Kenny Powers - An Axial Asshole

A classic characteristic of the sitcom would be its centering around an axial character. Many sitcoms would be star vehicles, being extremely performer based and constantly revolving around a single central character. The style of the show would be based around that main character, having the camera work and editing center on the star and keep them as the main focus point of what was going on. The writing would also be based upon that lead’s characteristics to the point where even the supporting cast was defined in terms of their relationship and reactions to that character. The structure of each episode would be around the character’s growth within its three acts, and the series cumulative scenarios and seasonal arcs would be on the progression of its axial lead.

Although it may not be correct to label this show as a sitcom, HBO’s Eastbound and Down is very much a show based on an axial lead. Kenny Powers, a hateful ex-ball player for the major leagues is desperate to get back on top, and Eastbound and Down follows the man’s plight at redemption. Kenny is very much the center of attention, not only in the world of this show, but in his own mind, and thus there is rarely ever a scene in which he is not either the central character in the frame or the topic of conversation. However the series also plays with the conventions of having an axial lead. The supporting characters of the show are based on how they react to Kenny, but Kenny acts more as a force of corruption, a storm that reeks havoc on all he encounters and his interactions with the supporting cast causes them to worsen and change because of it. A prime example is the character Stevie, a music teacher at the school Kenny must temporarily work at, but as the series progresses, Stevie becomes so enamored with Kenny and his hotshot antics that it drives Stevie to quit his job and become obsessive with Kenny in a terrifying manor, causing him to turn into just as much a degenerate as Kenny. Perhaps the most ingenious example of this show being a backwards sitcom is in the progression of its axial character. Kenny is unchanging. Through out the series he learns lessons, but he never changes because of them. He is perpetually a hateful human being and yet somehow we love him for his antics because he is just the backwards version of the American hero that has been offered to us time and time again. Kenny Powers is dark, vile, and yet hilarious, just like his show.