Ranking the New Shows: #7 – Eastbound and Down

Danny McBride’s HBO comedy, “Eastbound & Down,” comes in at #7.  Of the 3 half hour comedies in our top 10, this is easily the foulest.

The show: “Eastbound & Down“
Synopsis: Former professional baseball star returns home in shame to teach a high school gym class before mounting his comeback attempt.
Debuted: February 15th, 2009
Our take: There are fairly consistent laughs, mostly coming from McBride and his trusty sidekick Stevie (Steve Little).   The show is largely adlibbed, which winds up being a gift and a curse.  When it works, it’s pretty much hilarious and completely unique.  The problem arises in that it misses just as often, and it comes off as lazy and uninspired.  There are stretches where it seems like no one is trying.  There are also scenes where it seems like the actors are fighting each other for attention, hamming it up to be the funniest one in the scene and those fall really flat as well.  We were also a little disappointed in the way that former “Deadwood” star John Hawkes was used (or should we say wasn’t used?)

What it would need to do to keep me watching: The first season was only 6 episodes.  It’s hard to imagine where the show will go from this point.  It almost has to change directions to some degree, so that could be interesting.  If it showed a little more discipline, it could be one of our highest rated.

Related posts:

1. Ranking the New Shows: #8 – True Blood
2. Ranking the New TV Shows: #15 – The Life & Times of Tim
3. Ranking the New Shows: #6 – Nurse Jackie
4. Ranking the New TV Shows: #14 – Glee
5. Ranking the New Shows: #10 – Royal Pains