Holy Shit, Eastbound And Down Is The Best Fucking Show On Television
Did you guys watch Eastbound and Down last night? If you answered yes, then you are correct. If you answered no, then GET IT TOGETHER. To quote my friend Max, "Eastbound and Down is a game changer." In just one half hour episode it has already become my favorite show on television. The way I see it, there are two kinds of people in this world, people who love Eastbound and Down, and people I'm not talking to anymore.
The show follows professional baseball player Kenny Powers (Danny McBride), who's lost everything (but his jet ski) and moved in with his brother's family. He takes a job substitute teaching PE at a junior high school. That's a decent enough Will Ferrellian plot for a show, but it's really McBride's performance that makes this whole thing work. He could do an obnoxious impersonation of a stereotypical dumb redneck the phone book, and it would make me laugh.
Admittedly, obnoxious impersonations of stereotypical dumb rednecks are kind of cheap and easy laffs, but they are the BIGGEST laffs. I was LOL'ing so hard at this show! Besides, the line between Danny McBride the performer and Danny McBride the character seems pretty thin and blurry. He plays a caricature of himself as much as any overarching stereotype. This is basically the same Danny McBride from Foot Fist Way and Pineapple Express and from Tropic Thunder, despite each character being nominally of very different socio-economic means. With Danny McBride, what you see is what you get, and what you see is hilarious.
The show has already gotten some good reviews, I guess. I hadn't really read anything before watching the show last night, so I'm only catching up on the professional criticism now, but I take issue with the New York Times: review.
"Eastbound & Down" feels like a margarine, not butter, version of "Talladega Nights," the Nascar reversal-of-fortune story in which the children were ingeniously named Walker and Texas Ranger, and the exchanges between Mr. Ferrell and John C. Reilly had an addicting improvisational madness.Comparatively, "Eastbound & Down" feels static. Unlike Ricky Bobby, Kenny shows no signs (at least not yet) of a turnaround, and it is unclear whether Mr. McBride could believably pull one off. Lacking Mr. Ferrell's vulnerability, one that comes to a great extent from resembling an overgrown 10-year-old, Mr. McBride looks like someone you'd run away from in the parking lot of a Waffle House.
I don't know what almost any of that means. What is a margerine, not butter version of something? Does that mean that it's cheaper? Because if it means that it's cheaper, of course it's cheaper. It's a TV show. And Will Ferrell is an incredibly famous millionaire. If it means that it's not as well made, then bullshit. If it's some kind of cute metaphor playing on the dietary class distinctions between people who eat butter and people who eat margarine then the New York Times needs to stop being such an asshole.
But more importantly, there's an obvious pejorative to calling this show static, and a dismissal in McBride's capacity to play his character in a redemptive arc, all of which completely misses the point. Who wants to see some hackneyed, melodramatic, Hollywood redemption story? What makes the whole thing actually FUNNY is that he's unrelentingly arrogant and cocky and obnoxious even when he is sleeping on his brother's Jennifer Convertible and teaching kids how to play crab soccer.
We don't want him to change, you stupid dummy. The New York Times is so dumb. The New York Times is who you should run away from in the parking lot of a waffle house. (Also, what was THAT all about?)
Anyway, watch this show. Did I mention that the first episode ends with Kenny Powers whiplashing a topless girl off of his jet ski into a lake and then using the jet ski to slapshot water into her face? If you don't have HBO, tell your parents to get it for you.
Posted by Gabe at 11:30 AM in Love-Watching
Tags: Danny McBride | Eastbound And Down
haha hell ya, this show is hilarious..."no for your information i have full size balls"
Score = 1
The NYT arts section is written for stupid people. Why else would they say "margarine, not butter, version" instead of just "margarine version," since obviously "Talladega Nights" would be the butter version in their fucked up, elitist worldview. Whatever. It's a hackneyed metaphor anyway (another NYT hallmark).
Also, the greatest, most enduring TV characters hardly changed at all over the years (Archie Bunker, Homer Simpson)... Jesus effing Christ. Do they even watch TV?
Score = 2
Do we want Michael Scott to be not painfully awkward and get along with his coworkers and treat them with respect, thus eliminating the crux of the show and making it lame.
Score = 6
You forgot Hot Rod. Please don't forget Hot Rod. Rico is one-dimensional, but also the best.
Score = 3
half hour sample and its "best fucking show on television"?
Score = 3
Yes.
Score = 6
My favorite part is the jet ski scene. Its so good, In a lesser series it would have been a 10 second scene, but I'm pretty sure it lasts a minute or a minute and a half of him just splashing water into her face via jet ski... amazing.
Score = 0
I need to find a place to stream this online.
Score = 2
Gotta agree with Christopherr's Michael Scott/David Brent comparison -- I like shows with rough-edged/unlikable characters so boy did I enjoy this show. Yet I'm glad I saw it before Flight of the Conchords. Conchords was classic last night and didn't seem to be trying too hard (which Eastbound did seem to be doing in comparison).
Score = 0
This was oh so very good, even if it is margarine, not butter.
Not that I hold the NYT to a higher level of criticism, but NO ONE, top to bottom, should compare anything to Talladega Nights - a comedy that's neither good nor bad, thereby making it the worst.
Score = -1
I wish there was some kind of award for people who are ridiculously funny. Danny McBride and Bill Hader are the FUNNIEST people alive right now. If I encountered either of them on the street, I would immediately start throwing money at them. SO good
Score = 4
Wow- really bummed to discover that your title was not an attempt at sarcasm. I love Danny McBride, and I had high hopes for this show, but I thought last night's premier failed. I half-chuckled maybe three or four times. And, unlike that NY Times reviewer, I definitely appreciate 'unrelentingly arrogant and obnoxious and cocky' characters that are not destined for redemptive arcs and do not learn life lessons or change their ways. And I sill thought it failed. Not even the best fucking show on HBO, let alone television. Although, I am hoping the next couple episodes prove me wrong. And granted, that jet-ski scene was hilarious.
Score = 4
I know I am one of the unfortunate souls who sat through "The Heartbreak Kid" (Hey, I was getting paid for it) but he is great in that movie too. Again, he plays a really similar character, but it is the one saving grace of an otherwise awful movie.
Score = 0
I agree with everybody, I loved the show. I was not a huge fan of Foot Fist Way, but still liked Danny McBride. Even so, the show leaped miles over my expectations. BTW, fuck New York Times and Talladega Nights, this shit is so much better!
Score = -2
A bunch of reviews have been all "this role was clearly meant for Will Ferrell" or "McBride is a poor man's Ferrell" and I think anyone who thinks would compare the two here is completely missing the premise of the show and the character.
GUYS I TAKE THIS SHOW REALLY SERIOUSLY
Score = 6
Did anyone else get a voicemail from "Kenny Powers?" I woke up to find one yesterday and it scared the shit out of me, because he said my name, a friend of mine's name, and my occupation in it, which leads me to believe that either a) my friend gave my information out to the HBO marketing people, or b) they're mindreaders. Unfortunately, I don't have HBO, so I can't watch the show. I really hope they aren't some kind of mindreading Scanners, because I don't want my head to explode for not being a viewer. Help!
Score = 1
the last minute of the show made me lose my mind
Score = 0
JD Qualls1 Or DJ Quall? Anyways, I wasn't sure until I saw him - and the blonde chick, she's been funny, too. Sold.
Score = 0
"Hop off there Blonde Ambition Tour!"
Score = 0
Dear HBO Marketing and/or Merchandising Departments,
Please make the audio book available for purchase and/or download.
Patrick
Dear NYT,
Bite my chunk.
Patrick
Score = 1
I didn't care for it. I gave it a shot, but just didn't find it funny. Maybe it's because the entire time I kept thinking they made a show about John Rocker. The only time I really laughed was the "tenure" quote because of Rickey Henderson. I really like Danny McBride and was actually excited to see this... maybe I just hyped it up too much in my head.
Score = 1
I loved the show the other night. My favorite part was the custodian asking where the f he was going at the end 'cause it was still first period. Hilarious. Anyway, even though I love the show and am completely sold on it, I can't help thinking that Danny McBride acts way too similar to John C Reilly when Reilly does his comedic performances, especially his character in Talladega. I thought the same thing when i saw McBride in Pineapple Express. Lucky for him, I love Reilly as well so whatev. Can't wait for the second episode next week.
Score = 0
When are entertainment bloggers going to start getting over themselves? It's become a formula: Put a naughty word in the title, make the review about you and your quirky self's reaction to whatever you saw, and that makes you "edgy."
Personally, I thought the show was boring--and I love Danny McBride. People keep quoting the "Shrek" line like any dumbass sitcom on television doesn't have twenty jokes like that per 22 minutes. Perhaps it was funnier in this show because he was fat and had a mullet? That must be it.
As for the COMPLETELY COHERENT AND APT metaphor in the NYT: Someone tell Gabe that being proudly ignorant and unwilling to think critically before condemning something is so 2008. That was Sarah Palin's thing, so get with the times. See, margarine's like butter, but not as good, rich, or authentic. Get it, you half-wit?
Score = -8
Oh PLEASE.
The show is a relentless string of profanities, the title of the post was written in the spirit of the show. Maybe saying such a thing might sound pretentious, or thinking too highly of a blog post title, but one thing remains true: using swear words stopped being edgy in third grade. You should probably go read Lenny Bruce's blog. He is going to b-low your miiiind.
And I like that you criticize bloggers for writing self-centered reviews--which is actually a totally fair criticism, although it's basically criticizing bloggers for being bloggers--but then you follow it up with your own opinion of the show? You found it boring? I know a website that would love to hear all about it.
As far as thinking critically is concerned, I'm sure you're right. I am a half-wit moron who should go back to Thinking School and take a remedial class in Shitty Condescending Metaphors About Different Kinds Of Dairy Spreads. But you can't seriously be claiming that TALLADEGA NIGHTS is "rich and authentic." As someone who owns that movie, I know that's not the case. That movie is dumb and rude and shouty and pointless. That's why it's funny.
Never come back here.
Score = 13
This ass clown obviously doesnt recognize your essence gabe
Score = 0
Gabe, I DID go to that Remedial Thinking School you recommended for "Adam", and let me tell you, that Shitty Condescending Metaphors 101 is no class to just waltz into. That shit is hardz. The school has a weak football team, too.
Score = 2
Right on, Gabe.
Everything except for the "that's why it's funny". Talladega Nights: You can watch that shit but it aint butter.
Score = 3
Gabe may be many things, but a half-wit is not one of them. You may hate the living shit out of this particular post, but if you've read his other stuff and still feel this way, then perhaps your brain is broken.
Score = 0
if this is margarine, new york times, then I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT BUTTER
Score = 4
I know its hated, but man, do I LOVE this show. Its a certain kind of humor that has to be appreciated.
Score = 0