I've discovered a new TV series called "Bored To Death" from HBO. It's written by Jonathan Ames, and is centered around a writer named Jonathan Ames (!) who is a quite pathetic character played by Jason Zimmerman who - during the first minute of the series - gets dumped by his girlfriend because he drinks too much and smokes too much weed.

Sounds like a winner, right?

Ames (the character) is left desolate, except for his companion, a bearded, weird friend. His apartment is pretty empty, with stuff in boxes. So he's left gazing at a Raymond Chandler detective novel and comes up with a new persona: he writes an ad on Craigslist saying he's an unlicensed private detective and would like to take on cases. Low rates.

So, people call him and he takes on cases while working for his eccentric boss, played by Ted Danson, trying to write a second novel and stay away from too much white wine and pot.

Easy music, noir-otic ((Their word, not mine!)) personalities, Ted Danson's character's suave persona, the different cases and the often-slow pace is enough for me. There's no other series like this out there, and I even like the celeb cameos. A commendable pastime this is, and as every episode is about 25 minutes long, it's perfect for subway rides.

By the way, I like the title sequence: