Hap and Leonard

Wow...I was just looking for something entertaining to watch over the weekend and clicked on New Series This Week from my TV menu and saw this and read that it took place in the 80's which is when I graduated high school and anyone who grew up in the 80's...all fun and there's no record of it anywhere Lol. So I gave it a shot and what fun it was. Went in with no expectations and enjoyed myself so much I binged on all 5 episodes. Hopefully there will be more. Funny, witty, suspenseful, action, drama, betrayal. This is my kind of entertainment. There is violence & gore. So glad I watched it. Good character development and the banter between Hap & Leonard was absolutely hysterical.

**** W A R N I N G ***** W A R N I N G ***** W A R N I N G****** To all TV producers/television investors:

If you fund a story that is interesting and incorporate this story with great actors like HAP & Leonard the public will find it, watch and covet it. The Sundance network is now on my radar and I hope it is on other folks as well. I also found another quirky show, a comedy, $hidtt's Creek on the P O P Network, but I digress. Some of the previous reviews are funny; folks trying to rationalize why they could enjoy such a different type of show. HAP & Leonard is not simplistic, & it is not a show that is geared to folks missing a few neuro-transmitters or other brain matter. It is really a creative story with very talented characters that most of us know from previous shows. I am so glad these talented folks took a chance on this show and there is a network that has the guts air it. And Sundance....please keep airing these shows. .

Take some of the best acting talent one could ask for and a story that keeps you at the edge of your seat. Fun,excitement,comedy,drama and some real out there violence,this has a little of everything. It is hard for anyone not to be entertained.

If you are not someone who can watch over the top violence you might not want to to take this in. But otherwise TV just doesn't get any better.

Sundance needs to advertise better. Like so many others,I just happened to come across this one.

Word of mouth hopeful spread the word.

Season one is on Netflix with season two beginning 3/15/17. 6 eps each. You'll be wantignfor more I suspect.

Which is an odd choice to kick start the series. Because "Savage Season" was originally not part of the Hap and Leonard book series, it was a stand alone novel with the characters appearing first time ever. What would become known as the "Hap and Leonard Book Series" started with the intense mystery, amateur sleuth books like "Mucho Mojo" and "The Two Bear Mambo", and the rest is history. While the book series has ups and lows as any series, I never got tired of reading all of them.

The TV series is almost I would say dedicated to new and old fans of the books, the casting and the details are all there, so while Joe Lansadale's prose is gone it is a hell of a treat for readers that can approach an on-the-screen version. I am unable to tell how this TV series will sit to newcomers, because the plot ruminates deeply on themes that prevailed in Savage Season (i.e. the idealism of the 60s, and its reverberations into the late 80s) but were lately abandoned in the books which became their own distinct brand of crime mystery novels. And that is unfair as I am leaving out a lot of themes in the novels, really.

So give it a try, and if it lets you down just wait until the second arc comes out. If they adapt Mucho Mojo as it is hinted... or The Two Bear Mambo, or any other book with Hap and Leonard the plot will be much more intense and focused than this one, and the potential to rival with other mystery TV series like "True Detective".

Hap and Leonard's on screen chemistry is seamless. You can feel that these two have been friends and brothers since childhood and there is no forced chemistry as is seen in so many "buddy" movies and tv shows. Their relationship radiates a genuine connection that is a backdrop for the story rather than the focus.

The racial tensions that exist in the show are not forced either but are a backdrop as well to story-telling. A genuine portrayal of both the good and the bad that does not brow beat or try and preach politics to the viewer. So far this has been one of the most rewarding shows to watch in a long time.

I really hope this one sticks around, it is a fantastic effort and will be watching it until the end.