LIFESTYLE REVIEW: 'BORED TO DEATH' WINE TASTING

A Delightful Night Out At Pourtal in Santa Monica, CA

By: Josh Moorhead

September 26, 2010

I wish this happened to everyone that subscribed to HBO. About a week ago, since I’m supposed to be a TV critic and what not, I bit the proverbial bullet, or dime or dollar, and subscribed to HBO. How couldn’t I? Boardwalk Empire. Entourage. Eastbound and Down. Hardknocks. For others, you’ve got your Big Love and your True Blood. And then there was something I hadn’t discovered just yet — Bored to Death.

And what was my reward for subscription? On Thursday night, HBO had myself and a smattering of other critic/writer types out to Santa Monica’s wine bar, Pourtal, a block from the Pacific herself, to drink, eat mini-sausages and hummus, and celebrate Ted Danson, Jason Schwartzman, and Zach Galifianakis.

Why these very talented men? Because they are the stars of Bored to Death.The show is a kind of noir-edy, if there is such a thing, and if there wasn’t, there is now — where Jason Schwartzman plays a freelance writer who’s bored and poor so he begins moonlighting as a Craigslist, unlicensed private eye. Sure, maybe it gives me a few ideas on how to make that cable bill, but regardless…

The ‘just now blowing up but the very funny for a very long time’ Galifianakis is his buddy and driver who works as a cartoonist but spends most of his time with Schwartzman’s PI in a Suburu smoking pot. The long established and still hilarious Danson is Schwartzman’s boss and publisher of a big fancy magazine. But the dude, like the others, is bored to death. So they find themselves in seedy motel parking lots in the middle of the night in Jersey trying to crack poor man’s cases.

As an extension of the not-really-qualified-sleuth narrative, the other critics and myself were invited to Pourtal to sample ten different mystery wines and identify them. We were provided with pens, a multiple choice print out, and a time limit. It was like the ACT, but I was sober longer — hey-oh! But in all reality, even without a developed palate, it was a great time put on by the Home Box Office and Pourtal, which, truth be told, was a great spot with a vibe and staff to match.

So I didn’t win, or even pass the taste test, but I was made aware of Bored to Death. The show’s humor is a bit droll, a tad subtle, but then it will also find itself being magnificently silly. Preparing for its premiere Sunday night, September 26, 2010, I caught a few season one episodes and was exposed to some great bits, like a stuffed unicorn named Janet that was wielded as a weapon, and great bits of dialogue along the lines of “Failure is great; I do it all the time!”

So fail as I may have, to be classy enough to ID real wines and not the 2-buck Chuck, I succeeded on the comedy front. Props to Pourtal and HBO, and heads up on Bored to Death Season Two!