Waiting For The Fall: Eastbound & Down

Attempting to fill in the gap between January’s run of great TV shows and the annual fall onslaught, I’ve been working our way through some shows I’ve missed over the years and have only now found the time to catch up on. So far we’ve explored Judd Apatow’s cancelled but highly regarded shows Undeclared and Freaks And Geeks so next up is a show that is very much alive and kicking…

Created by director Jody Hill and actors Danny McBride and Ben Best, after getting to know Will Ferrell and Adam McKay through their last film together, The Foot Fist Way, Ferrell and McKay presented the trio’s ideas to HBO who roundly ordered an initial 6 episode season.

Fronted by McBride as Kenny Powers, Eastbound & Down follows Powers’ fall from grace as the once record breaking baseball pitcher throws his career away after spiralling into drugs and gambling. With his reputation in tatters and nothing left in the bank, Powers is forced to go back to his hometown, and sleep on his brother’s couch. Refusing to sell his one prized possession, a gleaming white jet ski, the next course of humiliation is finding a job, and making use of whatever sporting skill he has left, gets a job as a sports coach as the local school. From there on in, the show’s about Powers struggling to adapt to town life, and how inappropriate his teaching methods are for young students.

Boasting dark and brutal comedy, very similar to Hill’s recent directorial effort Observe And Report, Eastbound & Down certainly has a quite specific target audience, but anyone who finds unconventional and uncomfortable comedy hilarious will get a lot out of the debut run.

HBO has already renewed the series for a second season so be sure to catch the first 6 episodes before that starts next January and get in on Eastbound & Down before it become the next cult comedy everyone is talking about.