Chairman of the bored

On the phone, Jonathan Ames talks… very… slowly. He answers questions with great deliberation, as you’d expect someone who specializes in crafting words to do. But you’re also reminded, almost unavoidably, of the halting speech patterns of a stoner, which is what his eponymous character on the HBO show Bored to Death (played by Jason Schwartzman), seems to be. Marijuana is a bit of a theme on early episodes of Bored to Death, which concerns a 30-ish would-be novelist who, as the show opens, enjoys his sauvignon blanc and reefer a bit too much, gets dumped by his girlfriend, and impulsively decides to become a private investigator by placing an ad on Craigslist.

Rather than a cul de sac, the private eye angle is a brilliant stroke by writer and show creator Ames: it allows Bored to Death to slip its way through various interwoven plotlines centered around Ames’ home turf of Brooklyn. With Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson onboard as his buddies, it dwells in the quirky, idiosyncratic waters of noir, romance, comic book art, and pot comedy — sometimes all at once.

In fact, watching episodes from Season 1, I couldn’t help thinking the show bears some of the loose-limbed, laidback charm of that ‘70s detective show, The Rockford Files. In that series, James Garner played a casual, sometimes disheveled P.I. who spent more time getting his car out of a towing pound than brandishing a nine-millimeter. Rockford’s anti-hero masked an abiding humanity: Jim Rockford was always more concerned about his clients’ welfare than in getting paid.

Chandleresque: Jonathan Ames on set of HBO’s Bored to Death.

Ames was recently available for a phone interview through HBO, offering insights into his influences, his meta alter ego on the show, the difference between TV and novel writing and the importance of owning a television set so you can watch your own show on television.

Bored to Death is kind of like The Rockford Files for our generation. Were you a fan of that ‘70s detective show?

JONATHAN AMES: I do remember watching that as a kid and I remember loving it. I haven’t thought about it in a long time. You bringing it up might be the first time I’ve thought about it in 20 years. But it must be somewhere in the back of my mind as an early influence… I recall he used to live in a trailer or something… But I remember loving that show.

You’ve said before the Jonathan Ames character on the show is modeled a bit on the fictional detective Philip Marlowe?

Raymond Chandler is a big influence on the show. A lot of the cases were inspired by Philip Marlowe. He’s like a modern knight in shining armor, a hero, a tough guy. Also the banter, the way he speaks. Yeah, Chandler had a great influence on the character of the show.

The whole “Jonathan Ames as a character” thing is very meta. Is he you?

I do live vicariously through the Jonathan Ames character because I’ve always had the fantasy of being a private detective, being heroic. So I do get to live through him (though he’s not me, he’s younger than I am). I named him after myself because originally “Bored to Death” was a short story where I named the main character after myself, just so the reader might, for a moment, think it was true, that the writer was actually a detective. And then I continued that conceit with the show, perhaps also for the viewer to wonder, “Is this really happening to this writer?” Sometimes that wonderment can add to the pleasure or curiosity of what you’re seeing or reading.

Also, it seems egotistical, but I kind of get to speak through all the characters on the show, so I don’t have to identify with the “Jonathan” character more than others.

What’s it like having Jason Schwartzman play you?

I’ve become wonderful friends with Jason. I like his humanity as an actor. He’s like a younger brother. We’re very close. In preparation for doing this show, he moved to Brooklyn and spent a lot of time with me and he’s just become a dear friend in my life. And Zach (Galifianakis) as well. We just have a very congenial set, and people have fun making the show. I don’t know why, but they do and we do. So it’s wonderful thing.

You have a lot of guest stars on Bored to Death (Jim Jarmusch, Parker Posey, Kevin Bacon). Do you have a “wish list” now of people you’d like to write into the show?

I don’t have a wish list. For me, it starts with writing a character, and then along the way I think of an actor who might fit the role. So the character always comes first. Writing for a specific person doesn’t feel as organic.

But in the second season I do have a guest appearance as myself, where I’m completely naked. I don’t know why I did that, actually. It was an insane, self-destructive moment. I’ll be playing a character named Irwin — my father’s name. I think I’m the first creator of a television show to go completely naked. It’s an episode in which the men are very concerned about their virility and masculinity, and I thought I should serve as an example of someone who has reason to be ashamed.

Is it true you didn’t have a TV set through most of your adult life?

I never really watched much TV as an adult. Certainly, as a kid growing up and as a young adult, I did. But living in New York, I couldn’t really afford cable or going out to movies a lot. So I would just go out at night and see friends or read books. Then I got the TV show Bored to Death, and HBO found out I didn’t have a TV and that I was going out to friends’ houses to watch the show so they very kindly gave me a big TV set for my apartment.

Dressed to kill: Magazine publisher George (Ted Danson) mans up.

Let’s see… Growing up I remember loving All in the Family. At one time I watched the British show Are You Being Served? because I had a roommate with a TV at the time. Since I got the television, I watch HBO and True Blood a lot. But not much else, so I’m not much of a critic in that way.

Do you get bored a lot yourself?

I don’t ever really feel bored myself. Actually, one thing bores me: I hate to shop. I don’t like shopping for clothing or food. I hate the act of shopping and waiting on line. That’s boring to me.

You’ve written eight novels, screenplays and now teleplays. What are the differences?

With screenplays you have to be very, very efficient. You can’t stay on one subject too long, you have to keep everything moving to hold the audience’s attention. With a novel, it’s the same goal, but you can follow a thought more grandly and more extensively. So I do miss writing novels. But television is also a fun medium. With television, you have to keep everything moving very quickly, especially a comedy that’s 30 minutes long, or else you risk boring your audience. Even though the show is called Bored to Death, I’m not allowed to bore them.

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Season 2 of Bored to Death premieres this May, Monday nights, 9 p.m. on HBO.