Bored to Death

Discuss TV shows old and new.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Bored to Death

#1 Post by domino harvey » Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:28 am

So the second season of this low-key HBO comedy starts tonight. Anyone else watch? I recently consumed the entire first season in short order. It's not a great show, but it has a real laid-back charm and its Brooklyn-bonafides are pretty authentic (loved the Au Revoir Simone in the background of one ep). I could do without the already obnoxious pot jokes, but the sex jokes have at least been decent (Ted Danson's bit about how Lawrence Olivier and Danny Kaye were lovers because Kaye could do so many voices that it was like Olivier was sleeping with someone new every night was amazing) and the show rarely over-flaunts its premium cable freedoms.

User avatar
kaujot
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 6:28 pm
Location: Austin
Contact:

Re: Bored to Death

#2 Post by kaujot » Sun Sep 26, 2010 1:07 pm

I enjoy it at as well, though I also fault it for the same reasons you do. I think it has a lot of room to grow, though, and could become excellent. I thought the first season ending when it did was pretty lame, but that's mainly because I didn't know that it was the last episode of the season.

flyonthewall2983
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:31 pm
Location: Indiana
Contact:

Re: Bored to Death

#3 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sun Sep 26, 2010 7:38 pm

I like Galifinakis as the straight man, it's an interesting diversion from his crazier stuff.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Bored to Death

#4 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 29, 2010 6:45 pm

Nowhere else to put this, but Brian Williams names "The New York Times' Discovery of Brooklyn" the top news story of 2010 -- well worth watching, as he gets in some brilliant jabs

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Bored to Death

#5 Post by domino harvey » Sat Nov 19, 2011 7:41 pm

Has anyone else been keeping up with this show? It's about to end its third season but I only just got caught up to date and wow, this is yet another great modern comedy that displays a radically improved jump in quality from season one to two. It helps that the show has embrace silliness and is willing to stage more absurd scenarios and physical comedy (a hilarious grocery store chase sequence featuring Ted Danson dressed like an extra from a Devo video pushing Jason Schwartzman in a grocery cart in pursuit of a frozen chicken-chucking John Hodgman has to be seen to be believed), which makes the whole affair so much looser and more inviting. Add to that an ever-increasing guest roster of just about every name in alternative comedy and beyond (the casting director for this show is a genius) plus much better pot jokes and this is yet another can't miss show in our Golden Era of TV Comedy

User avatar
Highway 61
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:40 pm

Re: Bored to Death

#6 Post by Highway 61 » Sat Nov 19, 2011 8:28 pm

Yeah, I've been watching. I have an unabashed love for movies and TV shot on-location in big cities, so I started watching just for that. But you're right, the show's come into its own. Two weeks ago I found myself pushing my niece around Brooklyn in a stroller and humiliating myself just like Galifinakis. I've also got to signal out how much I enjoy Danson. The late career renaissance he's had has been totally unexpected. He wasn't on the most recent season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and never in a million years did I expect myself to be saying, "You know what this show could use? More Ted Danson."

User avatar
Cold Bishop
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:45 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Bored to Death

#7 Post by Cold Bishop » Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:36 pm

George Christopher may be the best character in a TV comedy right now! I never knew I could like Ted Danson so much.

User avatar
Cold Bishop
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:45 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Bored to Death

#8 Post by Cold Bishop » Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:39 am

A bit tardy... but what's everyone's feelings about the show going all Oldboy on us, perhaps for its final image even?

User avatar
Andre Jurieu
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:38 pm
Location: Back in Milan (Ind.)

Re: Bored to Death

#9 Post by Andre Jurieu » Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:11 pm

Cold Bishop wrote:A bit tardy... but what's everyone's feelings about the show going all Oldboy on us, perhaps for its final image even?
My thinking at the end of this season was "only this show would somehow find a way to make the idea of sleeping with Isla Fisher entirely repulsive... and take so much delight in having done so." In fact, after every episode I usually get this unsettling feeling that it really does feel like a show that's quite pleased with itself all the time. It's also one of the most frustrating shows on TV, mostly because it spends most of its efforts finding new ways to frustrate its characters. Honestly, I thought Fisher and Keach really saved this season for me, cause the core trio was beginning to grate on me. This really is a show that I keep coming back to mostly for the potential of humor than the actual consistent execution. Not that I don't find it funny, but it seems inconsistent.

Is it really the possible final image for the show? Seems like HBO is generally inclined to keep all its shows afloat for a little while longer.

User avatar
Cold Bishop
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:45 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Bored to Death

#10 Post by Cold Bishop » Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:14 pm

Andre Jurieu wrote:This really is a show that I keep coming back to mostly for the potential of humor than the actual consistent execution.
Ah... so the Boardwalk Empire of comedy.

There are better chances that any other network (meaning there's a chance at all): HBO have admitted their Monday experiment failed, and I'm sure they're smart enough to know that HBO Go doesn't exactly equal on-air ratings either. But, if there's one nail in the coffin, it might be Ted Danson suiting up for CSI.

I have problems with the ending, but I can't think of a bigger F.U. to the audience's taste and intelligence than if they take the easy way out and decide it was all a lie/misunderstanding, which would be the easy and predictable thing to do. Once made, you must commit to a bad idea like this.

I do hope that this and Enlightened both return... the latter especially has really come into its own, and is a completely different show than what the previews/pilot sold. It's really closer to something like Eastbound & Down than the The Big C/United States of Tara-meets-In Treatment vibe the show was first giving off.

User avatar
knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Bored to Death

#11 Post by knives » Tue Dec 20, 2011 3:03 pm


User avatar
tarpilot
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:48 am

Re: Bored to Death

#12 Post by tarpilot » Tue Dec 20, 2011 3:44 pm

Very sad to see that. The expanded scope promised by the premiere's giant Safety Last! homage had me worried, but the degree to which it came into its own this season was so great that, from week-to-week, I found myself anticipating it as much as anything else on television. Seasons 1 & 2 each had moments that would rank among the best things I saw that year (George's Proustian armpit recall; the four-bros-into-the-sunset ending of "Return to the Castle"), but almost every ep since "Gumball" had been approaching Best-Episode-Ever status.

User avatar
Highway 61
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:40 pm

Re: Bored to Death

#13 Post by Highway 61 » Tue Dec 20, 2011 4:15 pm

Goddamnit. This season cemented it as my favorite show on TV. HBO's choices baffle me.

flyonthewall2983
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:31 pm
Location: Indiana
Contact:

Re: Bored to Death

#14 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:17 am

Ames held a wake in Brooklyn for the show today. I heard he bought everyone drinks. How cool of him.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Bored to Death

#15 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:51 pm

Final season on Blu/DVD September 4th (proving to be a pricey day)

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: Bored to Death

#16 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Jun 12, 2012 3:16 pm

domino harvey wrote:September 4th (proving to be a pricey day)
Oof - Hocus Pocus Blu-ray, 2 Broke Girls Season One, and The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Blu-ray all on one day?! Goodbye wallet!



User avatar
Cold Bishop
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:45 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Bored to Death

#19 Post by Cold Bishop » Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:49 pm

George Christopher lives!

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Bored to Death

#20 Post by domino harvey » Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:51 pm


User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Bored to Death

#21 Post by domino harvey » Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:50 pm


User avatar
chiendent
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2016 12:32 pm

Re: Bored to Death

#22 Post by chiendent » Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:01 pm

It's my fault for getting my hopes up when I saw this thread updated but that's a damn frustrating non-update.

Maybe it's time to give Blunt Talk another shot, with the new season starting and all.

Post Reply