HBO's latest hit show, It's Florida, Man, is returning for a second season, and director Jeff Tomsic wants to hear about your strangest experiences in the Sunshine State. The late-night comedy series, which premiered last fall, reenacts wild Florida stories using popular actors and comedians like Anna Faris.
Rough House Pictures, the company behind HBO's Eastbound & Down and the Righteous Gemstones, produced the series with Range Studios.
During season one, viewers learned the story of a man named "Eric," who got his arm bitten off by an alligator. Then there was the story of a Broward Sheriff's Office lieutenant who misused official law enforcement databases to learn personal information about his wife's fellow mermaid performers at the Wreck Bar in Fort Lauderdale. (The wild mermaid tale, which New Times covered, did not end there — it evolved into a neighbor dispute involving witchcraft).
The show's creators looked to news reports and headlines for season one, but they're changing things up for season two: They want people to come forward and retell their own only-in-Florida stories.
The cover of the April 21, 2022, issue of Miami New Times, which featured a story about Wreck Bar mermaid performer Whitney Fair
New Times file image
"We had a spreadsheet of hundreds of [headlines]," Tomsic tells New Times about the first season. "We're really trying to go grassroots this season and talk to people directly and have them volunteer these crazy stories, as opposed to us reading about them and then pursuing them. That task shift has already changed the game entirely because what we found in the first season is that we want people to want to tell their versions of the story."
Tomsic, who went to middle and high school in Orlando and now lives in St. Augustine, was thrilled when comedian, actor, and screenwriter Danny McBride and his producing partner Brandon James pitched him the idea of a Florida-centric show with comedic reenactments. He says both he and McBride have an appreciation for the South.
"I just love everything about Florida," Tomsic adds. "It's just such a beautiful place filled with all kinds of crazy species — iguanas, alligators, and total wack jobs. It just seems like such a wealth of material for a comedy show, and it's a part of the country that just seems to be universally maligned these days. Its diversity, both in wildlife and wild humans, is fascinating from a character perspective."
For Tomsic, Florida is a place that allows people to be themselves — for better or for worse — and he wanted to share more humorous tales rather than Florida Man stories focused on doom and gloom.
"I think we often hear about the worst, but there's a lot of 'better' even in those crazy stories," Tomsic says. "I wanted to find stories that were optimistic and lovely, despite how nutball they sound at first glance."
He tells New Times the response to season one was incredible.
"The viewership was beyond what I could have ever imagined," he adds. "It did incredibly well. It was mainly in the top five for its entire run on HBO's streaming platform [Max]. It just felt so good. Even the last few days, I've been getting texts after texts from friends of Florida and also movie execs who have just found the show and think it's hilarious, and I'm so happy about that."
Actor Jon Gries starred in a season one episode about a messy breakup. It was pretty saucy.
Photo by James Clark/HBO
"A lot of these stories end up with people being arrested or having mental issues, and I wanted all these stories to turn towards hope or some optimistic outlook on life despite the tragedies and terror," he shares. "You know, a guy who gets his arm bitten off while skinny dipping in a swamp in Bradenton, turns his life around, and decides to become a motivational speaker; a near-miss cannibalism night turns into a burgeoning love affair; or a man who tries to burn down his boyfriend's trailer with a pot of spaghetti sauce rekindles a relationship and strengthens their friendship. It's that kind of thing — that unexpected turn towards loveliness? That's really hard to find."
He hopes season two will be an even better encapsulation of everything Florida has to offer.
"The landscape of Florida is so broad, like, I want a story that's from a retirement community," he adds. "It's like all 50 states crammed into one state. There's everything you can find here. Finding these people who are really excited to share is really fun."
Submit your only-in-Florida stories at ItsFloridaMan.com.
