हैप एंड लियोनार्ड

**** 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. .

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.

My spoilers are super minor, nothing that will jeopardize your viewing pleasure.

This show keeps getting better and better. I have just finished watching the 4th episode and there is something so quirky about it. It is supposed to take place in the 80's (thereabouts) and centers around crime - trying to locate stolen money and dealing with the results. It is set in Texas with the 2 main characters wearing cowboy boots and hats, giving it a westernish vibe. But then you throw in the spandex wearing, spike-haired, blue eye-shadowed, 80's murderous vixen and the show becomes a little more off kiltered, but in an entirely good way. This mix of characters makes me feel like I am watching a blend of a Guy Ritchie Film and Pulp Fiction turned into a TV show. The violence reminds me of this combo as well. It is extreme and bloody but done with flair and frivolity.

There are some excellent and well-known actors in the show: James Purefoy, Michael Kenneth Williams, and the ever lovely Christina Hendricks. Michael and James have really good chemistry together and It is completely believable that they have been best of friends since childhood. I do have to say, though, that Enrique Murciano's acting was cringe worthy (an ex-lover to Leonard (Michael's character)). It was so over the top. But I have to wonder if the director wanted it to look like that because otherwise one would think that he would have redone the scenes. Fortunately Enrique's role is very minor.

I am rating Hap and Leonard a 8 because of how entertaining, quirky, and amusing it is. The show is not up there with such monumental TV like Breaking Bad or The Wire, but I am surprised that more people aren't watching this and proclaiming its superb entertainment value. Shows like this and Fargo demonstrate that TV can be even more than good writing and acting, they can be art.

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".

This show intrigued us from the start and it didn't disappoint. The casting of James Purefoy and Michael Williams as Hap and Leonard as two bickering yet loyal buddies sets the tone for some interesting and entertaining adventures. Hap and Leonard reminds us of how important casting is to any successful production.

The show is peppered with some dark humour yet serious and brutal enough to include some bloody violence. The story line personalities of these two make for some well written and well delivered dialogue between the two individuals.

We hope they have many more adventures in the seasons ahead.