I laughed all through the series premiere of HBO’s Eastbound & Down last night. When midnight rolled around and it became available on demand — I don’t own a DVR, sadly — I demanded that thing, re-watched it, and laughed again. I’m gathering Ken Tucker, who called the show "a winner about a real loser" in his official review, must have had a roughly similar reaction. And you? Read on for why I’m digging Eastbound, then chime in below with your own take if you caught the premiere last night.
Eastbound & Down’s Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) often felt like a more foul-mouthed heir to Will Ferrell’s Talladega Nights creation, Ricky Bobby. Like Ricky, Kenny is a washed-up athlete of repugnant character — a former major-league pitcher who started spewing slurs and abusing steroids when his arm went bad, to be precise. And as in Talladega Nights, Kenny’s crude punchlines add up to a searing critique of white American machismo. "Sure, I’ve been called a xenophobe," Kenny reflected in one of the few printable passages from the memoir-on-tape he listened to in his car. "But I’m not. I just think that America is the best country and all the other countries are not asgood. That used to be called patriotism." The all-American dude as moral monster: With Ferrell finally retiring his George W. Bush (which Ricky Bobby was nothing but a subtle variation on), I’ll be glad to have another comedian covering that crucial territory.
I haven’t even mentioned the back-to-school part of the show’s premise, which let McBride get in some great "bad teacher" gags — like Jack Black in School of Rock, only without the uplifting decency. But that’s probably more than enough armchair analysis about one (wildly hilarious) half-hour out of me. What did you think? Will you be tuning in again next Sunday night for round two of Eastbound & Down?
More on Eastbound & Down and Danny McBride:
We named McBride "the next Will Ferrell"
McBride was a breakout star in Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder
Eastbound made the Must List
Ken Tucker gave the show an A– review
Comments (1-15) of 51 Add your comment
If you like Eastbound and Down, you should check out the Foot Fist Way. Danny McBride plays a very overconfident Tae Kwon Do Teacher who acts similar to Kenny Powers. Also, a lot of the characters from the movie are in East Bound and Down (the coked up bartender, fat kid in gym class AKA Julio). If you like Danny McBride, you won’t be disappointed.
How politically incorrect can you get? The only speaking lines for a minority were the 2 janitors at the end of the show. It was actually a pretty good show though.
Great premise, horrible show. I didn’t laugh once.
I thought it was pretty funny. Not quite as funny as Flight of the Conchords, but i’ll continue to watch it.
Danny McBride is one of the funniest men in comedy today. In “Hot Rod”, “Pineapple Express”, and “Tropic Thunder” he stole many a scene, and “The Foot Fist Way” had by far one of the biggest laughs-per-minute ratio of any film from 2008. (Yes, technically a 2006 film, but it wasn’t released in theaters till last year.) I can’t wait to watch his new series on OnDemand, and then later this year, “Land of the Lost”.
Add “The Foot Fist Way” to your Netflix queue today!
Funny as all heck! Look forward to next week.
Jeff I couldn’t agree more, I saw alot of Fred Simmons in Kenny Powers except Kenny cussed way more than fred. Danny McBride is becoming one of the funniest guys in the business.
This show was hilarious. I was laughing out loud constantly throughout the show. Particularly the scene where Kenny is kind of trashing his room after coming home from the bar. The look on Kenny’s face when his scared nephew looks over at him was priceless. I couldn’t stop laughing at that scene.
I freakin’ loved it. Combined with Flight of the Conchords, it is the funniest hour of TV (The Office and 30 Rock run a close second). And I must agree with the others, The Foot Fist Way is awesome. Meditate on that.
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This show was filmed at my High School, I haven’t watched it yet though
Hilarious show with many laugh out loud moments, but my one squabble is Power’s seemingly lack of any redeemable qualities. I don’t know how I can watch an entire season of a show where the lead is an a$$ all the time (even if it does have its funny moments). Even Michael Scott, who has no personal skills what-so-ever comes off as human (some of the time).
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