Schwartzman Claims "Bored to Death" at HBO

Max Fischer has done quite well for himself.

Jason Schwartzman has been cast as the lead in the HBO comedy pilot Bored to Death, in which he'll play a depressed man who, after a painful breakup with his girlfriend, begins to live his life as though he were one of the characters in the novels of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler and takes out an add pretending to be a private detective.

Schwartzman's attachment has lifted the casting contingency on the pilot, which will begin shooting in New York in September. His last television role was in the Mike White-created FOX comedy Cracking Up, which ran for six episodes in 2004.

Bored to Death is written and executive produced by novelist Jonathan Ames. Personally, I hope it turns out even half as good as it sounds.

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In other casting news, Lloyd Owen (Viva Laughlin, Monarch of the Glen), Malik Yoba (Raines; though he'll always be ICE from Arrested Development to me), and Warren Kole (24) have been cast in FOX drama pilot Inseparable, from creator Shaun Cassidy, about a paralyzed forensic investigator who happens to have an alter ego who is a vicious criminal.

Owen has replaced fellow Brit actor Toby Stephens as Justin Lambreaux; Stephens departed the project due to scheduling conflicts. Yoba will play a detective who works with Owen's character and has no idea about his double life; Kole will play a young and ambitious detective.

Elsewhere, Clea DuVall (Carnivale) has been cast in Ronald D. Moore's two-hour backdoor pilot Virtuality for FOX, along with Erik Jensen (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) and Jose Pablo Cantillo (Standoff).