performance as George is so charming and enjoyable to watch. He is by far the best actor in the series but Zach G and Jason Schwartzman both perform very ably as well. This series might be good for fans critical of Zach G who don't like his overly crazy comedic roles as he plays probably the most balanced character in this group and comes across as almost normal.

There are some excellent cases in this series too, involving S&M dungeons, kidnapping and ransoming, a fight between Jonathan and rival Louis Greene and some drug dealers, an attempted robbery of a café, the rescuing of an Asian transvestite, and a plan to assassinate Ray.

The charming laid back tone of the episodes is great once you get into it - even the threat of drug gangs and murder never causes the tone to dip and in fact turns into whackiness and humour. They don't play yakkity-sax but it wouldn't be out of place in some of the chase sequences.

Great fun to watch, by the end of the series you'll be wishing for more. Once you get into the groove of the way the episodes work in this strange nether world of New York where kidnappers quote Oscar Wilde and fatal news is met with sex, it becomes pure joy to sit back and immerse yourself in this wonderful, bonkers, and very funny series. Excellent original TV, HBO do it again! (Now bring back Deadwood for Season 4!)

His second book has been rejected, and Jonathan Ames has some soul-searching to do... when he isn't working as a private eye or juggling his friends' problems. "Bored to Death: Season Two" maintains the same quirky mix of comedy, mystery and Ames' own personal experiences -- and the trio of Jason Schwartzman, Zak Galifianakis and Ted Danson is perfectly hilarious.

After his book is rejected, Jonathan (Schwartzman) is teaching a writing class at a night school. But of course, he's still doing his oddball detective job -- hired to infiltrate an S&M dungeon, following possibly-adulterous spouses, being kidnapped by drug-running thugs, tracking down a valuable book, busting a dognapper, delivering a love letter at a Chinese spa, and dealing with Ray's psycho stalker.

And though his love life is still a disaster, Jonathan is reinspired as a writer -- he starts turning his detective stories into fiction. At the same time, Ray (Galifianakis) is devastated when his girlfriend dumps him because he didn't like yoga class, and channels his sorrow into his comic books. And George (Danson) discovers that he may have prostate cancer, which unsurprisingly throws him into devastating tizzy.

The second season of "Bored to Death" is not too different from the first one -- it's arty, quirky, infused with New Yorkitude, and full of funny moments that never stray into outright ridiculousness. But while the tone is much the same, the writers weave in some very different subplots, particularly the serious subplot about George's prostate cancer.

And the writing is really, really clever. Without resting too long on any one joke, the writers dabble in humor of all kinds -- elf ears, polyamory, penis-centric comic books, rubber bullets, transvestitism, S&M, and medical mixups. There are plenty of funny scenes (Jonathan spies on a cheating wife... who is cheating with George!) and hilarious dialogue ("You know, I never thought I'd be in a graveyard in a spa robe talking to a beautiful transvestite in the moonlight").

Schwartzman's Jonathan spends the first half of the season treading water, and for awhile it feels like nothing new is happening. Fortunately he does get his butt in gear, and there are hints that Jonathan's new artistic path is one he's destined to stick with. Plus he's getting a bit more gutsy with the slimy Louis. And as always, he tries his best to really help the people around him.

Danson and Galifianakis round out this comic trio nicely, handling their serious subplots (possible prostate cancer and broken heart) with the right combination of humor and poignancy. There's also a new addition to the cast: Ajay Naidu as George's feisty driver Vikram, who is absolutely hilarious. Also: Kevin Bacon makes a small appearance as himself... and he is gutsplittingly funny.

The beginning is a little slow, but "Bored to Death: Season Two" retains its quirky balance of comedy and drama. And it really, really makes you wish the third season was here already.

Ted Danson is a giant of US TV comedy. "Cheers" contained some of his finest moments and great laughter will always be associated with his name. That is important, because with out his skill this show would be dead on its face. Danson stands 10 feet tall above the other characters, his very presence a request to laugh. Jason Schwartzman plays a part as endearing as a moaning infant, that's not funny.
The first 4 episodes are short of humour but at least there is some laughter in the final 4. Not good value at any price.