The first season of this series has now passed, and with it, some recollections are made: at first, it felt a bit dull but that's because I had jump-started the season with "Dexter", which is an entirely different animal. This series focuses on Jonathan Ames, a hapless 30-something suburban writer who smokes too much pot and drinks too much white wine, which is why his girlfriend leaves him at the very beginning of the first episode. Jonathan re-enters his (formerly their) apartment and writes an ad on Craigslist where he says he's an unlicensed private detective available for hire.

And so the story begins.

Some of the characters involved are his best friend, a neurotic guy who's often down and angry, and his boss, who also loves pot and wine.

All of this, mingled with the cases that Jonathan undertakes, makes for what HBO calls a "noir-otic comedy" which kind of adds it up. It's not bewildered by a thousand simultaneous plots and is quite calm, which might be pinned down from all the pot. Anyway, it's no Seinfeld on valium, but an acquired taste that is original and radiantly written.

I fell more and more in love with Ted Danson's character as the series progressed, and I feel that as a whole, the last episode is quite a bit away from the first, as progression goes. Lovely and nice, not fishing for laughs all the time, and what laughs may come hit hard.

Even though I like Jason Schwartzman, I had a feeling that Bored to Death was going to miss. Couldn't put my figure on why, but I sort of figured HBO was in for a high profile flop.

I'm wrong so far. Schwartzman is funny as the struggling NY novelist turned private eye, and Ted Danson may be even better as the aging ladies man (best line so far: as a gorgeous, young topless woman beckons him back to bad, Danson says "wow, she makes me feel like I'm 50 again."

Looks like HBO has another good one on its hands.