Black Books (Don't write a script for the improv actors)

 PR: A lazy misanthropic drunkard, who happens to own a small library shop named "Black Books" is forced to work with a sort of idiot office worker. At first, they make Office Worker swallows a self-help booklet titled "Little book of peace" which turns him into a Reiki shaman, but they abandon this approach by episode two. If you're wondering who is forcing him to do so, it's the neighbor spinster who owns an antique shop. Or a trinket shop, it's not very clear. 

Left to right: Bernard, the drunkard. Manny, the office worker. Fran, the spinster.

Naturally, most of the comedy in the series revolves around exploiting the aspects of these archetypes. The cast works well together, it's fun, a bit quaint, but let's be frank, what were you expecting when you saw this on the intro?

If you're wondering whether I downgraded the image for the blog, I didn't. This is how it looks in the series.

Things, however, take a less fortunate turn as we arrive at season 2, which is just two hours' watch from when we started watching the series, as they've changed the direction and scriptwriters. Suddenly, the series is no longer fun, the comedy is grotesque and boring, and the actors also seem to have lost the ability to perform. I suspect that the script was originally mostly improvisation and for season 2 they tried to force a more thorough one, to disastrous effects.