"God's taken a dump on my face!" shouts Kenny Powers. "The love of my life doesn't wanna have sex with me 'cause she's gettin' married to some smoothie-eatin' fairy! The only job op I got is teaching a bunch of fuckin' piss-pants how to tie their shoes! This is me, Dustin!" he yells at his brother. "Take a picture!"

Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) didn't always have it so bad: Once a super-famous baseball player, the arrogant, oafish Kenny lost his fastball, then his job, then his fame. Now he's broke, and crashing indefinitely with his brother's family. He refuses to look for work, and also refuses to sell his jet ski. He drives around listening to the motivational books on tape he recorded years ago. He cries himself to sleep.

Eastbound & Down might be the best TV comedy I've seen since the British The Office. That's a weird comparison, 'cause they're quite different—Eastbound & Down is very American, and far goofier and more stylized—but the core sensation is the same. This is heartbreakingly hilarious, weirdly involving stuff. There's something—I can't quite call it "charm," but there's something—about a dude who, even at his lowest, can turn to his own self-image for inspiration. Shortly after he complains about God taking a dump on his face, Kenny bounces back: "I need to remember that I am better than everybody else!" he declares. "I'm a bullet-proof tiger, dude. And if everyone in this town has forgotten who I am, maybe it's time I remind them."

So Kenny accepts a job teaching P.E. at his old junior high school. He vows to hook up with another teacher, April (Katy Mixon), who also happens to be his old high school girlfriend, and also happens to be engaged to the principal (Andrew Daly). He recruits the school's pathetic band teacher (Steve Little) to be his "assistant." He starts a feud with a local car salesman (Will Ferrell). This is the depressing, mean-spirited, hilarious, improbably heartwarming life of Kenny Powers, and though it's told in a mere six half-hour episodes, it feels utterly complete.