‘It’s Florida, Man’ Might Be the Kindest Show on Television

HBO’s It’s Florida, Man returned for its second season back in November, and by now all six episodes are available to catch up on. That’s my way of saying there’s no real news hook to be had here. I wish I were writing about how it’s been renewed for a third season, but it hasn’t yet. So instead, I’m going to tell you why this show is so much better than it ought to be - why a docuseries about real-life outrageous Floridian exploits, the kinds of tales that have turned “Florida Man” into a household phrase, is somehow heartwarming and kind.

It’s Florida, Man is created and directed by Mark Herwick and Jeff Tomsic, the latter of whom also directed another unexpected, ripped-from-the-news comedy, Tag, about a bunch of dudes playing, uh, tag. It’s ok if you don’t know them, because you do know the producers of the show: Danny McBride and the crew behind The Righteous Gemstones, a team that knows a thing or two about revealing the unexpected depths of seemingly awful, two-dimensional characters. The show is based on an Australian series called True Story with Hamish and Andy, although It’s Florida, Man benefits from an interesting wrinkle to the formula: the fact that many of these stories became viral sensations, the basis for the very headlines that made “Florida Man” a meme in the first place.

Structurally, It’s Florida, Man fills a Drunk History-sized hole in my life. It’s got recognizable actors and comedians reenacting those viral stories against a backdrop of interview footage featuring the real people involved, from perpetrators to witnesses and law enforcement (and, in one memorable episode from season one, Carl Hiaasen as an expert on all things Florida). The dramatizations themselves lean into the humor and absurdity of the storytelling, rather than any sort of “realistic” portrayal of events. But where the entire endeavor should feel exploitative, it somehow doesn’t, thanks to those interviews. By having the real people explain what is often the lowest moment of their lives, it humanizes the headlines we’ve been primed to roll our eyes at. For some, we learn how they’ve grown and changed from this chapter of their life - gotten sober, settled down, fixed their meds. In this season’s “Pizza Man,” about a guy named Chad (played by Adam DeVine) who blacked out and broke into a Little Caesars, you discover that the real Chad has Tourette’s and turned to drugs and alcohol to fit in. Now he’s clean and has a steady job.

For other interview subjects, you discover their viral exploits were just the tip of the iceberg, and that too is somehow reassuring. In the season two premiere, a man named Speedy (portrayed by a mulleted Jeremy Renner) decides to steal a casino boat as some half-baked payback for the cops stealing his beloved dog. This was not some exceptionally bad incident in an otherwise normal life but the disastrous pinnacle of Speedy’s long life of crime, a fact the real Speedy is clearly proud of. He takes on a sort of mythical quality, the town kook everyone knows and begrudgingly loves, and even he has turned his energies toward less illegal frontiers. He’s now working to clean up a polluted river in his hometown.

But regardless of whether the subjects learned from these incidents, each episode proves there is so much more to these stories of swamp monsters, mermaids, and meth than any headline could capture. It’s Florida, Man simultaneously proves that any one of us could be a Florida Man given the right circumstances, and yet not - because there’s an undefinable quality to Florida that makes a bad night into a story for the ages. Instead of making these people the butt of the joke, the show finds a kind of beauty in their bad luck, earnest beliefs, grifts, and perseverance. Maybe you’re not exactly laughing with them, but you’re not always laughing at them either. Sometimes you’re just in awe.

January is a great time for playing catch-up. Network shows are still on hiatus, and the stranglehold Stranger Things had on our free time over the holidays has finally passed. If you’re looking for something breezy and fun to dig into, now might just be the perfect time to give It’s Florida, Man a chance. I can guarantee it’s so much more than you think it is (ahem, Dustin).