"Vice Principals" is an Underrated Television Masterpiece

After finishing "Eastbound and Down" I decided I was going to go back and watch another one of my favorite Danny McBride, Jody Hill fronted shows, "Vice Principals".

I watched it when it first aired on tv. I devoured it in fact. "Eastbound and Down" is an all time classic, next level comedy show, and I figured it would be next to impossible to follow it up with anything remotely close. "Vice Principals" is the rare exception to the rule that the second thing that is made by an artist is not as good. I do firmly believe that "Vice Principals", while a different style of show, is as good as "Eastbound and Down". It just bums me out how incredibly underrated this show was when it was on TV. Hell, it is still underrated now. All three shows that McBride and Hill have done for HBO are incredible, but no one seems to talk about "Vice Principals". "Eastbound and Down" and "The Righteous Gemstones" get much deserved credit, again they are great. But, as I said, how many people actually talk about "Vice Principals"? Not too many in my circle of friends and family. My dad talks about it, and so does RD, but that seems to be it. I have friends who like these types of shows who have never watched it before, or watched it and have never revisited it. I think it got kind of lost in the shuffle. With the success of "Eastbound and Down", and this show being only two seasons, I think too many people just let it pass. That is a mistake. This show needs to be revisited and needs to be celebrated for how great it truly was.

I think what makes this show so great in my opinion is the tonal change from "Eastbound and Down". "Eastbound and Down" was more of a straight forward comedy about a professional athlete who fell on hard times and still thought they were as great as they once were. "Vice Principals" is much darker in tone. There are some heavy, nasty things that happen in this show. The heavy scenes are underscored with comedic stuff, but there is definitely more darkness and bleakness in this show. I also think that making McBride the "good guy" maybe threw some people off. It shouldn't have. He is very good as the foil. It actually is a nice change of pace. But making Walton Goggins the star, the mean guy, the villain, that was a stroke of genius. Goggins is so, so, so good on this show. He should have won multiple Emmys. There are scenes where he is the only person and he absolutely crushes it. He is so vindictive and conniving and cruel and pathetic all at once. It is truly a powerhouse performance.

I also think people may not have been as into the other characters on "Vice Principals" like they were with "Eastbound and Down". April and Stevie and Jason Sudeikes and Andy Daly and so many more are memorable and awesome. But so are Georgia King and Kimberly Herbert Gregory and Edi Patterson and Busy Phillips and Shea Wigham and all the other side characters on "Vice Principals". Edi Patterson, in particular, is phenomenal. This was my first exposure to her acting, and she is hilarious. It is a great jumping off point to now seeing her playing Judy Gemstone now.

"Vice Principals" is dark and funny and just a very, very good show. It did not get its justice when it was on. I think people should go and check this show out once again, especially if you like McBride's other work. "Vice Principals" is a tremendous, and underrated, show. Check it out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Vice Principals" Series Finale

This past Sunday was the series finale of "Vice Principals". I've been a fan of this show from day one. I have even said, and RD disagrees with me, that I think it is a better show than "Eastbound and Down". Don't get me wrong, I adore both shows, but I like the darkness and the seediness of "Vice Principals". That is not to say that "Eastbound and Down" wasn't dark at times, but it was always filled with some comedic element. When "Vice Principals" got dark, it stayed dark.

The series finale was a prime example of how far they could go with this show. I felt that the finale was a perfect ending to the show. I know that Danny McBride and Jody Hill and David Gordon Green had always said that it was only supposed to last 2 seasons, and the way they ended it was stupendous. They do not need to do anything else. They closed up every story line perfectly. I was so pleased with what I watched. After I finished the finale, I watched it yesterday, I felt a sense of completeness.

Everyone involved with this show, be it acting, writing, producing or directing, did a wonderful job. Danny McBride was awesome as Neal Gamby. He could have settled into a Kenny Powers esque character, but he went the opposite direction. His character had a soul. He had a conscience. He did some bad things, but his heart was, for the most part, in the right place. He is the hero. Walton Goggins deserves a god damn Emmy for his role. He was the absolute best thing about this show. He was conniving. He was a bad, bad man. He had a troubled past. He constantly lied and cheated to get what he wanted. He was just flat out evil. But, in the end, he came through for his buddy, that is a minor spoiler alert. All the bad stuff he did, he finally, kind of, redeemed himself. Goggins and McBride were the stars, and who the show was based around, and it was a perfect pairing. I did not know how they would fit, but they had tremendous chemistry on screen. I fully bought into their journey and friendship.

Outside of the main guys, pretty much every supporting actor was great too. Georgia King as Amanda Snodgrass, the sometimes love interest of Neal Gamby, was so good. She was tough, no nonsense and didn't put up with Gamby's bull shit. Her arc, especially when she started to date Fisher Stevens, an excellent addition, as a YA novelist, was so good. The fact that she took pride in Gamby's love for her book, which by all accounts sounded pretty bad, showed how naïve, yet faithful she was to Gamby. Kimberly Hebert Gregory as Dr. Belinda Brown, the ire of Gamby and Russell in season 1, was just as good in her much reduced role in season 2. She found a new school, but she popped up here and there to debunk some theories and curse out Russell when he came to her for help. She was so good in season 1, and I did not know how they would incorporate her in season 2, but they found a nice fit for her to come back. Edi Patterson as Ms. Abbot, had a much expanded role in season 2, and she owned it. She was nutso. She was crazy. She had all kinds of ulterior motives, and Patterson crushed in this role. Sheaun McKinney had a bigger role as Dayshawn in season 2, and he was great. He was always there with a joke, but also good advice for Gamby. I loved him in this show. I could go on and on. Dale Dickey was a great addition this season. Busy Phillips and Shea Whigham were just as good this season as they were in the first. All the other teachers at the school, excellent. The cast was one of the best parts of the show, and everyone involved really leaned into their roles.

What truly made this a great show was the writing. As earlier stated, it was dark, but it was also funny, sometimes moving and had a nice mystery involved in the second and final season. I love this show so much. The finale has one of the best guest appearance that I have seen. RD texted me and told me this before I watched it, and he was one hundred percent correct. The finale is crazy. All the stuff they pack into about 34 minutes is nuts, but it works. I loved the whole series, but the finale was exceptional.

I will miss "Vice Principals", but it is going out on top. It ended perfectly. You can always watch it on HBO Go or On Demand, or anywhere you may watch TV. I'm glad that I watched it in real time. It was a show that I looked forward to every week. As I said, I'm sad it is done, but I will remember it as one of the best shows I have ever watch. Watch this show. When Danny McBride, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green get together, they usually knock it out of the park, and with "Vice Principals", they hit a grand slam. What an excellent, phenomenal show.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The Head Editor agrees that "Vice Principals" is one of the greatest shows ever, but the first ten minutes of "Eastbound and Down". that belongs in the Louvre.

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Ty Watches "Vice Principals" Final Season Premier

This past Sunday "Vice Principals" returned to TV. I loved the first season of this show. Anytime that Danny McBride and David Gordon Green get together, save for "Your Highness", I am completely on board. They did great work with "Eastbound and Down", and they are doing it even better, in my opinion, on "Vice Principals". That is very high praise from me. "Eastbound and Down" is one of the greatest shows to ever appear on TV. It was perfect in every possible way. But, I feel like "Vice Principals" is darker, funnier and just a sight bit better. The show is so dark.

The opening scene of the season 2 premiere was intense. I watched it while sitting on the edge of my couch. It only got darker, but also funnier from there. Spoiler alert if you haven't watched the first season yet, McBride's character got shot in the school parking lot by a masked person. I didn't know if the show was going to come back, or if they did, how would they treat what happened? Would McBride be dead? Would he be paralyzed? Who did it? Why did this person do it? I had so many questions. So, when they announced that they were doing a second season, and it would be the last season, I was pumped.

I watched the season 2 premiere yesterday when I finally had a chance to sit down. As I said, they had that crazy dark opening dream sequence, and then the show snapped back to its comedy roots. McBride was awoken by his daughter, and she told him breakfast was ready. What made this so funny, he was staying at his ex wife's house, played by Busy Phillips, and her new boyfriend was his live in nurse. If people remember my review from season one, one of my favorite characters is Busy Phillips new boyfriend. He is so nice to Phillips, her daughter and, especially, McBride. That is hammered home in the season 2 premiere. McBride seems to think he needs a wheelchair and a lift to get up and down the steps, but we find out that he was shot in the shoulder and the hip. He is not paralyzed, but he acts like he is. He has become so reliant on the chair and the lift.

Later on Walton Goggins shows up to give McBride his medicine, so we find out then that he and McBride still hang out. They successfully got the new principal fired, and now Goggins has become principal of the high school. He does find time to help out McBride though. They go on walks and feed ducks. McBride tells Goggins his plans for getting Dr. Brown back, he believes she shot him, but Goggins says that everyone in town, including the police, say that it was a stereo thief that was spooked by McBride's presence. McBride doesn't believe that, and neither does Goggins. But, they have to go along with it so no one will find out all the terrible things they did to Dr. Brown in season 1.

At this recent walk in the park, Goggins gets McBride to get out of his chair and walk. He needs him back at the high school. Goggins is having a hard time being the full time principal. He goes on to explain how hard it has been by describing all things he has to do for the parents and administrators by describing it as "the worst gang bang I have ever been a part of, and believe me, I have been in some gang bangs". McBride returns to the high school the day after his last encounter with Goggins, and that scene was hilarious. He has the student choir sing "Tears in Heaven", and McBride is so very uncomfortable the whole time. It was comedic gold.

The episode did get dark when McBride found out where Dr. Brown was living now and confronted her in the restroom of a restaurant she was at with her kids. She told him she did not shoot him, and at this point, McBride tried to pull a gun on her. It slipped out of his arm, still using humor even in dark scenes, and rolled to her feet. He then pulled the sword out of his cane and told her not to move. She explained then all the reasons why she wouldn't shoot him, and even showed him a tattoo of him and Goggins holding hands and eating shit. She has put them behind her, just like gin, and got it tattooed on her back, as is her way. She then tries to tell him that she thinks it may have been Goggins that shot him because everything worked out for him. McBride storms into the school the next day and asks Goggins if he shot him at their meeting spot in the woods. Goggins is appalled, and starts to walk away. McBride apologizes, and this is when we hear about how bad it is to be principal. Goggins shows him a binder filled with possible suspects of people that could have shot McBride. They seem to be back in business as partners in crime again.

The final scene of the first episode shows McBride getting his gumption back and tearing into students that are acting up at lunch. It was great, and he is most definitely back. I'm very excited to see how this second, and final season, goes. I want answers, hilarious scenes and dark shit to happen, and I'm one hundred percent sure that "Vice Principals", Danny McBride and David Gordon Green will deliver. Everyone should be watching this show. It is amazing.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is right that "Vice Principals" is an awesome show. It is not better than "Eastbound and Down". I mean the first ten minutes of that show's premier is the greatest piece of entertainment man has ever created.

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"Vice Principals" is Another Great HBO Comedy

Something new and funny is flying into your tv antenna

I know that I'm about five days late, but Danny McBride and Jody Hill have done it again people. Their new show, "Vice Principals", premiered last Sunday, July 17th, but my DVR got all messed up from the storms I wrote about last week, so I finally got to see the premiere yesterday. It was almost as good as their premiere of the all time great TV show, "Eastbound and Down", almost.

"Vice Principals" opened on Bill Murray, who I believe is only in the first episode, as a principal of a high school and that day was his last at the school. He was getting ready to raise the flag one more time and he was chatting with two of his employees, played by Walter Goggins and the great, criminally underrated Danny McBride. They were all cordial at first, but as the conversation dragged on, you could see that Goggins and McBride's characters hate each other. They are literally enemies. When Bill Murray has had enough of the fighting, he makes the two of them perform the pledge of allegiance, all with his back turned, and the quiet back and forth between McBride and Goggins was classic Jody Hill and Danny McBride's comedy writing. The two were fighting, flipping each other off and insulting each other, basically all with their eyes and gestures. Very few words, other than the pledge, are spoken during this first scene.

We then cut to a fight happening inside the school. McBride is the vice principal, and he is the first administrator to see the fight. He goes to break it up, and while doing so, he gets punched in the face. He takes the three kids involved in the fight into his office to hand down punishment. If this wasn't on HBO, it would have been a cut and dry suspension scene, but since it is HBO, and they can be uncut, McBride goes off on these kids. He's calling them names, swearing at them the whole time and hands down a very by the book high school punishment, but the way McBride delivers the lines, it is so funny and so hilarious.

We later come to realize why McBride and Goggins hate each other. We see Goggins at a lunch table with all the other administrators and other teachers, and he is the coolest, most fun person for the to be around. McBride, on the other hand, has no friends at the school, except for the lunch staff, that only seems to tolerate him. He is talking to one of the workers about how much he hate Goggins and that he is so much cooler than him. Again, classic Danny McBride stuff. We also learn a bit later in the episode that McBride has a daughter and is divorced from his first wife, played by Bijou Phillips. The back and forth between them, while watching their daughter take horse riding lessons, is very funny and kind of uncomfortable . It is only made more funny by the fact that Bijou Phillips new boyfriend is a very nice guy that wishes well to McBride all the time.

McBride assumes that he is going to get the principal job, so he tells his ex wife, her boyfriend and his daughter, that he is going to be named principal the next day. His ego is only more inflated when he gets home and has a message from the school saying that they made a decision, and they want to see him in the office in the morning. The next morning, when he arrives at school, he parks in the principals spot and proceeds to the office, sits in the desk and gives Goggins a piece of his mind, because he assumes he is the principal now. But, we come to see that not only did McBride not get the job, but neither did Goggins, or anyone else at the school. They hired a principal from another school with incredibly awesome credentials.

McBride is crushed. He tries to get the administrators and teachers to sign a petition to get the new principal fired, to no avail. He tries to organize a student walkout, to no avail. He sends an open letter to the school board to get rid of the new principal, to no avail. Everything he tries, it doesn't work. He arrives home from work that first day, after getting the hammer from the new principal, and his daughter and his ex wife's boyfriend are throwing him a surprise party. He has to explain to them that he didn't get the job, but his daughter and ex wife's boyfriend, are so complimentary and supportive of him. That scene is one of the best in the entire pilot episode.

Later in the episode as McBride is on duty as basically a crossing guard, we come to see that Goggins, who has been acting like a total gentleman and getting on the new principal's good side the whole episode, dislikes her as much as McBride does. They both want to take her down. They decide to join forces to get this new principal fired. Goggins character said it perfectly, "She is your enemy. You are my enemy and she is my new enemy, so my old enemy has a new enemy, making my old enemy my new friend. Let's join forces". They high five and the credits roll.

I cannot wait to watch more "Vice Principals". Danny McBride is playing a classic Danny McBride character, which he excels at doing. He is a dreamer in a crummy situation, trying to make it sound much nice than it really is. McBride thrives at this kind of stuff. Goggins, who we didn't get a whole lot from in the pilot episode, until the end, is going to be great on this show. He is a menacing, yet very funny actor who I was late on the bandwagon to. I really enjoy him in everything he does, and "Vice Principals" looks like it will be another homerun for Goggins. This show is going to be great. Danny McBride and Jody Hill are great comedy writers. And this is the type of show that HBO excels at doing. I cannot wait for more, and if it turns out to be 1/10 as good as "Eastbound and Down" was, "Vice Principals" will be great. I love this show.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He visted the vice principal's office many times in high school due to being too real. Follow Ty's realness on twitter @tykulik.