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Gothamist On Location With... <em>Bored To Death</em>
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 13, 2011
Modified Apr 13, 2011
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 13, 2011
Modified Apr 13, 2011
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Yesterday, we stopped by the most Brooklyn place in all of Brooklyn: the Bored to Death set, which is actually the least Brooklyn place in all of the show. It's set up at Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and inside you'll find—amongst other things—the West Village apartment of George Christopher (played by Ted Danson). In the upcoming third season, which Jonathan Ames & Co. are filming now, you'll find that George has opened a restaurant on Jane Street called George on Jane, and has moved to an apartment above his new venture. (You can see photos of the envy-inducing, albeit fake, piece of real estate in the gallery above.) We sat down to talk with the real Jonathan Ames, and the show's "Jonathan Ames," played by the incredibly kind and charming Jason Schwartzman—who started things off with this linguistic time stamp: "Let's note that this interview is being shot and recorded on a vintage Flip cam. It's kind of a collector's item." Here's what we learned:
On fictional Brooklyn real estate: Schwartzman's character in the show has also moved, and that big clock you'll see in the above gallery has something to do with his new digs (it's a replica of the Williamsburg Savings Bank clock!).
On Ted Danson and fictional restaurants: Ted Danson's role as a restaurant owner in the new Adam Yauch-directed Beastie Boys short has nothing to do with his new role as restaurant owner on the show. Ames tells us, "I heard about this video because Jason and Ted are both in it, but I didn't know that there was anything about opening a restaurant with Ted Danson in it. Just... in the zeitgeist!"
On what's happening with season three: "It's a year later. Jonathan continues to be a detective. His cases... some of them are more dangerous than ever. George at the end of season two has quit his job at the magazine and he mentions that maybe he'd open a restaurant, so he opens an artisinal, organic restaurant in Manhattan."
On being cultural representatives of Brooklyn: Ames says, "I was on the subway one day, and this realtor introduced himself to me. Very nice older man. He said, "I love your show, and just so you know, when I show different neighborhoods to clients I say 'This is a Bored to Death' neighborhood." I got a kick out of that. Welcome Back Kotter, early on, I kind of remember there would be this big sign 'Brooklyn: The 5th Largest City in the World' or something like that. Brooklyn is enormous and varied. I mean, yeah I don't think any other TV show is really showing Brooklyn at the moment. I don't know that we're the cultural representative of it, but we're culturally presenting it. We're one of many different groups of artists presenting Brooklyn."
On the real Jonathan Ames vs. the fake Jonathan Ames:JA: It's good that you don't portray me. How can you portray someone who's boring?
JS: You're not boring.
JA: Well as a portrayal. I'm a boring person. I'm boring right now.
JS: Let's not go there. Now now, musn't go there, musn't go there!
Currently there's no air date for the first episode of season 3, but the show will be returning to HBO sometime this year (most likely September).
Tagged
bored to death
brooklyn
Gothamist On Location
Gothamist On Set
HBO
jason schwartzman
jonathan ames
set
television
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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