The Dark Comedy Fan-Favorite Series That Destroyed The World And Had To Revive It

Airing on IFC in 2010 The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret was a dark comedy created by and starring David Cross. The show aired simultaneously in the United States and the UK, set in England with a cast of stars from both countries. Cross was joined by fellow Arrested Development co-star Will Arnet, alongside Sharon Horgan, Blake Harrison, Colin Salmon, Amber Tamblyn, Russ Tambyln, Jon Hamm, Sara Pascoe, Mark Heap, and professional snooker player Steve Davis. 

The first two seasons of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret tell a linear story about Todd, an American salesman who finds himself running the UK branch of an energy drink company. Todd’s lies and poor choices snowball until he’s taken to court in connection with a terrorist attack and excommunicated to North Korea. The snowballing continues in North Korea, leading him to launch a nuclear warhead that causes a nuclear chain reaction ending life on Earth.

The season 2 finale was meant to be the end of the show–Todd’s initially small lies having built up until they destroyed the world. David Cross even publicly proclaimed that while the production company wanted a season 3 of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, he refused to bring the show back, pointing to its finale as a conclusive end to the story. But as Cross was pressured for more of the show he got to work on figuring out how to continue the show when everyone had died.

Season 3 of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret initially appears to use a lazy trope as the easy out, showing Todd waking up with the events of the previous seasons written off as a dream. However, as the season progresses different versions of characters from the first two seasons appear and familiar events start occurring around Todd. Despite having a new personality and being of higher status in the third season, Todd’s choices lead him toward world destruction again.

The third season of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret has an undertone of existential horror, never quite made explicit but omnipresent. It turned the show, which had mostly been a vehicle for cringe laughs and fish-out-of-water scenarios, into a uniquely surreal comedy that feels more in line with David Lynch’s Twin Peaks or David Cronenberg’s Existenz than most sitcoms. The open-ended finale doubles down on this by ending where it started, with Todd recreating a version of the events of the last finale and then waking up back in his bed without explanation.

Watching the show, it’s obvious The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret was never meant to have a season 3, but the unplanned final act is exceptionally well executed. The complete shift in tone, characterization, and plot elevates the show into something special. It’s one of TV’s most interesting endings and it only exists because an unwanted renewal forced David Cross to continue a show after he literally blew it up.