The Life and Times of Steve

For years I have searched for the TV/movie version of me. God knows I've watched enough shows and movies, yet all the characters are either too suave, too tough, too good at softball or too stupid to be the Hollywood Steve.

Jeff has Jim Halpert. Zach has that guy from I Love You, Man. Dave Doyle has this guy. What about me? WHAT ABOUT ME?

(What about you?" asks Jacob from Lost.)

I can gladly inform you my search is over.

HBO's The Life and Times of Tim chronicles the stilted cartoon existence of Tim, a faceless cog at Omnicorp. He's unassuming, dry, timid, doesn't have the best luck in the world and is surrounded by idiots. He's me!

Now why would I want to be such a loser of a character? I really don't, but a beggar can't be a chooser. And at least the show is genuinely funny, which means HBO will cancel it pretty soon so they can produce the 14th season of Entourage and Big Love.

To be clear, I didn't come up with this myself. I've been watching the show from the beginning and never made the connection. Perhaps I was too close. Recently, several co-workers of mine have said I remind them of Tim. They point out the way I dryly recite humorous observations like the aforementioned cartoon character.

For example, one night one of my buddies said we should "Rock out with our cocks out." I responded, in my usual sardonic tone, that we should instead "Rock out with our cocks in" and was immediately inundated with "That's something Tim would say and exactly the way he would say it" comments.

I would recommend this show more, but you definitely need a particular sense of humor to enjoy it. Give it a try, if you have HBO. If you don't like it, at least you could see if my compatriots are correct. While Tim isn't a perfect match, he's the closest there is on TV or movies these days.

I'll take him.