Vice Principals


Vice Principals is an American comedy television series starring Danny McBride, Walton Goggins, Kimberly Hébert Gregory, Dale Dickey, Georgia King, Sheaun McKinney, Busy Philipps and Shea Whigham. The co-creators were Danny McBride and Jody Hill. The series was ordered by HBO in May 2014 with an 18-episode pickup, and the series was split into two seasons for a designed finite run. The series began to shoot in 2015 and wrapped in mid-2016, and premiered on July 17, 2016. The second and final season premiered on September 17, 2017, and concluded on November 12, 2017.

Synopsis

Vice Principals focuses on ill-tempered, dogmatic, and disliked vice principal of North Jackson High School, Neal Gamby, and his ambitions of being promoted to the principal's chair when the principal is due to step down. However, when the current principal retires, he reveals that he trusts neither Gamby nor his scheming and seemingly sociopathic co-vice principal Lee Russell, and so has recommended neither of them as his successor; instead, outsider Dr. Belinda Brown is hired. When Gamby's attempt to get the school faculty to veto the appointment backfires, he conspires with Russell to find some way of ruining Brown's reputation and installing himself as principal. The show chronicles the schemers' gradual self-destruction as their own biases and unlikable personalities increasingly alienate Brown and the rest of their co-workers.

Cast

Main

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2017)

Production

On June 15, 2015, the Charleston City Paper reported Vice Principals filming in the North Charleston, South Carolina neighborhood of Park Circle. The newspaper added that comic actors Will Ferrell and Bill Murray would make cameo appearances in the series. Scenes that take place in the school were shot on the campus of R. B. Stall High School and also filmed on campus of West Ashley High School.

Reception

Vice Principals received positive reviews from critics in season 1 and reviews for season 2 received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, season 1 has a rating of 64%, based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 6.48/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Vice Principals is sporadically amusing and benefits from its talented stars, but its mean-spirited humor sometimes misses the mark." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 56 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Season 2 has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.0 out of 10 based on 10 reviews.

Accolades

Home media

The complete first season of Vice Principals was released on DVD and Blu-ray by HBO Home Entertainment on February 7, 2017. The complete series was released on DVD by HBO Home Entertainment on April 10, 2018.