''Hap and Leonard'' is an American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series based on the characters '' Hap and Leonard'', created by novelist Joe R. Lansdale and adapted from his series of novels of the same name. The series was written and developed by

Nick Damici Nick Damici is an American actor and screenwriter known for such films as '' Mulberry Street'' and '' Stake Land''. Early life Nick Damici grew up in Hell's Kitchen in the 1960s and early 1970s. His father was a bartender, and Damici would o ...

and

Jim Mickle Jim Mickle (born 1979) is an American director and writer, known for such films as '' Mulberry Street'', '' Stake Land'', '' We Are What We Are'' and '' Cold in July''. He also co-developed the SundanceTV series '' Hap and Leonard'', and the Net ...

, who had previously adapted Lansdale's '' Cold in July'' and was directed by Mickle. The series premiered on the American cable network

SundanceTV Sundance TV (formerly known as Sundance Channel) is an American pay television channel owned by AMC Networks that launched on February 1, 1996. The channel is named after Robert Redford's character in ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' and, w ...

on March 2, 2016. The series received favorable reviews. The series was renewed for a final six-episode third season which premiered on March 7, 2018. The third season was inspired by the third novel in the ''Hap and Leonard'' series, titled '' The Two-Bear Mambo''. On May 14, 2018, SundanceTV announced they had cancelled the series after three seasons.

Cast and characters

Main

James Purefoy James Brian Mark Purefoy (born 3 June 1964) is an English actor. He played Mark Antony in the HBO series ''Rome'', Nick Jenkins in ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the series ''The Followin ...

as Hap Collins, a white working class laborer who spent time in federal prison as a young man for refusing to be drafted into the military and serve in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Michael Kenneth Williams Michael Kenneth Williams (November 22, 1966 – September 6, 2021) was an American actor. He rose to fame in 2002 through his critically acclaimed role as Omar Little on the HBO drama series ''The Wire''. He has been described as a "singular pre ...

as Leonard Pine, a gay black Vietnam vet with serious anger issues *

Jimmi Simpson Jimmi Simpson (born November 21, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his work on television, which includes recurring roles as Liam McPoyle on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–2013), Lyle the Intern on ''The Late Show ...

as Soldier, a local drug dealer (season 1) *

Bill Sage William Sage III (born April 3, 1962) is an American actor and alumnus of State University of New York at Purchase. He is known for his collaborations with director Hal Hartley. Sage has appeared in more than 80 movies, most notable ''American Ps ...

as Howard (season 1) *

Christina Hendricks Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...

as Trudy Fawst, Hap's ex-wife (season 1) * Pollyanna McIntosh as Angel (season 1) * Enrique Murciano as Raoul Vasquez (seasons 1–2) * Tiffany Mack as Florida Grange (seasons 2–3) * Cranston Johnson as Detective Marvin Hanson (seasons 2–3) *

Brian Dennehy Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles i ...

as Sheriff Valentine Otis (season 2) *

Andrew Dice Clay Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s with a brash, deliberately offensive persona known as "The Diceman". In 1990, he became the fi ...

as Sonny Knox (season 3)

Recurring

Neil Sandilands Neil Joseph William Sandilands (born May 1st, 1975) is a South African actor and filmmaker, known for roles in both film and television and for his versatility in filmmaking. In 2016, he had recurring roles on Sundance TV's '' Hap and Leonard'' ...

as Paco (season 1) * Ron Roggé as Bud Collins * Trace Masters as Little Hap * Kaden Washington Lewis as Little Leonard * Florence Young as Kay * Kari Shemwell as Trudy Double * Douglas M. Griffin as Charlie Blank * Evan Gamble as Sneed *

Corbin Bernsen Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and film director. He appeared as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series '' L.A. Law'',

as Chief Cantuck * Louis Gossett Jr. as Bacon (season 3) *

Laura Allen Laura Allen (born March 21, 1974) is an American actress. She starred as Lily Tyler during the first two seasons of the USA Network television series ''The 4400''. Personal life Allen was born in Portland, Oregon, the daughter of Julie and Da ...

as Officer Reynolds * John McConnell as Beau Otis *

Pat Healy Patrick Healy, Pat Healy, Patrick Healey or Pat Healey may refer to: * Felix Healy (Patrick Joseph Healy, born 1955), former Northern Irish football player and manager * Pat Healy (actor) (born 1971), American actor, writer, and director * Pat ...

as Truman Brown *

Jeff Pope Jeff Pope is a British television producer and screenwriter who co-wrote the film ''Pierrepoint (film), Pierrepoint'' and the television drama ''The Fattest Man in Britain'' and who won a British Academy of Film and Television Arts, BAFTA in 2006 ...

as Chub

Production

Filming of the show took place in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counti ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

, although the series is set in 1980s in the fictional town of LaBorde in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region co ...

. Two of the locations used were the old Woman's Hospital and the Celtic Media Centre.

Episodes

Season 1 (2016)

The first season is inspired by '' Savage Season''. The second episode "The Bottoms" was released online on March 2, 2016, a week before its scheduled airing.

Season 2 (2017)

The second season is inspired by '' Mucho Mojo''.

Season 3 (2018)

The third season is inspired by '' The Two-Bear Mambo''. The second episode, "Ho-Ho Mambo" was released online at AMC.com and Sundancetv.com a week before the scheduled March 14 on-air premiere.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

season 1 has an approval rating of 88% based on reviews from 24 critics.

Tie-in

A collection called ''Hap and Leonard'' made up of previously published short stories (''

Hyenas Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the cla ...

,'' '' Veil’s Visit,'' '' Dead Aim'') by Joe Lansdale as well as new content was published by

Tachyon Publications Tachyon Publications is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high-end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies ...

in March 2016 as a tie-in to the TV series.

References

External links

* * *
Joe R. Lansdale official website
{{Sundance Shows 2016 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s American LGBT-related drama television series American crime comedy television series English-language television shows Gay-related television shows Sundance TV original programming Television shows based on American novels Television shows filmed in Louisiana Television shows set in Texas Television series set in the 1980s