Since debuting the iconic Kenny Powers on HBO back in the halcyon days of 2009, Danny McBride has made a nice little home for himself at the network. Eastbound & Down concluded in 2013, but McBride created and starred in Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones, building a comedy universe to fit his particular voice and sensibility. Still, the scope of Eastbound and the number of memorable characters it produced, like Casper, make it hard to believe there have been zero attempts to bring Kenny back to the mound. It’s not for lack of ideas. According to McBride, HBO simply wasn’t interested.
Appearing on Happy Sad Confused to promote his new short-story collection, Thrilling Tales Of Modern Men, McBride reveals he offered two spin-off ideas to the Home Box Office and struck out both times, even though one starred Will Ferrell. McBride tells host Josh Horowitz HBO never asked for a follow-up, but “the closest we came was, we talked to Will [Ferrell] about doing an Ashley Schaeffer spin-off a few years ago.” Unfortunately, “HBO didn’t even, like, listen to the pitch. They just, like, weren’t interested in it.” However, McBride also says he had another idea called Holy Guacamole, following Stevie (Steve Little) and his wife, Maria (Elizabeth De Razzo), as they open a Mexican restaurant. “It was going to be a workplace comedy, and that, again, didn’t go anywhere,” McBride says. “Again, they were not interested.”
Admittedly, McBride says he had very little interest in reprising his character and never “entertained it” because “what would we have to gain by doing it again?” Though a “who knows, man, I could make some bad real estate investments and then I’ll be back to push the relaunch of Eastbound & Down.” Hey, there’s still time to get our fixins in a row and pay proper respects to Bob Duato for Holy Guacamole. That idea is evergreen.
Next up, McBride is writing an upcoming G.I. Joe movie for Paramount, which is much less exciting than any of the unmade projects mentioned here.
Keep scrolling for more great stories.