Mystery for Slackers: Why 'Bored to Death' worked

Only a few minutes ago, the first season of HBO's freshman comedy Bored to Death concluded with its eighth episode, entitled "Take a Dive." The episode, one of my favorites yet, managed to be both sincere and funny at the same time. The same can be applied to most of the first season, which follows generally sweet Jonathan Ames, a floundering novel writer in dire economic straits, in his second job, moonlighting as a private detective. He is joined by his best friend, comic book artist Ray Huesten, and his boss, magazine editor George Christopher, in his various misadventures of cases.

Of course, Bored to Death didn't really have a chance to fail. It was placed in such prime television real estate that to fail, it would have had to be extremely, terribly awful. Which it wasn't. It actually managed to be the funniest show on television Sunday night, even out-laffing Curb Your Enthusiasm, in my opinion. HBO was quick to blow its own whistle about the series, plastering press releases all over the internet featuring reviews from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal calling the show “the best new comedy of the season” and “flat-out inspired comedy,” respectively.

These reviews hit the nail on the head. The misadventures of Ames through his noir-esque detective exploits manage to be both heartwarming and hilarious. In fact, much of Bored to Death is a contradiction, and I mean that in a good way. Schwartzman, for instance, often finds himself playing straight man to the insanity of Ted Danson's George Christopher, but often outshines him with his earnest kindness. The series also abounds with self-referential humor, which I guess is a given, considering that the main character indeed based partially off the creator of the series.

Guest stars also abound in the series — Patton Oswalt appears in one episode as the owner of a spy shop, while John Hodgman (the PC from the "Get a Mac" ads with Justin Long) appears in the final two episodes of the season (and has such wonderful insults for Ames, such as "Your first novel was amateurish, at best!").

All in all, Bored to Death is the best new HBO series of the year, surpassing the wonderfully written Hung in my opinion. It's already been renewed for a second season, which will go into production sometime next year. I can't wait to watch it again then.