Kenny Powers: Last News

Casey Bloys was about four years into his tenure as a programming executive at HBO when he was driven to champion a project that was disliked by others at the network. At first blush, the brilliantly raunchy Danny McBride comedy “Eastbound & Down” might have seemed out of place among the erudite offerings on HBO. When the series premiered in February 2009, HBO was still known for its New York-centric (“Sex and the City”) and Hollywood-set (“Entourage”) comedies. “Eastbound” revolved around Kenny Powers, a washed-up, foulmouthed, amoral former professional baseball player who heads home to North Carolina. HBO brass weren’t sure “Eastbound” fit their high-end brand. But Bloys, then the network’s young head of comedy, knew McBride had something with the show. “I truly thought and continue to think the show is funny,” Bloys says. “And it was at a point in my career where I was learning how to be an advocate for a show. How to explain to people why something is good, why we should put our name and our money behind something.”

Eastbound & Down, has passed away aged 46.His HBO sports comedy series, which he created alongside Danny McBride and Jody Hill, ran between 2009 and 2013 for four seasons.Production company Rough House Pictures confirmed Best’s death on social media, sharing a picture of him on Instagram.“It’s with heavy hearts we say goodbye to our good buddy Ben Best,” they wrote. “We lost him the day before he would have turned 47.A post shared by Rough House Pictures (@roughhousepictures)“A hell of a friend and a creative force.

Ethan Shanfeld Ben Best, the co-creator of HBO’s “Eastbound & Down” who also played Clegg in the series, has died. He was 46.Rough House Pictures, which produced “Eastbound & Down,” confirmed the news of Best’s death on Instagram with the caption, “It’s with heavy hearts we say goodbye to our good buddy Ben Best.