So... I don't know if people are just behind the 8ball, don't have IFC, or just aren't paying any heed, but the best new comedy on TV right now is "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret." This zany comedy sees David Cross staring as Todd, a man self-destructing through a series of events arising from a combination of bad luck and his own poor judgment.
Each episode opens with Todd on trial in England for a list of crimes I can't recall nor care to recant, but you get my point, it's long. We then flash back to see how he's gone from working as an office drone in Portland, Oregon, to his present predicament. It all starts when Todd's abrasive, vulgar boss, Brent Wilts, played by Will Arnett, invests in Thunder Muscle, a toxic Korean energy drink, because he has been lead to believe "the English are nuts for the stuff." He taps Todd as his man to send across the pond to head up his UK sales department after overhearing our hero chew someone out in filthy, rude terms.
In reality, Todd is a temp with no sales experience who's probably never been outside of Portland. His profanity-laced tirade was actually being fed to him by a self-help tape; it wasn't targeted at anybody. But Todd, sensing an opportunity, awkwardly perpetuates his own myth by claiming his father was from Leeds (inspiration provided by a stray copy of the Who's landmark Live at Leeds). Brent doesn't question any of this, and soon Todd is bidding farewell to his "girlfriend" — who in fact slept with him once, when she was drunk, and has no recollection of the event — and leaving out two weeks' worth of food for his cat (which ends up backfiring hilarious in the last episode.) Once in London, Todd discovers a ludicrous amount of inventory and a sales staff consisting of one guy, Dave, whose chief function seems to be goading Todd into making an ass of himself. He finds a friendly face in a local barista named Alice, a sexy Brit if I do say, but her kindness is limited, though her obsession with molecular cuisine makes for some amusing references.
Five episode in and I am hooked. You should be too.
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