Eastbound & Down ran for four seasons on HBO, a comedy about a burned-out major league pitcher who returns to his hometown school to sub teach phys ed. It was created by Danny McBride, Jody Hill and Ben Best, and it stars McBride as Kenny Powers.
Trailer, via HBO.
The Premise
Kenny Powers is a former professional pitcher who turned his back on his hometown, Shelby, North Carolina. He “forced himself into retirement by the depths of his own jerkiness.” Returning to sub teach at his old middle school, he tries to reclaim his fame and right his wrongs. Instead, he keeps sabotaging his own efforts.
The Season Run
The show premiered February 15, 2009. Its second season, seven episodes, began September 26, 2010. HBO renewed it for a third season, which premiered February 19, 2012. At PaleyFest 2011, the show’s creators announced that season three would be the last — and then HBO picked up a fourth season of eight episodes in July 2012.
The fourth season premiered September 29, 2013, and ended November 17, 2013.
The Cast and Inspiration
Danny McBride plays Kenny Powers. Steve Little plays Stevie Janowski and Katy Mixon plays April Buchanon. The show’s creators cite former Major League Baseball relief pitcher John Rocker as an inspiration for the show’s tone. Former pitcher Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams has often been cited as the source for the Powers character, though Williams himself has disavowed any connection.
The Tone
McBride has explained the show’s approach: “make fun of a South where you could learn an ancient martial art like Taekwondo in a shopping center next to a tanning salon.”
The Numbers
| Season | Episodes | Premiere Date | Last Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 2/15/2009 | 4/12/2009 |
| 2 | 7 | 9/26/2010 | 11/14/2010 |
| 3 | 7 | 2/19/2012 | 4/15/2012 |
| 4 | 8 | 9/29/2013 | 11/17/2013 |
Our View
Eastbound & Down is a comedy about a man who cannot stop being a jerk, even when he tries. It is not subtle and it does not pretend to be. The show is at its best when it lets Powers be the same awful person he always was, and it is weakest when it reaches for a comeback that the character has already wrecked himself.
What makes it work is the refusal to soften Powers. The show never makes him likable, and it never pretends he is likable. That consistency is the show’s strength, even when the premise grows thin in the fourth season.
“make fun of a South where you could learn an ancient martial art like Taekwondo in a shopping center next to a tanning salon.”
The Score
Eastbound & Down is a fine, often funny show that wears its jerkishness as a badge. It does not ask you to like the character, and it rewards you for not liking him. The final season stretches the premise thinner than the earlier ones, but the show ends where it should: with Kenny Powers still the same repulsive man he always was.
We score it 6.2 out of 10.
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