Who Should Buy the Poor Decisions of David Cross, Will Arnett and Spike Jonze?

While waiting for that mythic Arrested Development script to fall from the frozen banana stand in the sky, David Cross penned a pilot for himself called The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. The series stars Cross as a hapless employee who flukes himself into a promotion abroad, Will Arnett as his brazenly inappropriate boss ("If I wanted to see you wear jeans, I would have gone to your sh*tty house!"), Spike Jonze in his first substantial role since Three Kings, and a cameo by Cross's real life girlfriend, Amber Tamblyn. On top of that star power, a three-minute clip (after the jump) proves that the series is funnier than Parks & Recreation. Alas, the series is being aired exclusively on UK's Channel 4. So which U.S. network is going to step up and purchase what could be the best overseas office comedy since The Office? Movieline investigates.

Broadcast frontrunner: NBC

Aside from the fact that the Peacock has a stranglehold on the Arnett-Poehler household, NBC has carved two hours on Thursdays exclusively for workplace comedy. Poor Decisions could be just the kind of edgy half hour program about misfits that Community never became, with the quirk appeal of Arrested Development (and a quarter of the cast!). And if NBC decides to snuff out Parks & Recreation to free up room in its Thursday line-up, I'm sure Cross could create a character for Poehler -- maybe as the comically unaware head of a rival energy drink company that faces off against Arnett's character in an environmentally-friendly caffeine drink-off, moderated by Al Gore. (Still, the bad language would need to be scrubbed -- but hey, they did that on Arrested Development too!)

Basic cable frontrunner: Comedy Central

The cable network has a reputation for fostering edgy series from established comedians and improv actors, and Comedy Central already has a relationship with David Cross after airing his animated series Freak Show in 2006. Since their lineup already includes the controversial humor of South Park and The Jeff Dunham Show, Comedy Central would welcome Poor Decisions in all of its politically incorrect glory with open arms. While they might not be able to pay as much as NBC, Cross could rest easy knowing that he would never be forced to tie in a Comcast endorsement or devote an entire segment to environmental consciousness.

Premium cable frontrunner: HBO

It's not TV, it's HBO, and it does not discriminate against profanity-laced language, sexually explicit self-help tape names, or overseas humor, as evidenced by its hand in Ricky Gervais's Extras. And with Curb Your Enthusiasm on a possibly permanent hiatus after its Seinfeld reunion season, there might be a half hour open at Home Box Office.



Comments

  • HwoodHills says:

    NBC could use this. Maybe Sunday nights at 7?

  • Your Mum says:

    No, 'Parks and Rec' is funnier, as is 'Community'. This gets a lot less funny after Arnett and Jonze depart (i.e. after the clip). I say this partly as a Brit who is bored of 'edgy' mean-spirited comedy, coz we get quite a lot of it, post-'Office'.

  • The Winchester says:

    This thing has FX written all over it. Show it after It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. No brainer.
    This is the best thing Spike Jonze has been involved with all year. I know what I said.

  • SunnydaZe says:

    "bored of 'edgy' mean-spirited comedy"
    What other kind is there??

  • Euan says:

    It does have Sharon Horgan so there is some hope in it. Just please don't try and steal her away.

  • Peg Entwistle says:

    It's still only a pilot. It was done, along with several other pilots (there's a decent one with Murray from "Flight of the Conchords" as a magician) as part of an annual Channel 4 thing called the Comedy Showcase. They order a bunch of pilots, air one a week for several weeks, and see which ones rate highly enough (and get enough buzz) to warrant a full series (i.e. 6 eps) order. There aren't any other episodes shot.

  • Smack says:

    yeah, Parks & Recreation is the funniest show on NBC on Thursdays right now. That show has gotten so, so, so much better this season. It would be absolutely idiotic for NBC to cancel that.
    Community is much, much worse.

  • Comedy Nerd says:

    HBO is probably out since Cross recently shot a pilot for them and they passed on it. It was called David's Situation. Bob Odenkirk was also involved. Shame on you, HBO.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cross

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