Wednesday, February 11, 2009

'Eastbound and Down' is very much an N.C. creation

Was watching HBO in a hotel room while away at a conference a couple of weeks ago, and managed to see a sneak preview of the new Will Ferrell-produced series, "Eastbound and Down," which follows a washed-up Major Leaguer ("Kenny Powers," played by Danny McBride) as he adjusts to "normal" life back home in North Carolina.

The creators of this show were educated at the N.C. School of the Arts, and they commented that it just made sense to film it in North Carolina. ("Eastbound" is filmed around Wilmington.)

The show, I believe, starts next week. As with most HBO series, parental advisory is suggested.

"If nothing else, 'Eastbound,' set to bow Feb. 15, should have a ring of authenticity," says Variety. "McBride, who hails from small-town Virginia, co-created the series with two pals from film school in North Carolina: Jody Hill and Ben Best, who are both sons of small-town North Carolina (though Best bragged that his home town of High Point was 'the furniture capital of the world' and hosted a mammoth trade show every year.) And 'Eastbound' was shot in North Carolina using 'real Southern kids' as extras, 'not kids from Burbank,' McBride noted. McBride, Hill and Powers said they aim to update urbanites' view of life in the South beyond the 'Hee-Haw' stereotype. ..."

"We wanted to find new things to make fun of," McBride told the publication. "We wanted to get a little bit deeper into the South that we know," Best added.

3 comments:

Kevin Brewer said...

Looks like I need to get HBO again.

Danny McBride was good in "Pineapple Express." I haven't seen "Tropic Thunder" yet.

M. Lail said...

I forgot he was in "Tropic Thunder." I enjoyed it, especially toward the end. he was very, uh, colorful in it.

Anonymous said...

There was a big spread about this in the Charlotte Observer last Sunday. Here's the link, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/167/story/516542.html