About 2 months ago i was sitting at work when my cell phone suddenly showed i had a voice mail. This was odd of course simply because my cell never rang, so i knew i didn’t miss a call. When i called to retrieve the message, i was greeted with a strange voice calling me names, and telling me i owed him money for beer. Strange again, because i didn’t know who it was and had no idea of a time when someone had paid for beer for me. Then he said his name, Kenny Powers, and said he would be in my town soon, and all the tumblers fell into place. HBO had a new comedy coming on soon and this was a joke a friend was playing on me, and i had fallen for it hook line and sinker. Viral marketing sometimes works really well.
Kenny is Bad Fuckin Ass
After getting the message i went online to check out who Kenny Powers was and why i would care. Turns out it’s a show based on the fictional life of Kenny Powers Former Major League Superstar. Kenny Powers is played by Danny McBride (from Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, and Foot Fist Way) he is also a local boy from Fredericksburg Va. Anyway, the show is written by Danny and Ben Best (who plays Clegg on the show) and produced by Will Ferrell (who plays Ashley Schaffer) and Adam McKay. With all these people attached to this show, its no wonder that it is as funny as it is.
Kenny Powers, as i said, is a “Former” Major League Superstar. He got a big break closing out a world series finale with a strike out and his now world famous catch phrase, “You’re Fucking Out!” After that day, things went south for good ol’ Kenny. He was traded all over the place, lost the speed on his pitch, and eventually, lost his contract to play in the majors. So he decides since he is broke and has no career in baseball (at the moment) he will go home and live with his brother, and “train to get back in shape.” He takes on a job for “walk around money” working as a Phys Ed substitute teacher at the local middle school. Where he meets his high school “sweet heart” April, who happens to be engaged to the principle. The rest of the season is all about Kenny trying his best to get back into shape one way or another and to win back April from her fiance.
Kenny's SanFran Baseball Card
When i watched the first couple episodes i was thinking, why didn’t they make this into a movie. I would have paid to see this, it’s funny enough for sure. Then the more i watched it the more i realized that they wouldn’t have been able to tell the whole story of Kenny in an hour and half long movie. The first season spans six episodes, all thirty minuets each. Most are damn funny, but there are one or two that really make you feel bad for the guy. Like Brian said “You end up feeling sorry for the guy, even if he is a huge douche bag to everyone.” That’s is just good writing and story telling. The final episode of the season ends on a real downer, but only makes me want to watch more to see what happens next.
That's MY game! Wooooo!
This is a show that i hope has a long run on HBO. I am pretty sure that enough people have watched it, and the ratings are going to be good enough to continue it a couple more seasons. Also i just have to say that Will Ferrel’s character “Ashley Schaffer” is probably the best character Will has done since Ricky Bobby. The way he plays Ashley as a kind of “what if Ric Flair owned a BMW dealership” is simply amazing. And you can’t tell me that isn’t EXACTLY what he was going for when he set out to create this character. He has shoulder length platinum blonde hair he constantly repeats himself, and he yells “WOOOO” all the time. If that isn’t Ric Flair in a nut shell i don’t know what is.
Like i said the season is over for now, which is very sad, but i really hope it will return soon. If you have HBO set your DVR to record re-runs of it, and watch for the next season. If you don’t have HBO i am sure there are *ahem* other ways of getting the shows. Either way it is well worth watching. More than a few times i laughed out loud, and it’s pretty rare that television makes me do that, besides 30Rock.
