Oops. Mea culpa. This one slipped in under my radar.
CMT's new comedy Still the King debuted its first two episodes at 8 p.m. Sunday and I'll make amends today while we have room for it. Be sure to mark your calendar because there's a major Arkansas connection you'll want to check out.
The first two episodes are already posted at cmt.com. I never really thought I'd say this about Billy Ray Cyrus, but he's pretty funny.
Here's the background. Still the King stars the 54-year-old Cyrus (kids, he's Miley's daddy) as Vernon "Burnin' Vernon" Brownmule, "a scandal-ridden washed up one-hit wonder who was kicked out of country music, only to emerge 20 years later as the second best Elvis impersonator."
The No. 2 impersonator in Laughlin, Nev., that is.
Hmm. One-hit wonder like, say, "Achy Breaky Heart"?
At any rate, while doing 90 in a stolen bread truck in the company of several female companions, Vernon smashed into a church sign outside of Nashville, Tenn. His sentence is to return to the scene of the crime and perform a thousand hours of community service.
Instead of that, con man Vernon pretends to be the congregation's new minister and hilarity ensues.
Coming back to town reconnects Vernon with Debbie Lynn Cooke, with whom he shared a one-night stand many years before.
Debbie Lynn is played by North Little Rock native Joey Lauren Adams (Mallrats, Chasing Amy). Adams, 48, who grew up in Sherwood, is perfect as the "fiery and feisty" mother of the 15-year-old daughter Vernon never knew he had.
Here are the rest of the characters you'll need to know.
Madison Iseman (Henry Danger) plays 15-year-old Charlotte. Being a TV teen, she's not only beautiful, but precocious, witty and sarcastic. She's also hesitant about letting Vernon into her life.
(By an odd coincidence, Charlotte bears a passing resemblance to Hannah Montana. Hmm.)
Travis Nicholson (Super Zeroes) is Walt, whose dad played fiddle in Vernon's band back in the day. Walt helps Vernon con the congregation into believing Vernon is the new preacher.
Lacey Chabert (Party of Five) portrays Laura Beth, the head of the church boosters. She deems it her personal duty to guide the church's new preacher.
Leslie David Baker (Stanley Hudson in The Office) portrays the church's blind caretaker, Curtis. He steals every scene he's in.
Kevin Farley (The Waterboy) plays Vernon's parole officer Mitch Doily. He's also Burnin' Vernon's biggest fan.
Jon Sewell (Super Zeroes) portrays Ronnie, Debbie's not-too-bright live-in boyfriend.
Guest stars include singer Randy Travis as a cop; John Corbett as singer Trayne Crostown; Darius Rucker as Jesus; and Erik Estrada as himself. Expect more cameos because the 13 episodes were filmed in Nashville.
In the second episode, the real new pastor shows up and Vernon and Walt scheme to get rid of him.
• Wrecked. This single-camera ensemble comedy debuts at 9 p.m. today on TBS and is being billed by some as "Lost meets It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
The series follows a quirky gaggle of survivors stuck on a deserted island after their airplane crashes on its way to Thailand. TBS notes, "No longer plugged in, the group must navigate this new society and learn to live without modern comforts such as social media, Wi-Fi, indoor plumbing and Chipotle."
You know it's a comedy if Chipotle is included in "modern comforts."
There's a passel of folks in this one. Here's a handy list to keep everyone straight.
Owen (Zach Cregger) is a flight attendant trying to avoid taking his life seriously.
Emma (Ginger Gonzaga) has dropped out of med school and was headed to Thailand with her friend, Florence.
Florence (Jessica Lowe) is intellectually pretentious and a pseudo feminist.
Pack (Asif Ali) is a sports agent who seems surgically attached to his iPhone.
Jess (Ally Maki) was traveling to Thailand with her jerk boyfriend, Todd.
Todd (Will Greenberg) is Jess' jerk boyfriend.
Karen (Brooke Dillman) is a vice president of the web search engine Bing.
Liam (James Scott) is a handsome former member of British special forces.
Chet (George Basil) is a dude so drunk he doesn't even realize the plane crashed.
Steve (Rhys Darby) is a good-natured guy traveling with his huge dog, Brimlow.
Danny (Brian Sacca) wants to be a police officer although totally unqualified. He was going to Thailand for one last fling before joining the police academy.
There will be 10 episodes in the first season. They're rated TV-MA for language, sexual situations and violence.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 06/14/2016