Somehow, I missed all pre-premiere hype for HBO’s new show Eastbound & Down and stumbled on its re-run during an insomniac evening. Although I had no business being awake, let alone energetic, I laughed uproariously through the entire commercial-free half hour.
HBO has had high turnover of comedies in their 10:30-11:30pm time slot Sunday nights, moving from the cringe-worthy but clever Little Britain to the amazingly awkward cartoon show The Life & Times of Tim, to Aussie import Summer Heights High, also a riot. Among the new shows, Eastbound & Down has the best formula for lasting success and HBO could use a fresh comedy, with Entourage going rapidly downhill and the young Flight of the Conchords winning over only some.
Eastbound & Down follows a politically incorrect baseball player, Kenny Powers, who returns home to substitute teach gym and freeload off his brother’s family. Powers is still in denial of his short-lived career’s demise, claiming he’s waiting to be called back up to the majors.
Danny McBride as Kenny Powers, John Hawkes as Dustin Powers
The premiere opens with a montage of Powers’ brief pitching career’s ups and downs, from saving a huge game for the Braves as a nineteen year old with a 100 mph fastball to giving up a homer and choking five years later with a 68 mph grapefruit.
The John Rocker inspiration is pretty explicit between the beer gut, anger management issues, outlandish white trashy statements and, of course, Atlanta Braves pitcher notoriety. The opening montage shows the hot rookie version of Powers letting the instant fame go to his head, beginning with a press conference where he pronounces “Atlanta, you’re fucking out I’m a free agent!” then turns to his agent and says “Get me paid BITCH.” We then see other tactfully chosen statements to the media such as the following dialogue.
Reporter : “How do you like being in New York?”
KP (in Yankees Jersey): “You mean Jew York? It’s fucking great.”
Followed by
KP (in Giants Jersey): “Man, I thought the blacks in Baltimore were bad, but they’re nothing compared to these fags in San Fran.”
After narrating his background, Powers proceeds to impose on his brother’s family, accost his busty ex-girlfriend, now with the nerdy school Principal, snort lines with his bartender friend, negotiate a blowjob on his brother’s house phone and throw a hooker with herpes off his jet ski. His obnoxious disrespect toward women is balanced by his ex April’s rejecting his advances. Powers is still milking the grace period of only recently falling from fame and enjoys some ass-kissing admiration from other faculty members; mainly the band teacher who has a creepy smile permanently plastered across his face like a Barbie doll.
The narration by the creator/lead actor Danny McBride (Pineapple Express/Tropic Thunder), combined with fantastic side characters and visual effects make for a hilarious overall viewer experience. One example is a shot of Powers sitting in his truck with his own voice in the background. It turns out to be his own self-motivation cassette tape playing in the car, featuring quotes such as “People call me a xenophobe, but I just think America’s the greatest and all the other countries are less good. That used to be called Patriotism.”
Other highlights include the fat, awkward sunburned blonde nephew. Just looking at him cracks me up. Another image is Powers’ cheap beer cans strewn across his brother’s neatly trimmed suburban lawn and intermingled with his nephews’ playroom toys.
The best asset of the show is that Kenny Powers will say anything. What better way to cure the pre-Monday blues than to watch a hilarious guy speak his mind like we wish we could at work? While Powers loves to run his mouth, he is just likeable enough you want to root for him. He is not pure John Rocker, but two thirds Rocker and one third John Kruk circa 1993. Maybe he will end up John Kruk circa now and become a clean-cut broadcaster in future seasons. Yes, I am implying the show will endure by referring to future developments.
Eastbound & Down’s humor is hardly highbrow, but the writing and acting are original and clever enough to carry the show indefinitely provided it gains a good following. The fact Will Ferrell is closely involved and a frequent guest can’t hurt.
Let’s face it. Drunk, blue collar losers talking trash never get old. This show is much like any given Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler or Chris Farley movie in half hour chunks and while we may not gush over its merits at, say, a Harvard Business School admissions interview or country club benefit, many of us will savor the humor.
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