So I was all ready to give up my premium cable for the new year and then this happened:

Yes. Woody Harrelson and a super invigorated Matthew McConaughey (if he was a baseball player I would say he was using PEDs because his acting has gotten ridiculously better in the past 2 years) are in a television series together on HBO starting January 12th! Damn you HBO. Just when I think I am going to get out, you pull me back in. It is eight episodes, so it is tight… not as tight as a BBC television series, but they cheat and make each show 90 minutes so their four episodes is really like six or seven in US time. 

In 2009 McConaughey did “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” and something must have happened. because he realized he could no longer get away with doing such shit. No more “Failure to Launch” or “How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days” or “The Wedding Planner”. Someone or something hit him on his head and said you are not an action star (remember “Sahara” or “Reign of Fire”?), but if you truly try to act (“We Are Marshall”, “U571”) then you might have a future, because you are getting old. And first came “Lincoln Lawyer”- not great, but good and a noble effort. Then came “Mud” and “Magic Mike” – where he gave a very good sleazy performance. But he topped it all off in 2013 with “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Wolf of Wall Street”. He is on fire right now and he is starring in a series with the always amazing Woody Harrelson. 

It’s a crime drama that cuts back in forth between 1995 and 2012. We can see in the trailer that the years have not been kind to Matthew and that Woody seems to have landed on his feet professionally. But something bad happened in 1995 and these two were assigned to find it and stop it. Did they? I don’t think so, but has it returned, and if so, can they stop it now? I don’t know, but I do know that I will be watching every week starting January 12th until it is over. There will be no sequel, there will be no rematch, but there will be eight episodes of awesomeness. 

PS There are other actors in this drama, but does anyone really care? Maybe because Michelle Monaghan looks hot, but this is all about Woody and Matthew, Matthew and Woody. Mr. Hemp with Mr. Longhorn doing what we like to see great actors do when they get together. That is… raise the bar.