Vice Principals: Everyone’s new favourite comedy series?

Credit: Sky Atlantic

***Spoiler-free discussion to follow***

If you’re into your comedy television series, Sky Atlantic’s Vice Principals, an adult-themed, dark comedy centring on two high school vice principals who reluctantly team up to try and destroy the newly appointed principal, could be for you.

The premise is simple enough: Danny McBride’s arrogant, overtly macho Neal Gamby and Walton Goggins’ bitey, mildly camp Lee Russell seem to be at loggerheads when current principal (played by none other than Bill Murray) is forced into early retirement to tend to his ill wife.

Yet, anyone who’s familiar with either McBride’s or Goggins’ previous work may have issues with the way they portry their characters. Eastbound & Down began as a sturdy platform for McBride to play to his douche bag strengths as baseball hero turned complete washout Kenny Powers, and here in Vice Principals it feels a bit like he’s channelling the same character - much like he did in Hot Rod and a number of other roles have. Angry can be amusing, but not when it’s served up all the time.

In contrast, Goggins established himself as a crooked, racist, and very unpredictable cop in The Shield, before going to the other end of the spectrum in Sons of Anarchy as a softly spoken transgender prostitute. Here in Vice Principals we see a well-presented, suited-up character whose sexuality isn’t defined, but is exploited for comedic effect.

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The content is, as you’d expect from an 18-rated show, explicit, playing out largely as a sort of slanging match between Gamby and Russell as they bicker and belittle one another in a blind attempt to get the vacant principal position.

But considering it’s a comedy, it’s difficult to tell whether it’s all that funny. On a basic level of name-calling and throwing one’s weight around it serves a purpose, but it’s McBride’s character’s discriminatory traits that perhaps come across as a little offensive and even stale in 2016. Seven years ago Eastbound & Down was received more positively than it would be today but McBride doesn’t appear to have evolved as a comedy actor, instead relying on the outrageous a**holery his characters are known for.

Credit: Sky Atlantic

By the end of the pilot you’ll be aware it’s not a complete disaster, but despite moments of funny dialogue and scenarios that present themselves, it’s not as consistent as it should be for something relying on the idea of making its audience laugh to get them through a half hour episode.

Vice Principals, for me, didn’t get off to the strongest of starts, but it’s a show that certainly has potential for it to grow into itself, especially with the names involved and dynamic that could present itself. Here’s hoping the season significantly improves as it goes on.

What did you think of episode one of Vice Principals? Share your comments below…

Mike P Williams is a freelance TV, film and entertainment writer, with an obsession for all things Game of Thrones, Jurassic Park and Pixar. Over the years he’s written for the likes of MTV, Total Film, BuzzFeed, and Yahoo Movies UK.