Hap and Leonard, based on the books by Joe R. Lansdale, premieres Wednesday at 10 p.m. on SundanceTV. The six-episode series follows Hap (James Purefoy), his best friend Leonard (Michael Kenneth Williams) and Hap’s ex-wife Trudy (Christina Hendricks) as they hatch a get-rich-quick scheme that is destined to go awry. Set in East Texas in the late 1980s, the series has a pulp fiction/film noir feel that’s as murky and moody as the swamp lands the trio is searching for cash.
Here are five reasons you should watch Hap and Leonard.
1. It’s Joe Carroll, Joan Harris, and Omar Little like you’ve never seen them before.
Purefoy, Hendricks and Williams created some of television’s most iconic characters on The Following, Mad Men and The Wire respectively. But there’s not a trace of their indelible characters in Hap and Leonard. Of course, they are actors trained to disappear into different roles, but TV is a medium that typecasts. So it’s great to see this trio given the opportunity to create fully realized and completely original characters, even if Purefoy’s Texas twang is a little all over the place.
2. This is not The Goldbergs’ 1980s
Like the beloved ABC comedy, Hap and Leonard also takes place in the ‘80s, but it’s a darker take on the Reagan era. Like The Americans, the series is set with the Cold War as its backdrop and with the lasting effects of the Vietnam War still casting a shadow on the decade. But unlike The Americans, Hap and Leonard are average guys just trying to survive and stay above the poverty line. The characters are still trying to find something to believe in. Hope is elusive and the clash between the greedy ‘80s and the laidback, let’s-change-the-world ‘70s plays out on a micro level.