Here’s a surprising nugget of news that has escaped into the wild before the July 4 holiday really hits and news from across the pond slows to a crawl: Danny McBride comedy series Eastbound And Down has been awarded a fourth season of eight episodes by US channel HBO.

It’s surprising because pretty much everyone involved in the show – including co-creator Jody Hill – had said it was the end of the run when the third season finished this year. But while McBride told EW earlier this year that there was always a chance, he indicated that he and the others were off to tackle new challenges: “HBO definitely wants us, and Jody Hill and I love writing for the show. But there is other stuff we’d like to do. Both of us are ready to make jokes concerning people who don’t have strange haircuts.”

But now it would seem that they're ready to confront the mullet-haired baseball player Kenny Powers (McBride) and his appalling attitude to everyone around him once more...

The series – which shows on FX over here – finished the third season with (spoiler alert for anyone who hasn’t seen it) Kenny faking his own death and showing up at the door of ex-girlfriend April Buchanon (Katy Mixon) to promise he was a changed man. We’ll see how long that lasts next year when the team has shot the new season.

McBride, who will cameo in The End Of The World for Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel, is also developing a remake of Danish comedy film Klown.