Every HBO Comedy Ranked From Worst To Best
25. Vice Principals
The least accomplished of Danny McBride’s HBO triumvirate, Vice Principals is nonetheless a scream. It’s a double header, with McBride and Walton Goggins as the titular school personnel competing to get bumped up to the big job.
Before long, the two conspire against a common enemy (the new principal played by Kimberly Hébert Gregory) and from there things become truly chaotic. True to form for McBride, everything is played to the max - what should be a petty squabble over a promotion turns into all-out war, complete with arson, gun fire, and attempted murder.
The brash style is complemented by exquisite attention to detail, particularly in the characterisation. Goggins is particularly hilarious as Lee Russell, an effete southern dandy fond of $10 words and foppish mannerisms.
It lacks the honed plot or pathos of McBride’s other work, but for pure comedy, Vice Principals is a high energy treat, two seasons packed full of gags and hijinks, with sublime chemistry between the two leads.