When you think of the South, what comes to mind? Thick southern accents perhaps? Mullets? Beer? Country music? Perhaps all that and more. While some of these stereotypes may hold true, real people from the real South know that there is so much more about them and their way of life than what the rest of the (perhaps uninformed) world knows. You have to admit, what Hollywood brings to the screen – TV or movie – is not always the real deal.
With Eastbound & Down, however, we just might get a taste of what southern living is really all about. Danny McBride, the writer behind the series and the main actor as well, wants the world to know that the show is not all about the “Hollywood south.” Instead, he wants to shout that this is the real thing – the real south with real people living real lives.
So what is this six-episode series all about? Amy Hotz of Star News Online wrote:
McBride plays Kenny Powers and “Eastbound” is about his down and out life. Kenny used to have a very successful career as a pro baseball pitcher. He had the money, he had the girls, he had the drugs. Progressively, though, he just seemed to have lost his power on the mound. And then he lost his job.
Forced to find something else to do, Kenny had no option but to put his head down in shame and return to his hometown, Shelby, N.C. To add insult to injury, the only job he can find in this un-glamorous town is with his old middle school, which needs a substitute P.E. teacher. Oh, and he’s so poor he has to live with his brother’s perfect family.
The unique thing about the show is that they found actors who are really from the south. To quote McBride, “When people that aren’t from the south pretend like they’re from the south it just brings out all the cliches and, you know, just all the stuff that you’ve seen a million times. It’s not even that accurate and not even that entertaining anymore at this point.” As such, do not expect any of the usual portrayals we see. Looks interesting to me.