From The Hollywood Reporter:

HBO did some serious holiday shopping the past two days.

On Thursday, the pay cable network picked up to series two comedies: “How to Make It in America,” toplined by Bryan Greenberg and Victor Rasuk, and the Jason Schwartzman starrer “Bored to Death.”

They follow the Wednesday series order for another male-centered comedy, “Hung,” starring Thomas Jane.

Both “How to Make It” and “Bored” are said to have received eight-episode orders.

The Jonathan Ames-penned “Bored” centers on Jonathan (Schwartzman), a struggling thirtysomething Brooklyn writer with a drinking problem who, after a painful breakup with his girlfriend, decides to emulate his heroes from the novels of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. He takes out an ad pretending to be a private detective and starts taking cases — solving some and making others worse.

Ames, a novelist who landed his first TV series with “Bored,” called the genre of the show “noirotic — a mix of noir and neuroses.”

He exec produced the pilot, directed by Alan Taylor and co-starring Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis, along with Sarah Condon, Dave Becky, Stephanie Davis and Troy Miller.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Jason Schwartzman has been tapped as the lead in HBO’s comedy pilot “Bored to Death,” lifting the contingency on the project.

The Jonathan Ames-penned “Bored” centers on Jonathan (Schwartzman), a struggling thirtysomething writer with a drinking problem in Brooklyn who, following a painful breakup with his girlfriend, decides to emulate his heroes from the novels of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. He takes out an ad pretending to be a private detective and starts taking cases — solving some and making others worse.

Production on “Bored” is slated for September in New York. Ames is exec producing with Dave Becky, Sarah Condon and Stephanie Davis, with Seth Gordon serving as consultant.

Also in September, Schwartzman will begin filming Judd Apatow’s “Funny People” opposite Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Eric Bana.

“Bored” is one of two pilots greenlighted by new HBO entertainment president Sue Naegle; the other is the Alexander Payne-directed dark comedy “Hung,” which is casting the lead.

Schwartzman is repped by Endeavor and attorney Warren Dern.