One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
TV Junkie: 'Bored to Death' Premiere Photo Gallery
Last night I went to HBO's premiere event for the second season of their groundbreaking show "Bored to Death". The event was held at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan where the first two installments of the new season were screened followed by an after-party at Capitale 130 in the Bowery. The episodes looked fantastic on the big screen - the details in the opening credits, by illustrator and comic artist Dean Haspiel, suddenly made us realize why they were picked to win a Creative Arts Emmy last month, they are spectacular!
Once again we are drawn back into the world of Jason Schwartzman as a version of Jonathan Ames, pursuing his private eye ambitions throughout the five boroughs of New York (but mainly Manhattan and Brooklyn, let's face it) along with his co-dependent crew of erstwhile magazine publisher George Christopher (Ted Danson), and comic book artist Ray Heuston (Zach Galifianakis).
In every exterior scene, the city of New York is a palpable character - always moving, living, and breathing in the background, even if it's the mouth of an alley in the far off distance. An LA-based show that managed to pull that off well in recent memory would be "SouthLAnd", but even there it felt more utilitarian, and definitely not romanticized - we understand, it's a different type of show. It was also fun to watch the episodes with a large crowd (that included Jonathan Ames' parents) as opposed to our usual, rather depressing screener viewing of screeners: alone in a darkened room while trying to hammer out copy.
The first episode, the premiere, reconnects us with our favorite cast, and gets us back on board with plenty of laughs. The second episode, what is the phrase? "Takes it to another level" and keeps us there. I don't want to reveal anything, but the cameo that Jonathan Ames told us about in our interview last month is absolutely the funniest thing we've seen in all the Fall screeners we've received.
As you can see from the photos, we will have the return of John Hodgman and Jenny Slate, as well as the addition of stand-up comic Jim Norton for an episode. We interviewed most of the cast, video and a recap of the night will follow on Friday. For a few more photos go to my Flickr gallery.
Season 2 of HBO's "Bored to Death" premieres on Sunday, September 26, 2010, at 10pm.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
