Eastbound and Down-1st Season

"What lifts Eastbound & Down away from mere crudball humor is McBride's ongoing love affair with the lower middle class.  Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly
"If you thought "Tropic Thunder" was the funniest movie of the year and that everything Will Ferrell touches makes you laugh until you squirt Diet Pepsi out of your nose, then you will love Eastbound & Down.  Linda Stasi, New York Post

Editor's Note After throwing pitches in the major leagues, baseball star Kenny Powers (Danny McBride, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS) takes the ultimate demotion: teaching physical education at his former middle school. Nevertheless, Powers's truculent personality is still intact as he clutches to the vestiges of his fading celebrity--and schemes about returning to the stadium lights. This hilarious series from HBO was executive produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.

	Danny McBride
	Katy Mixon
	John Hawkes
	Adam McKay - Executive Producer
	Will Ferrell - Executive Producer

Premiere
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "McBride is absolutely hilarious as the most arrogant and selfish character to ever occupy the leading role of a show..." 06/30/2009

San Francisco Chronicle 7 of 10
"Eastbound & Down," a six-episode series executive-produced by Will Ferrell (who will have a few cameos, apparently) and written by Danny McBride and Ben Best, the guys who wrote the very similar-in-tone feature film "The Foot Fist Way." Jody Hill, who directed that movie, is also an executive producer on this series..."Eastbound & Down" is about the downfall of a foulmouthed, mullet-wearing former Major League Baseball pitcher named Kenny Powers (McBride), who alienates everyone around him with his obnoxiousness, meritless ego, politically incorrect comments and sexual boorishness. In short, he's easy to hate. Apparently the idea here is that in his quest to return to the big leagues, there will be some kind of redemption story to carry the day...That seems unlikely on several fronts. Powers is out of shape, frequently drunk and prone to cocaine, and he has burned so many bridges in baseball that even if he regained his searing fastball, he'd have a hard time finding a team to take him...If "Eastbound & Down" is only looking to get the "Foot Fist Way" audience, then worrying about comedic ambition is pointless. But HBO spent millions of dollars developing "12 Miles of Bad Road" with Lily Tomlin and others, only to realize, apparently, that it was basically a standard network sitcom. That famously shelved series didn't fit the brand. The question is, does "Eastbound & Down"? It seems like a middling Fox series with a monotonous glut of obscenities and some nudity tossed in to make it pay-cable worthy. But you have to wonder whether the current HBO regime liked the Ferrell connection more than the show itself. Or maybe HBO doesn't have any clue about what it wants from its comedy. - Tim Goodman