HBO's Vice Principals Won't Last That Long, But That's Part Of The Plan

One new televisions series I'm excited about is HBO's Vice Principals. The dark comedy series, which begins airing on July 17th 2016, is from Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green and Eastbound & Down creator Jody Hill stars Danny McBride and Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight) as two vice principals "who are an in epic power struggle, vying for the top spot: to be school principal." Today we learn that the series will not be on the air for very long, only a couple of seasons. Learn why, after the jump.

At the premiere of Vice Principals, Danny McBride revealed that the series will only last a dozen and a half episodes:

"The whole series is only 18 episodes and that's it. We just wanted to make a really long movie. It's one school year and a complete story. This was an old screenplay that Jody [Hill] and I wrote back in 2006. But we needed it to be longer so we added and reworked it and broke it up into 18 segments."

When I first saw the trailer for the show, I thought to myself, "oh this is cool, it's almost like one of those fun 1980's comedies stretched out into a television series." At the time I didn't know that the series was based on a screenplay written by Jody Hill and Danny McBride, so it makes sense that there will only be 18 Vice Principals episodes. It might also be the level of talent of everyone involved that gives me the confidence in the series.

When asked if they would want to possibly come back to shoot another season after the planned 18 episodes, Bride responded "No. We already shot the 18 episodes and that's it." I really respect this, as many shows overstay their welcome. And besides, a show like this seems to be about one thing. Either one of McBride or Goggins' characters is going to win this contest and then what? Maybe the second season is about the tense relationship between the final outcome of Principal and Vice Principal? I can see that, but I definitely wouldn't want to see that dragged on for years.

I'm a fan of the recent trend of limited series one season arcs like Fargo, Making A Murder and True Detective, and especially the idea that a show runner can plan a show like a movie with a complete arc.

I'll leave you with the last trailer HBO released for Vice Principals: