Jason Schwartzman & Jonathan Ames Get Boring

Television is ideally seen as a launching pad for by actors en route to film career. Look at what ER did for George Clooney, what Friends did for Jennifer Aniston, or what The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air did for Tatyana Ali. But recently, there’s been a wave of film stars retreating to the small screen, often to critical acclaim and ratings success. Take Martin Sheen in The West Wing, Glenn Close in Damages, and Holly Hunter in Saving Grace, as recent examples. Now, Coppola clan member Jason Schwartzman is taking a shot at serialization with a new HBO comedy pilot called Bored to Death.

Schwartzman will play a thirtysomething Brooklynite writer struggling with all those things thirtysomething male writers struggle with: money, alcohol, and women. To cope, Schwartzman’s scribe draws from his heroes, the grizzled gumshoes of Hammett and Chandler, and becomes a makeshift private eye. The pilot was penned by Jonathan Ames, himself a New York writer—albeit a successful one—who once had a pilot for Showtime based on exploits called What’s Not To Love? (Apparently a few things, since the show didn’t get picked up.) Given Ames’ predilection for perversity, kinky action is all but guaranteed in his HBO show.