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* OnlySaneWoman: Subverted: while Leah clearly has her life together much more than Ray, her actions are just as bizarre.
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* WomenAreWiser: Subverted: while Leah clearly has her life together much more than Ray, her actions are just as bizarre.
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* AllegedlyDateless: He tends to complain about being lonely, but he encounters a new GirlOfTheWeek in almost every episode.
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* HollywoodDateless: He tends to complain about being lonely, but he encounters a new GirlOfTheWeek in almost every episode.
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* TookALevelInBadass: Surprisingly, Jonathan's cases go from things like recovering a missing skateboard to dealing with blackmailers and drug dealers. He's also surprisingly good at detective work once he gains some confidence.
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* WetBlanketWife: Much of her treatment of Ray amounts to trying to get him to improve his life despite how obviously it isn't going to happen.
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* ThisLoserIsYou: Much of the series is CringeComedy about how Jonathan is a constantly put upon NiceGuy who fails at most of what he tries to do. PlayedWith as he also is with a variety of beautiful women and a semi-succesful author as well as journalist.
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
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* SitcomArchNemesis: To George, naturally. Cranked UpToEleven in Season 3 when after George opens a restaurant, Richard opens his own restaurant specifically to try and drive George's out of business.
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* SitcomArchNemesis: To George, naturally. Cranked UpToEleven up in Season 3 when after George opens a restaurant, Richard opens his own restaurant specifically to try and drive George's out of business.
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->Played by: Heather Burns
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->Played by: Heather BurnsCreator/HeatherBurns
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* YourCheatingHeart: Cheats on Leah multiple times with an elderly woman named Belinda.
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* HollywoodDateless: He tends to complain about being lonely, but he encounters a new GirlOfTheWeek in almost every episode.
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* SophisticatedAsHell: As part of his high-class nature, George talks in a flowery manner and often spouts out obscure literary references in addition to his liberal amounts of swearing.
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* SophisticatedAsHell: As part of his high-class nature, George talks in a flowery grandiose manner and often spouts out obscure literary references in addition to his liberal amounts of swearing.
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[[/folder]]
!Recurring Characters
[[folder: Richard Antrem]]
!!Richard Antrem
->Played by: Creator/OliverPlatt
George's rival in the publishing world, an editor at ''GQ'' as well as the new husband of George's ex-wife Priscilla.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He tries to one-up George in any way possible, whether in a boxing match or opening a rival restaurant.
* ForTheEvulz: There's no real reason he keeps screwing with George, he just seems to enjoy it.
* HeelFaceTurn: Strangely, at the end of "Make It Quick, Fitzgerald!", a dejected Richard (who just discovered his wife is cheating on him with George) asks George and Jonathan if they want to grab a drink. He's back to his usual self in the next season, however.
* LargeHam: He's obnoxious and blustering, especially when preparing for his boxing match against George.
* LastNameBasis: George only refers to him as "Antrem."
* ProperlyParanoid: He has very little reason to believe Priscilla is having an affair when he hires Jonathan. She is having one, and with George—who is also Antrem's nemesis and publishing rival—to boot.
* SitcomArchNemesis: To George, naturally. Cranked UpToEleven in Season 3 when after George opens a restaurant, Richard opens his own restaurant specifically to try and drive George's out of business.
* SmugSnake: He's got far more of an ego than George.
* UglyGuyHotWife: George is deeply offended that the "pompous, bloated toad" Richard is married to his "favorite ex-wife" Priscilla.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Louis Greene]]
!!Louis Greene
->Played by: Creator/JohnHodgman
An author and literary critic who panned Jonathan's first novel and never misses an opportunity to belittle or insult him.
* AmbiguouslyGay: [[ItMakesSenseInContext He suddenly kisses Ray]] the one time Ray appears to express sympathy for him. Later in that episode, he admits he's deeply lonely and intimacy-starved. There are no real hints to his sexuality otherwise.
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: After he sprains his ankle and Jonathan rescues him from a mob of angry drug dealers.
* FreudianExcuse: According to Richard, his father was a childhood psychologist who experimented on him and made him sleep in a box.
* HumiliationConga: In Season 3, Louis has crippling debt, is bumped from the Dick Cavett Show which he has spent his entire life wanting to appear on, gets arrested, and winds up working a menial job for Richard, who constantly berates him.
* InsufferableGenius: Starts out as one, then becomes more of a SmallNameBigEgo as the series goes on.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Louis's segment on The New Dick Cavett Show is canceled in favor of Jonathan's. The revelation causes him to go through serious SanitySlippage.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: To accentuate his smugness, he talks in a ridiculously flowery fashion.
* SitcomArchNemesis: To Jonathan, clearly. [[IrrationalHatred It's never fully explained]] why he hates him so much.
* SmugSnake: Mostly everything he says is dripping with condescension.
* VillainDecay: After his arrest on the Dick Cavett Show, Louis becomes less threatening and more of a sad sack.
!Recurring Characters
[[folder: Richard Antrem]]
!!Richard Antrem
->Played by: Creator/OliverPlatt
George's rival in the publishing world, an editor at ''GQ'' as well as the new husband of George's ex-wife Priscilla.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He tries to one-up George in any way possible, whether in a boxing match or opening a rival restaurant.
* ForTheEvulz: There's no real reason he keeps screwing with George, he just seems to enjoy it.
* HeelFaceTurn: Strangely, at the end of "Make It Quick, Fitzgerald!", a dejected Richard (who just discovered his wife is cheating on him with George) asks George and Jonathan if they want to grab a drink. He's back to his usual self in the next season, however.
* LargeHam: He's obnoxious and blustering, especially when preparing for his boxing match against George.
* LastNameBasis: George only refers to him as "Antrem."
* ProperlyParanoid: He has very little reason to believe Priscilla is having an affair when he hires Jonathan. She is having one, and with George—who is also Antrem's nemesis and publishing rival—to boot.
* SitcomArchNemesis: To George, naturally. Cranked UpToEleven in Season 3 when after George opens a restaurant, Richard opens his own restaurant specifically to try and drive George's out of business.
* SmugSnake: He's got far more of an ego than George.
* UglyGuyHotWife: George is deeply offended that the "pompous, bloated toad" Richard is married to his "favorite ex-wife" Priscilla.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Louis Greene]]
!!Louis Greene
->Played by: Creator/JohnHodgman
An author and literary critic who panned Jonathan's first novel and never misses an opportunity to belittle or insult him.
* AmbiguouslyGay: [[ItMakesSenseInContext He suddenly kisses Ray]] the one time Ray appears to express sympathy for him. Later in that episode, he admits he's deeply lonely and intimacy-starved. There are no real hints to his sexuality otherwise.
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: After he sprains his ankle and Jonathan rescues him from a mob of angry drug dealers.
* FreudianExcuse: According to Richard, his father was a childhood psychologist who experimented on him and made him sleep in a box.
* HumiliationConga: In Season 3, Louis has crippling debt, is bumped from the Dick Cavett Show which he has spent his entire life wanting to appear on, gets arrested, and winds up working a menial job for Richard, who constantly berates him.
* InsufferableGenius: Starts out as one, then becomes more of a SmallNameBigEgo as the series goes on.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Louis's segment on The New Dick Cavett Show is canceled in favor of Jonathan's. The revelation causes him to go through serious SanitySlippage.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: To accentuate his smugness, he talks in a ridiculously flowery fashion.
* SitcomArchNemesis: To Jonathan, clearly. [[IrrationalHatred It's never fully explained]] why he hates him so much.
* SmugSnake: Mostly everything he says is dripping with condescension.
* VillainDecay: After his arrest on the Dick Cavett Show, Louis becomes less threatening and more of a sad sack.
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None
Added DiffLines:
[[foldercontrol]]
This page details the characters in the HBO TV series ''Bored to Death''.
!Main Characters
[[folder: Jonathan Ames]]
!!Jonathan Ames
->Played by: Creator/JasonSchwartzman
The main character of the series, a 30-year-old struggling novelist living in Brooklyn. After his girlfriend dumps him due to his frequent substance use. Jonathan publishes a Craigslist ad describing himself as an (unlicensed) private detective.
----
* TheAlcoholic: Often downplayed in favor of his [[TheStoner marijuana use]], but Jonathan drinks white wine very, very frequently.
* AmateurSleuth: Jonathan becoming one of these out of boredom and loneliness is the show's premise.
* ApologisesALot: This is pointed out by Creator/SarahSilverman's therapist character when Jonathan is in deep water with George.
* AuthorAvatar: Shares a name with the creator of the show, and many of the misadventures show-Jonathan gets himself into were inspired by incidents from the real Ames' memoirs.
* CluelessDetective: Especially in the first season, most of Jonathan's cases go horribly wrong.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: It's very, very hidden, but this is visible in the rare instances when Jonathan actually succeeds in solving something, especially after bribing people.
* DisguisedInDrag: Briefly, when he's attempting to solve a case at a Korean spa and must go into the women's locker room.
* ExtremeDoormat: Jonathan is prone to spirals of self-loathing, gets kicked around all the time, and ApologisesALot. George points this out during their feud.
* GagNose: The size of Jonathan's nose is frequently the butt of jokes.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With both George and Ray.
* JewishAndNerdy: Constantly pointed out by other characters. He's described as "one of those self-hating New York Jews" within the first minute of the pilot.
* MistakenForGay: Often happens when he's out and about with Ray.
* NotSoBadassLongcoat: Jonathan tries, but he can't really pull off a BadassLongcoat.
* SerialRomeo: He's instantly attracted to nearly every woman he runs into.
* TheStoner: Much like the other two leads, Jonathan constantly smokes marijuana.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: George Christopher]]
!!George Christopher
->Played by: Creator/TedDanson
George is the editor of New York magazine ''Edition''. In addition to being his occasional employer, he's become a close friend and father figure to Jonathan, perhaps as a way to vicariously reclaim his youth (often through drugs and sex) and to escape boredom.
----
* BourgeoisBohemian: George runs an upper-class magazine similar to ''The New Yorker'' and constantly smokes pot. A major plotline in Season 2 involves him adjusting to the fact that his magazine is bought by a conservative company.
* CoolOldGuy: Desperately wants to be one, after spending decades in the New York corporate world.
* TheDandy: He's intensely concerned about his appearance. One episode involves a herpes scare on his lip, which he's horrified about.
* DivorceIsTemporary: He hooks up with his ex-wife Priscilla several times throughout the series, claiming he never fell out of love with her.
* EccentricMentor: To both Jonathan and Ray.
* EruditeStoner: He has his clueless spirals, but George serves as a (comparatively) wise mentor to Jonathan even while stoned out of his mind.
* LiteralMinded: When Ray says that the all male changing rooms at a Korean spa are an "Asian sausage factory," George marvels at how a spa also produces Asian sausage and notes that he would like to try one sometime.
* ParentalSubstitute: Serves as a father figure to Jonathan more and more as the series goes on.
* ReallyGetsAround: While at a bar with Jonathan, he starts counting all his past one-night stands and comes to the realization that he's been "fucking forever." He's also been married thrice.
* SharpDressedMan: He's always wearing fancy suits.
* SophisticatedAsHell: As part of his high-class nature, George talks in a flowery manner and often spouts out obscure literary references in addition to his liberal amounts of swearing.
* TheStoner: George has been smoking weed since the 1960s.
* TheWonka: He's a bigwig in the publishing world, and also a deeply strange man, bordering on {{Manchild}}.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Ray Hueston]]
!!Ray Hueston
->Played by: Creator/ZachGalifianakis
Ray, a rather curmudgeonly comic book artist, is Jonathan's best friend and sidekick who often accompanies him in his cases. In his own life, he's dealing with financial difficulties and volatile relationship issues with his on-and-off girlfriend Leah.
----
* DidNotGetTheGirl: The series ends with Leah conclusively breaking up with Ray.
* TheDragAlong: He really wants nothing to do with most of Jonathan's cases, but is a loyal enough friend to stick with him.
* GagPenis: His comic book alter-ego, "Super-Ray," whose massive penis is the source of his powers.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Jonathan, and also George later on.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He and Leah are both very self-absorbed in ridiculous ways, which causes a lot of their arguments.
* KavorkaMan: Especially once his comics start selling, Ray gets a strange amount of attention from women despite being a slovenly, pudgy, immature man.
* KidsAreCruel: He's apprehensive to meet his son Spencer (the result of his sperm donor) because kids bullied him constantly, calling him "Gay Hueston."
* LikesOlderWomen: Toward the end of the series, he realizes he's suffering from "elder love."
* {{Manchild}}: To a ridiculous extent. He can barely function as an adult and is well aware of this:
-->"I should have never started dating a woman with kids. I have to be the only child in a woman’s life."
* MistakenForGay: He and Jonathan are assumed to be a couple multiple times, and then there's his strange dynamic with Louis.
* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: Ray and Leah break up and get back together countless times.
* TheStoner: He smokes perhaps even more than Jonathan, claiming it's the only way he'll get artistic inspiration.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Ray is a selfish man-child with an infantile obsession regarding his penis (basically the centerpiece of his web comic), who mooches off his girlfriend, cheats on her with an older woman at one point, and is often intoxicated when he is supposed to be watching her children or his infant son.
* YourCheatingHeart: Cheats on Leah multiple times with an elderly woman named Belinda.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Leah]]
!!Leah
->Played by: Heather Burns
Leah is Ray's on-and-off girlfriend who he lives with. Although she has a job and two children of her own, she's just as difficult and needy as Ray.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Although it's in a more (seemingly) adult-oriented manner than Ray.
* OnTheRebound: Immediately after dumping Ray, Leah hooks up with another man named Irwin (played by [[CreatorCameo the real Jonathan Ames]] in a full-frontal nude cameo).
* ParentingTheHusband: Ray often childishly bemoans how she makes him do chores, gives him an "allowance," and usually has to "reward" him with sex.
* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: Ray and Leah break up and get back together countless times.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: After Heather Burns was promoted to the main cast in Season 2, Leah is the one main female character in the series and has little depth outside of her relationship with Ray.
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: Leah is considerably taller than Ray, even if he's pudgier.
* WomenAreWiser: Subverted: while Leah clearly has her life together much more than Ray, her actions are just as bizarre.
[[/folder]]
This page details the characters in the HBO TV series ''Bored to Death''.
!Main Characters
[[folder: Jonathan Ames]]
!!Jonathan Ames
->Played by: Creator/JasonSchwartzman
The main character of the series, a 30-year-old struggling novelist living in Brooklyn. After his girlfriend dumps him due to his frequent substance use. Jonathan publishes a Craigslist ad describing himself as an (unlicensed) private detective.
----
* TheAlcoholic: Often downplayed in favor of his [[TheStoner marijuana use]], but Jonathan drinks white wine very, very frequently.
* AmateurSleuth: Jonathan becoming one of these out of boredom and loneliness is the show's premise.
* ApologisesALot: This is pointed out by Creator/SarahSilverman's therapist character when Jonathan is in deep water with George.
* AuthorAvatar: Shares a name with the creator of the show, and many of the misadventures show-Jonathan gets himself into were inspired by incidents from the real Ames' memoirs.
* CluelessDetective: Especially in the first season, most of Jonathan's cases go horribly wrong.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: It's very, very hidden, but this is visible in the rare instances when Jonathan actually succeeds in solving something, especially after bribing people.
* DisguisedInDrag: Briefly, when he's attempting to solve a case at a Korean spa and must go into the women's locker room.
* ExtremeDoormat: Jonathan is prone to spirals of self-loathing, gets kicked around all the time, and ApologisesALot. George points this out during their feud.
* GagNose: The size of Jonathan's nose is frequently the butt of jokes.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With both George and Ray.
* JewishAndNerdy: Constantly pointed out by other characters. He's described as "one of those self-hating New York Jews" within the first minute of the pilot.
* MistakenForGay: Often happens when he's out and about with Ray.
* NotSoBadassLongcoat: Jonathan tries, but he can't really pull off a BadassLongcoat.
* SerialRomeo: He's instantly attracted to nearly every woman he runs into.
* TheStoner: Much like the other two leads, Jonathan constantly smokes marijuana.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: George Christopher]]
!!George Christopher
->Played by: Creator/TedDanson
George is the editor of New York magazine ''Edition''. In addition to being his occasional employer, he's become a close friend and father figure to Jonathan, perhaps as a way to vicariously reclaim his youth (often through drugs and sex) and to escape boredom.
----
* BourgeoisBohemian: George runs an upper-class magazine similar to ''The New Yorker'' and constantly smokes pot. A major plotline in Season 2 involves him adjusting to the fact that his magazine is bought by a conservative company.
* CoolOldGuy: Desperately wants to be one, after spending decades in the New York corporate world.
* TheDandy: He's intensely concerned about his appearance. One episode involves a herpes scare on his lip, which he's horrified about.
* DivorceIsTemporary: He hooks up with his ex-wife Priscilla several times throughout the series, claiming he never fell out of love with her.
* EccentricMentor: To both Jonathan and Ray.
* EruditeStoner: He has his clueless spirals, but George serves as a (comparatively) wise mentor to Jonathan even while stoned out of his mind.
* LiteralMinded: When Ray says that the all male changing rooms at a Korean spa are an "Asian sausage factory," George marvels at how a spa also produces Asian sausage and notes that he would like to try one sometime.
* ParentalSubstitute: Serves as a father figure to Jonathan more and more as the series goes on.
* ReallyGetsAround: While at a bar with Jonathan, he starts counting all his past one-night stands and comes to the realization that he's been "fucking forever." He's also been married thrice.
* SharpDressedMan: He's always wearing fancy suits.
* SophisticatedAsHell: As part of his high-class nature, George talks in a flowery manner and often spouts out obscure literary references in addition to his liberal amounts of swearing.
* TheStoner: George has been smoking weed since the 1960s.
* TheWonka: He's a bigwig in the publishing world, and also a deeply strange man, bordering on {{Manchild}}.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Ray Hueston]]
!!Ray Hueston
->Played by: Creator/ZachGalifianakis
Ray, a rather curmudgeonly comic book artist, is Jonathan's best friend and sidekick who often accompanies him in his cases. In his own life, he's dealing with financial difficulties and volatile relationship issues with his on-and-off girlfriend Leah.
----
* DidNotGetTheGirl: The series ends with Leah conclusively breaking up with Ray.
* TheDragAlong: He really wants nothing to do with most of Jonathan's cases, but is a loyal enough friend to stick with him.
* GagPenis: His comic book alter-ego, "Super-Ray," whose massive penis is the source of his powers.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Jonathan, and also George later on.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He and Leah are both very self-absorbed in ridiculous ways, which causes a lot of their arguments.
* KavorkaMan: Especially once his comics start selling, Ray gets a strange amount of attention from women despite being a slovenly, pudgy, immature man.
* KidsAreCruel: He's apprehensive to meet his son Spencer (the result of his sperm donor) because kids bullied him constantly, calling him "Gay Hueston."
* LikesOlderWomen: Toward the end of the series, he realizes he's suffering from "elder love."
* {{Manchild}}: To a ridiculous extent. He can barely function as an adult and is well aware of this:
-->"I should have never started dating a woman with kids. I have to be the only child in a woman’s life."
* MistakenForGay: He and Jonathan are assumed to be a couple multiple times, and then there's his strange dynamic with Louis.
* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: Ray and Leah break up and get back together countless times.
* TheStoner: He smokes perhaps even more than Jonathan, claiming it's the only way he'll get artistic inspiration.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Ray is a selfish man-child with an infantile obsession regarding his penis (basically the centerpiece of his web comic), who mooches off his girlfriend, cheats on her with an older woman at one point, and is often intoxicated when he is supposed to be watching her children or his infant son.
* YourCheatingHeart: Cheats on Leah multiple times with an elderly woman named Belinda.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Leah]]
!!Leah
->Played by: Heather Burns
Leah is Ray's on-and-off girlfriend who he lives with. Although she has a job and two children of her own, she's just as difficult and needy as Ray.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Although it's in a more (seemingly) adult-oriented manner than Ray.
* OnTheRebound: Immediately after dumping Ray, Leah hooks up with another man named Irwin (played by [[CreatorCameo the real Jonathan Ames]] in a full-frontal nude cameo).
* ParentingTheHusband: Ray often childishly bemoans how she makes him do chores, gives him an "allowance," and usually has to "reward" him with sex.
* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: Ray and Leah break up and get back together countless times.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: After Heather Burns was promoted to the main cast in Season 2, Leah is the one main female character in the series and has little depth outside of her relationship with Ray.
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: Leah is considerably taller than Ray, even if he's pudgier.
* WomenAreWiser: Subverted: while Leah clearly has her life together much more than Ray, her actions are just as bizarre.
[[/folder]]
