Season 3 was a charm for HBO's quirky stoner-comedy series, Bored to Death. Jonathan found his actual dad, George opened a restaurant and Ray stepped out with a really older woman. Oh, and they smoked plenty of pot.
Jonathan (Jason Schwartzman, left) is an author/private eye. His first case in Season 3 nearly gets him framed for a murder and winds up at the carousel in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Jonathan's search for his father (he was conceived from a sperm donation) leads him to Coney Island where he takes a romantic ferris-wheel ride with Rose (Isla Fisher), who's also looking for her dad. Turns out she's his sister!
No longer a magazine editor, George (Ted Danson, above center) directs his attention to food and the competitive world of restaurants in New York. His sober daughter arrives with her 60-year-old fiance, who's also an old acquaintance of George. He's obsessed by this for most of the season. Danson's hushed vocal mannerisms and tics are reminiscent of John Malkovich.
More than ever the main stoner role is inhabited by comic-book artist Ray (Top CelebStoner Zack Galifianakis, above right). He loves toking his corn-cob pipe. When Jonathan declines a pot cookie, Ray wonders, "You only get stoned when you're uphappy? That's not healthy." Down in the dumps, Ray hits it off with lonely spinster Belinda (Olivia Dukakis). He's also a sperm donor and father. The episode when Ray joins a group of breast-feeding women, loses Spencer and winds up in jail is hilarious. Galifianakis' physical comedy - he's constantly taking pratfalls - and pouty behavior are no longer an acquired taste.
Jonathan and George's respective nemeses, Louis (John Hodgeman) and Richard (Oliver Platt), Ray's girlfriend Leah (Heather Burns) and gadget expert Howard (Patton Oswalt) all stand out in secondary roles. This season's guest stars included Danson's real-life wife Mary Steenburgen, Sarah Silverman, Dick Cavett, Isla Fisher, Stacy Keach, Chris Elliot, Danny Hoch and Dukakis.
After three seasons, Bored to Death has established itself as a must-see whimsical tour de force of modern-day Brooklyn. Since CelebStoner is based in Brooklyn, we're biased, but definitely not bored.
