THE LITTLE THINGS: The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, pilot

The above background poster generated one of the few laughs I had while watching the pilot of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, David Cross' new series, slated to premiere October 1st on IFC.

The show concerns the eponymous Todd Margaret, an incompetent, somewhat dimwitted American. While temping at a sales company, Todd stumbles into a job managing a new British division selling the above-pictured energy drinks (because apparently American business executives think that British people love guzzling down thunder and muscles). Once in England, Todd discovers what pounds are, doesn't understand how anything else works, and kind of makes friends with an empathetic cafe owner/Catherine Keener act-alike (Sharon Horgan). Todd's one employee is an assholey British guy (Russel Tovey), who I guess got recast for the actual series, hopefully by someone less assholey. For star-power, Will Arnett plays a douchebaggy GOB/Devon Banks crossover, Kristen Schaal for some reason appears in the background of one shot, and Amber Tamblyn guests because, y'know, she's fucking David Cross. And though this pilot was directed by the Russo brothers (those masterful réalisateurs of some of my favorite Arrested Development episodes) and co-written by Cross and the British comedian Shaun Pye, watching Todd Margaret is not an enjoyable experience.

For one thing, Todd is just too stupid and ignorant, and not in the "likable dunce" or "naive foreigner" way that works for shows like The Flight of the Conchords. No, Todd is one of those characters you don't exactly want to see fail, you just... don't want to see. And the other characters are really not any better. Todd Margaret is populated by the kinds of British people you really only ever see in US portrayals of England. Even with a Brit on the writing staff, and the heritage of the cast (though even that is questionable, what with their Rich Fulcher-like Oxford accents), this representation of England called to mind terrible movies my sister likes to watch -- the Amanda Byne's vehicle What a Girl Wants, the Emma Roberts flick Wild Child (in which British people somehow don't know what cellphones are). Everyone in this England is either trying to make Americans look like dicks, or is a little bit slow, and a little bit too fond of their pints and tea. And okay, okay, I know, I'm not British, nor have I ever been to England, but I'd say I've watched quite enough hours of UK TV to compensate. Also, this show just really isn't funny.

So... I guess IFC thought the pilot was good enough for a greenlighting, but I'm not sure I could stand to watch another episode of Todd Margaret's antics -- let alone the six of the first season -- even for Mr. David Cross. You can watch the pilot and make your own call, but I'd advise just laughing at the above screencap, and then reassuring yourself of your love for England with a little bit of Boosh while eating some Spaghetti Hoops.