There are No Small Parts, Just Great Side Characters Like Stevie Janowski on "Eastbound and Down"

I am currently on my third rewatch of "Eastbound and Down". The show still rules if you were wondering. It is as funny and crazy and wild and nuts as anything McBride, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green have been known to do. What I have noticed more lately though on this watch is how great Steve Little is as Stevie Janowski.

For those that may not know, Little's character is a pathetic former high school mate of McBride's character Kenny Powers. As they got older Janowski became a teacher at the school where Powers ended up working and then became his personal assistant during Powers' comeback to baseball. And he nails his role. At first Janowski seems pretty meek and pretty okay with where his life has taken him. He is okay to be a teacher, he is fine being alone and he seems good with his lot in life. But then Kenny comes back to town and he starts to change. He follows Kenny around everywhere and basically makes himself his assistant. He dresses like Kenny, he acts like Kenny, he curses like Kenny, he tries to party like Kenny, and it is all so pathetic and sad and funny and Little totally nails it. In the first season, seeing him go from meek to sidekick to asshole was pretty amazing. His acting is a masterclass in how to be an also ran, how to cowtail to someone who you think may be better than you. He also totally nails being an obsessed fan of a fallen professional athlete. Janowski still thinks Kenny is rich and famous and important. There are only two people that think this, Powers and Janowski. I love the way Little shows all this during season one. When he starts to dress in all black, it is hilariously sad. When Kenny says he is going to have to let him go, and Janowski starts to cry and complain, it is perfect for his character. When he shows up with the steroids at the pitching contest, it is weirdly sweet, but also super upsetting when he tells Kenny he has never left him. And when he leaves North Carolina, and leaves Stevie behind, he is more upset than anyone else. He is more upset than Kenny's ex-girlfriend, his brother, his in-laws and nieces and nephews, Stevie is the most upset. And when he follows him to Mexico in season two, following his credit card statements, of which Kenny stole, that just takes his character to a whole other sad and depressing level. And Little totally crushes it. He is so good at being Kenny's butler. He does everything he asks of him, with no questions. Kenny shoots him, and Stevie does nothing. Kenny puts him on a truck back to America and Stevie finds a way back to the baseball stadium. And when Kenny then blames him for not being there to support him, Stevie apologizes to him. He is so invested in being Kenny's friend that he will stop at nothing to get him on his side. It is completely pathetic, and I think that is exactly what they wanted with this role. I read that he is really the only person not in the tight knit group that created this show that they kept around because he liked them and they liked him. I also read that he based his character on people he knew from his high school, and truth be told, he does a great job representing former high schoolers everywhere. It is simply perfect.

Steve Little has done a whole lot of stuff, way more than I thought while looking him up for this blog. But Stevie Janowski on "Eastbound and Down" may be the best thing he has done to date. I'm sure he will continue to work, and that's great for him. I just do not know that he will ever top this role. And that is a great, great thing.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Some Appreciation for the Underappreciated Andy Daly

Where is Daly’s damn emmy?

Sometimes on the site I like to point out an actor that did a good job in a movie, has had a solid career or someone more people should know about, someone I deem underrated. Today I will again talk about an underrated actor.

The actor I speak of is Andy Daly. For those of you who may not know who he is, I promise you, you know, or at least have seen him on your TV. For those of you that do know him, you’re probably calling me crazy right now. You probably think he is a person that most people know. Well, people in my circle of friends, people who’s movie and TV tastes I trust, have no idea who Daly is. So, I don’t think it’s too far fetched to say he’s underrated.

I first became fully aware of Daly when I started to watch the great, great show, “Eastbound and Down”. He played the principal of the high school that McBride went back to to teach gym. Daly was perfectly cast as the low key, pushover fiancé of McBride’s high school girlfriend. He had this quiet, yet dark comic timing that was tremendous for the show. There is an episode, the one where he does the triathlon, and then tries to knock McBride out with chloroform, were his dark comedic acting is on full display.

After watching him on “Eastbound and Down”, I wanted to find more stuff with Daly. The easiest way to find him, at that time, was on podcasts, mainly, “Comedy Bang! Bang!”. He always played some weird and wild characters on that show. There were some classics if you listen to him on the back catalog. And anytime he and Jason Mantzoukas were paired up, it was a gem.

Through this, I suppose, he started to show up on TV shows here and there. I remember that he was a Ben Franklin impersonator on “The Office”. That was a great episode made even better by his presence. I know he was on the original run of “Mad TV”, and that show was okay when it first came out. He was uproarious in the very under appreciated “Semi Pro”. He was always clutch when he showed up on “Reno 911”. He was perfect for the Jon Glaser show, “Delocated”. His one episode of both, “The Kroll Show” and “Playing House” made those episodes even funnier. The 2 episodes of one of my favorite shows, “The League” were better because of him. He’s just as funny on the “CBB” show as he was on the podcast. Hell, even his smallish role on “Modern Family” made the later years of that show watchable. He is also great on another show I adore, “Trial and Error”.

“Review” is what should have made him a household name. That show is going to go down in history as a one of a kind gem. There is, and maybe never will be, another show as bizarre, disastrous, hilarious and perfect as “Review”. It is, easily, one of the best shows of the 21st century. It is great. It really let Andy Daly shine. It was his vehicle, and he got to drive it with little to no questions or notes. I loved that show so much. I wish it was still on. I need more than just 3 seasons.

From “Review” I gained a whole new level of respect for Daly. I now listen to any podcast he’s on first when his name shows up. I am so thankful that Earwolf put the second season of his own podcast, “The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project” out for free. That podcast rules. Also, remember at the top when I said you know, or have seen him, even if you think you don’t? He’s the spokesman for Car Max, and I have to say, I like those commercials simply because he’s in them. He makes them funny.

Andy Daly is a comic genius. He deserves to be regarded as such. I cannot wait to see what he does next. Seriously people, go check out his work. You will love it, as long as you go in open minded, especially with a show like “Review”. Andy Daly is awesome. It’s time everyone knows it.

Ty

There are No Small Parts, Just Great Side Characters like Clegg in "Eastbound and Down"

We all could use a good wingman like Clegg

After finishing up "Vice Principals" last week, I decided I wanted to revisit "Eastbound and Down". In the past week I have gotten through the first season, and the show definitely holds up. But, this piece is not about another great Danny McBride and Jody Hill show. It is about a character that I feel like is incredibly underrated in the first season.

Obviously Kenny Powers, Rachel, Cutler and Stevie are the best, but why do more people not talk about how awesome the character of Clegg, played by Ben Best, is? He is a star in the first season. I'm not bull shitting you either. I am a big time Clegg fan. For those that may not remember, Clegg is either the owner, or more likely, just a bartender, of the local bar,  Sha Boom's. He shows up in the first episode when the local lady of the town starts to hit on Kenny. He has one of the best lines when he kicks her out, telling her, "you need a shit ton of Valtrax". It made me laugh just as hard when I saw it the other day as it did the first time I saw it. Clegg then motions to Kenny that they should go do some cocaine. So, we find out immediately that he has some kind of job at the local bar, and he is the town drug dealer.

From there on out in the first season, Clegg is looked at as the guy to get Kenny whatever kind of drugs he needs. In actuality, the more I think about it, he is just as pathetic and needy as Stevie, he just doesn't show it as much. I love when he and Kenny are getting high in their first scene together, and Clegg explains how he left college to follow around Widespread Panic. He, in between snorts of drugs, tells Kenny that he will burn him some of their stuff, but, "only the choice cuts". I cannot tell you how many times I heard those exact words when I was at the many, many Widespread Panic shows that I used to go to. It is oddly familiar, but also a true glimpse into how much Clegg wanted this washed up baseball "star" to like him. He is willing to anything that Kenny asks of him from that point on. Kenny needs drugs, Clegg gets them for him. Kenny needs a chauffer to Ashley Schaffer's BMW for his "celebrity" appearance, Clegg is the man for the job. Kenny needs steroids, Clegg finds a guy. Even when Clegg ditches Kenny at the BMW store, after huffing glue, or maybe paint, with the local homeless people, to have an encounter with one of the female homeless people, he blames himself. Kenny takes him out on his jet ski, acts like everything is cool, then slides him off and reprimands him for leaving him at the dealership. Instead of calling Kenny an asshole, and telling him he is selfish, he apologizes. He takes all the blame. He then makes it his mission to get Kenny the steroids that he now feels he owes him for leaving him high and dry. So, while Stevie is way more forthcoming with his desires to do whatever Kenny wants him to do, Clegg is the same. He just doesn't come off as bad, or pathetic, as Stevie. Even when Kenny goes back to the dealership to have a showdown with the guy that ended his MLB career, Clegg shows up with the wrong drugs for Kenny, but he still shows up with something that Kenny wants, takes and doesn't pay for. Kenny wants steroids, but Clegg couldn't get some in time, but he still brings him oxycotin. And, as I said, Kenny keeps it, and never pays for it. In the first season's finale, Clegg even mentions something about Kenny paying him for all the stuff he has given him, and Kenny just kind of blows him off and changes the subject. And, Clegg seems to just forget about it anyway.

I love this character. I believe, as I said at the top, that he is the most underrated character in the first season. He is so funny and riddled with drugs and is another in a small line of 2 people that want Kenny Powers affection. Go back and watch season one of this show and try and tell me that Clegg isn't awesome, but also, just as lowly as Stevie. Ben Best did so awesome with this person they had him play, and the further I get into my re watching of this wonderful series, the more I hope he still shows up from time to time. Here's to Clegg.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He doesn't know the drugs, but he definitely knows the choicest cuts of Widespread. He will burn you a copy if you like.

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