David Cross (Arrested Development) plays the eponymous Todd Margaret, an American office drone mistaken for a go-getting salesman by his obnoxious boss (Will Arnett), and sent to London to front the company's UK arm with a Korean energy drink called 'Thunder Muscle'. Lured by the six-figure salary, Todd goes along with the folly and arrives in Britain, only for his life to spiral out of control through a combination of culture shock, bad luck, and plain incompetence. His luggage is mistaken for a bomb and blown up, he discovers his sales team consists of one unhelpful Brit called Dave (Russell Tovey), and he has less than a week to shift dozens of drinks crates before his uselessness is exposed.
Less a comedy pilot, more the first act of a low-budget British indie made by calling in favours with American talent, The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret just wasn't particularly funny or encouraging to go to a full series. The half-hour was packed with famous faces -- Sharon Horgan (Pulling) as Alice the café waitress, Matt King (Peep Show) as a taxi driver, Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker) as a bomb disposal expert, even Kristen Schaal (Flight Of The Conchords) had a blink-and-miss cameo – but the strength of material just wasn't there to justify this star-power.
Cross was actually very good as the bewildered, schlubby Todd Margaret, and his exasperation well captured as he stumbled from one mishap to the next. He was certainly a likeable and sympathetic lead, but there was nothing about this episode that I felt demanded we see more of his British misadventures. The title should perhaps have been "The Increasingly Silly Decisions Of Todd Margaret" as the script, co-written by Cross with Brit Shaun Pye (Monkey Dust), slowly disintegrated into pieces once Todd was ranting to old folk in a café after gulping down too much energy drink. It was also frustrating in how it ended too abruptly with an exhausted Todd pissing his trousers while lying on the floor of a filthy B&B – and I have no idea why his huge salary resulted in him staying there, anyway!
Overall, this felt like a project where Anglophiles just relished the chance to come to the UK, have some fun with a flawed script, work with actors from their favourite British shows, and then jet back home. However, given the fact the teaser featured Todd in court being charged with various crimes (conspirary to cause explosions, funding terrorists, treason, blackmail, possession of biological weapons), and the entire episode was a flashback to "14 Days Earlier", are we to believe the writers are confident a full series will be greenlit? I mean, why else structure your pilot in such a way? Perhaps Channel 4 will give us more of this cringe-comedy, if only to milk its associations with Arrested Development, but I'm not sure it really deserves it.
Sadly, I didn't really laugh or feel compelled by any of the situations being presented; I just played spot-the-celebrity for awhile.
27 November 2009
Channel 4, 10pm
written by: David Cross & Shaun Pye directed by: Anthony Russo & Joe Russo starring: David Cross (Todd Margaret), Sharon Horgan (Alice), Will Arnett (Todd's Boss), Russell Tovey (Dave), Kayvan Novak (Policeman) & Matt King (Taxi Driver)
