Plot: What’s it about?
So my brother calls me about two months ago and says there’s a show that I have to check out on HBO. The name: “Eastbound and Down”. My reaction was “Ok”. After seeing it, though, my reaction should have been “Oh my God, funniest show ever!”. HBO is known for putting some of the most critically-acclaimed series on the air and having just covered “True Blood” that certainly falls into that category. I’ll touch more on this later, but for those of you who haven’t been exposed to Danny McBride ? meet the future of mankind. Well, actually we should hope that the future of mankind isn’t Danny McBride, but he’s popping up more and more lately and is perhaps as funny as they come. He’s buddies with Will Ferrell (who was instrumental in getting this show on television and who has a few cameos as well) and can hold his own with Seth Roagan, Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. May I present to you?”Eastbound and Down”.
The series, and it’s hard to classify six episodes as a “season”, follows Kenny Powers, a former major league pitcher who’s about as washed up as they come. He sports a mullet that looks like he jumped right out of 1991 and has an ego the size of Texas. He’s burned all of his bridges, is dead broke yet still feels that he’ll someday return to the majors. If you need a reference, he’s essentially the John Daly of baseball (except this is fiction). Broke, he returns to his home town where he’s now the P.E. teacher where he chases his ex-girlfriend (Katy Mixon), though she’s engaged to the dull principal (Andrew Daly). All the while, he lives with his brother who manages to put up with him, but his sister-in-law isn’t as easy going. And in a nutshell, that’s the first (and only) six episodes of the season. HBO has signed on for more and they can’t come soon enough. You either get Danny McBride or you don’t and I’m one that does, so for me the more (episodes) the merrier.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are each shown in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that looks good. I watched the episodes on HBO HD and for some reason this set is only offered on standard DVD. Still, colors are bright and every curl of McBride’s beautiful mullet looks like you could reach out and touch it. The overall clarity of the image is a bit down from the HD broadcasts that I was so used to watching, still it’s not a night and day difference. Viewers should be pleased at how this looks on DVD, though if HBO should offer this in Blu-ray in the near future, that’s the route to take.
Audio: How does it sound?
A fairly standard Dolby Digital 5.1 track has been included and most of the action is in the front stage. I heard very few sounds come out of the surrounds, but again I wasn’t really expecting much here. Vocals are clear and let’s just say the best way to hear McBride speak is in full 5.1 sound. There’s not a lot more to say, TV shows aren’t renowned for their audio and this is no exception.
Supplements: What are the extras?
As far as supplements go, HBO has done this one right. Naturally we can expect some deleted scenes and outtakes and both are included on this two disc set. What’s even better are the commentary tracks on episode 4 and 6 with McBride, some crew and writer/director Jody Hill. They seem to like their work and who can blame them? These alone are worth the price of admission. Lastly, there are two Schaffer Motors commercials (Ferrell’s character runs a used car dealership).
