DVD review: ‘The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret: Season 1’

Any rogue’s gallery of cable TV misanthropes has to be headed by Larry David (HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”). But giving “Seinfeld” co-creator David a good run for his money when it comes to hapless, cringe-worthy crankiness is the schlubby, chrome-domed David Cross in IFC’s “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.”

This smart, low-budget, American-British series occupies the envious spot on the IFC schedule behind the brilliant hipster spoof “Portlandia” and certainly benefits from the pop-culture cognizance of that show’s devoted audience.

“Todd Margaret: Season 1,” whose six half-hour episodes are now out on DVD, showcases Cross’s peculiar brand of absurdist nerdiness in the role of pathological liar Margaret, a bland cubicle drone who is randomly plucked by his high-rolling, rage-aholic boss Brent (Will Arnett) to head up the London sales office for a new energy drink, Thundermuscle, that’s not only illegal but possibly toxic.

Utterly clueless about everything – sales, standard business practices, energy drinks, British customs, London topography, social cues, common sense – Margaret blusters his way through every conceivable situation, with the bemused aid of his mischievous Brit assistant Dave (Blake Harrison) and the curiously sympathetic encouragement of the lovely chef-restaurateur Alice (an appealing Sharon Horgan).

Whenever Margaret is faced with a dilemma or is backed into a corner, his natural instinct is to lie. Much of the hilarity of the series arises from Margaret getting caught in a lie and then boldly upping the ante – building lie atop lie atop lie, with increasingly chaotic results.