Monday, April 19, 2010

The Life and Times of Tim

Have you ever seen a movie or TV show -- or even read a book? -- where you think to yourself "This was created just for me!"

That's how I feel about the HBO animated series "The Life and Times of Tim." Steve Dildarian, the genius behind this hilarious show, must have said "I wonder what kinda show Mr NYC would like to see?" -- and then created it. Watching this show is like looking into a surreal, dark version of my life. I don't know how anyone else but me can really enjoy it. (Seriously.)

To whit: Tim (no last name) is a skinny, underemployed loser who lives in NYC with his ball-busting girlfriend and has dopey friends. (This is basically my life except that my wife is an angel and my friends are much smarter than me.) Anyway, each episode -- which consists of two fifteen-minute stories -- has the goodhearted, weak, go-along-to-get-along Tim falling into all sorts of bizarre entanglements that always end horribly. Tim is basically a guy who wants to earn his keep, hang with his girlfriend and his pals, and enjoy life. Unfortunately bad stuff keeps happening to him, and his attempts to deal with it are always well-meaning and disastrous.

What I love about this show is that, for all the craziness, the show's humor has a wry intelligence. And all of the characters -- his girlfriend Amy, his friends Rodney and Stu, his black hooker Debbie, his crazy boss -- are well developed and interesting. Whether its faking a seizure in a bar so that it will help a horny young doctor score chicks or baking a "condolence casserole" or going to Cincinnati on a business trip with an insane co-worker, the situations in this show are as bizarre and original as you're likely to see anywhere. You just have to watch it for yourself. Check out the clip below.

"The Life and Times of Tim" airs Fridays at 9:30 on HBO. The second season has two more episodes left and you can get season one on Netflix. If you want to see the funniest show in a long time, you should check it out.

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