Sundance TV has released the first promo for HAP AND LEONARD. Based on the novels by Joe Lansdale, H&L stars James Purefoy as Hap Collins  and Michael Kenneth Williams as Leonard Pine, two unlikely friends that deal with life in the 1980s South. The pair first appeared in 1990 and have been in 8 Lansdale novels, with the ninth, HONKY TONK SAMURAI, set to be published in February.

 

HAP AND LEONARD follows the story of Hap Collins (James Purefoy) and Leonard Pine (Michael K Williams). Hap is a white working-class laborer who spent time in federal prison for refusing to be drafted into the military and serve in the Vietnam War. Now in his 40s, he is just barely making ends meet picking roses on an East Texas plantation. His confidante and lifelong best friend is Leonard, an openly gay, black Vietnam vet with anger issues. Having been raised by an uncle who shunned him after learning he was gay, Leonard’s only support in the not so progressive, rural South is Hap. Together, they struggle through misadventure in a bid to stay on the right side of the law in 1980s East Texas. Christina Hendricks will play Hap’s ex-wife Trudy, who resurfaces after two years with a proposition for Hap that he cannot refuse. By turns funny and shocking, HAP AND LEONARD provides an unpredictable and side-eyed look into race, class and friendship.

The series will debut in March.