HBO always manages to thwart my weekly schedule. Just when I thought it was safe to turn off the television and actually see some sunlight (metaphoric of course since I’m living in Ontario now), they go and suck up another hour of my time. With a stacked roster of shows like Entourage, True Blood, Curb Your Enthusiasm and old episodes of The Wire and Sopranos, HBO has to go and do it again by dropping another quick-witted gem of brilliance with their new show Bored To Death.

If you have no idea what Bored to Death is then here’s my short recap of the show synopsis Penguin style. Jason Schwartzman plays Jonathan Ames, a 30 year-old New York novelist looking to write the very difficult second novel of his career. His BFF Ray (played brilliantly by Zach Galifianakis – AKA Zach G…the hardest name to spell these days) is a New York comic book artist that basically hangs out with Jonathan everyday talking about the weird artist crap like the end of testosterone and not getting enough sex from him girlfriend. As the series kicks off, Jonathan’s girlfriend Susanne played by Olivia Thirlby (Juno’s friend from, well, Juno) moves out because all he does is sit around drinking white wine and smoking pot. Because of his creative writer’s block, Jonathan also carries a journalist job where his boss is a hilarious Ted Danson. When Suzanne moves out of their apartment Jonathan begins to see how his life going to turn out. So in the heat of vulnerability, he goes onto Craigslist and posts an ad stating that he’s an unlicensed private detective. The show basically follows Jonathan as he illegally helps people and attempts to win back the heart of Suzanne.

The concept seems quite flat to begin with, but the show’s creator (the real Jonathan Ames) gives everything a little bit of a twist. Bored to Death is a modern comedic noir. It takes the form of a seedy PI show from back in 1940′s and mixes in drug use, sex, self loathing and comedy from Zach G. and Ted Danson. Although this isn’t a true noir, it does do something that HBO is known for, it takes a style and throws it for a loop keeping the audience guessing. Schwartsman plays his normal, hated self (although his character in Funny People was pretty damn hilarious) but it is the supporting cast that really brings this show together. Zach G is amazing and Ted Danson could give Alec Baldwin a run for most ridiculous boss in New York. The other really nice part about Bored to Death is the opening sequence. With a wonderfully animated novel concept, the movement of the words, the word choices and the music tie together really nicely.

If you’re bored one night (as I often am) I suggest checking this show out. It’s smart funny, not stoned funny and gives you some insight on the insecurities of creative people and what goes through their heads when their imaginations get the best of them.