July 17, 2016 (2016-07-17) – November 12, 2017 (2017-11-12)
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,[1] and the series was split into two seasons for a designed finite run.[2] The series began to shoot in 2015 and wrapped in mid-2016, and premiered on July 17, 2016.[3] The second and final season premiered on September 17, 2017,[4] and concluded on November 12, 2017.
Synopsis
Vice Principals focuses on Neal Gamby (Danny McBride), the ill-tempered, dogmatic, and disliked vice principal of North Jackson High School, and his ambitions of being promoted to the principal's chair when the principal is due to step down. However, when the current principal (Bill Murray) retires, he reveals that he trusts neither Gamby nor his scheming and seemingly sociopathic co-vice principal Lee Russell (Walton Goggins), and so has recommended neither of them as his successor; instead, outsider Dr. Belinda Brown (Kimberly Hébert Gregory) is hired. When Gamby's attempt to get the school faculty to veto the appointment backfires (as Brown quickly makes a positive impression on the staff with her goal-oriented agenda and amicability with students), 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
Danny McBride as Neal Gamby, the divorced, self-important, authoritarian vice principal in charge of discipline at North Jackson High.
Walton Goggins as Lee Russell,[5] vice principal of curriculum at North Jackson High, a conniving office-politician with sociopathic tendencies who enters into an unholy alliance with Gamby.
Kimberly Hébert Gregory as Dr. Belinda Brown, North Jackson High's "confident and powerful" school principal.[6]
Georgia King as Amanda Snodgrass, the idealistic new English teacher at North Jackson High.
Sheaun McKinney as Dayshawn, a cafeteria worker[7] who Gamby frequently confides in.
Busy Philipps as Gale Liptrapp, Neal's ex-wife and Ray Liptrapp's new bride.
Shea Whigham as Ray Liptrapp, the new husband of Gamby's ex, and frequent target of his hostility — despite being a genuine and supportive guy.
Dale Dickey as Nash (season 2), the new Vice Principal then Principal of NJHS.
Recurring
Maya G. Love as Janelle Gamby, Neal and Gale's daughter, of whom Gale has primary custody.
Edi Patterson as Jen Abbott, a Civics teacher at North Jackson High with a one-sided crush on Gamby.
Ashley Spillers as Janice Swift, the new secretary for North Jackson High.
After their principal resigns, Vice Principals Neal Gamby and Lee Russell face off for the newly opened position. Both, however, are distraught when they meet the new principal, Dr. Belinda Brown, and agree to team up to take her down.
As their homecoming football game approaches, Russell uses it as an opportunity to take down Dr. Brown, though Gamby is worried it will have negative consequences for the school.
After Gamby sabotages their latest venture, he and Russell cut ties. Dr. Brown works with Gamby to tone down his disciplinary methods. Russell faces some problems at home.
Gamby and Russell create an elaborate scheme to turn the school against Dr. Brown. Gamby, eager to get closer to his daughter, learns motocross, with the help of Snodgrass.
Gamby must decide who he is loyal to as Dr. Brown offers him a new, more respectable role and reveals she plans on firing Russell. His relationship with Snodgrass is complicated as he learns that she used to sleep with a different teacher at the school.
The score was composed by Joseph Stephens. The soundtrack was released by Waxwork Records in 2019 on a double LP pressed to 180 gram vinyl. The release included liner notes by McBride and Stephens.[29]
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, season 1 has a rating of 66%, based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. 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."[30] On Metacritic, the season has a score of 56 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[31] Season 2 has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7/10 based on 11 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Danny McBride and Walton Goggins return to settle unfinished business in a Vice Principals season two that is both obscenely funny and more satisfying than its predecessor."[32]
The complete first season of Vice Principals was released on DVD and Blu-ray by HBO Home Entertainment (which is distributed through Warner Home Video) on February 7, 2017.[34] The complete series was released on DVD by HBO Home Entertainment on April 10, 2018.[35]
