'Bored to Death' gets one thing right: The title

Sure, you could make the easy pun on Bored to Death's name, but that would be as indolent, indulgent and humor-free as the show itself.

Created by novelist Jonathan Ames, Bored stars Rushmore's Jason Schwartzman as a struggling novelist called — just to make the show a bit more precious — Jonathan Ames. Having been dumped by his girlfriend for drinking too much wine and smoking too much pot, Jonathan decides to shake up his life by offering his unlicensed services as a private eye.

The amateur, somewhat bumbling detective is an old plot standby, used multiple times on the big screen by Danny Kaye, Bob Hope and Red Skelton, and more recently (and to better effect) on TV by Andy Richter. The difference is that those characters weren't losers; they were underachievers who just lacked opportunity and encouragement. As listlessly played by Schwartzman, Jonathan is a drug-dealing, drug-addicted, whiny, wimpy, willowy twerp. Loser would be a step up.

Bored is so clearly pleased with itself that it seems almost churlish to point out that in the real world, Jonathan's blithe, addled incompetence would be a threat to all involved — or that in a show making a less self-conscious effort to be indie-cred sophisticated, having a woman enjoy being kidnapped, bound and gagged by her meth-head boyfriend would be seen as wildly offensive. But we're supposed to know the show is being ironically detached, because it never musters enough energy to be anything else.

What little amusement there is here is provided by two excellent, generally wasted actors: Ted Danson as Jonathan's sometimes boss, and Zach Galifianakis as his best friend. But overall, Bored is TV that's tailor-made for people who hate TV. It won't make you laugh, but it will make you feel hipper than the room, and for some, that will be enough.

For everyone else, watch HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm Sunday and let Bored take care of itself.