There has been a penis-shaped hole in my heart since HBO’s raunch-alicious comedy Eastbound & Down ended its four-season run last year. And while that hole may always be there as a reminder of Kenny Powers’ greatness and wisdom, the cable giant has ordered a new series from Danny McBride that just might plug it up for a while. HBO announced they’ll be graduating to a higher level of R-rated comedy with the series Vice Principals, created by McBride and his Eastbound cohort Jody Hill (Observe and Report).
Vice Principals doesn’t have much of a plot synopsis at this point, and is simply described by Variety as a “story of a high school and the vice principals who almost run it.” There’s no word on whether or not McBride is going to star as one of those principals, but it would be weird if he didn’t. And I guess it’s asking too much for him to bring Eastbound standout Steve Little over, along with Will Ferrell, Craig Robinson, Andy Daly and…well, pretty much everyone else. Call it greedy if you will, but I call it “wanting amazing comedy.” And while I’m being non-greedy, I’d say this show sounds like the perfect place for Kenny to show up as a baseball coach and teach the kids about real life, right?
HBO signed up for 18 episodes of Vice Principals, which is a pretty hefty order, considering most HBO series get six to ten episodes a season. Of course, that number might actually be for two or three seasons, which would be good news for anyone sick of waiting for series renewals. McBride fans weren’t so lucky with FX’s animated comedy Chozen, which was cancelled after a single season. (It was still around one season too long, if you ask me.)
HBO is currently home to the best hour of comedy on TV with Mike Judge’s satirical masterpiece Silicon Valley and the political joke machine Veep, both of which have made Eastbound’s absence a little easier to take. They recently signed Bill Hader to develop and star in his own series of indeterminate subject matter. I see nothing wrong in hoping that these two comic actors go back-to-back on HBO in the future.
McBride has a slew of upcoming films, including Cameron Crowe’s next rom-com, the animated Hell and Back and Barry Levinson’s comedy Rock the Kasbah, so there’s no telling when this series will get up and running. HBO currently has no premiere date set for Vice Principals, but you can be sure TV Blend will call you to the office whenever the network has something set in stone.
