Full Of VICE PRINCIPALS

Article first published as VICE PRINCIPALS Review on Seat42F.

I recently was asked to review HBO’s next comedy series, VICE PRINCIPALS. Set at a high school, the half hour weekly series follows two men who hold the job mentioned in the title of the show, and whom both want to move up to full-blown principal if given the opportunity. Of course, they are not given such a chance, and the laughs are supposed to come from their antics as they try and fail to reach that goal, sabotaging themselves as much as one another.

In case you couldn’t tell by the tone of the first paragraph, I did not enjoy VICE PRINCIPALS. Admittedly, I did not enjoy Eastbound & Down, either, which I assume is the closest series the network has had previously to this one. Both were created by Jody Hill (Observe and Report) and Danny McBride (Pineapple Express), and star McBride. Both feature an obnoxious lead that is hard to like, who does things that are rude to others. It’s not my cup of tea.

I say this right out front because humor, unlike drama, is very subjective, and there is clearly an audience for McBride’s work. And it’s not like that I don’t enjoy the actor; I liked him very much in This Is the End. I just don’t get his point of view in these series.

I also chafe at poor depictions of schools. As someone who has worked as an educator, it bums me out that, aside from dedicated pro-teacher movies like Dead Poets Society or Mr. Holland’s Opus, staff members in academia are often treated so poorly in television and film. The vast majority of those who dedicate their lives to helping children are committed to their work. The behavior of McBride’s character, Neal, would never, ever be tolerated in any institution I’ve been in, and he would be promptly fired long before he reached the point of vice principal. I know cop and medical shows aren’t portraying the reality of those jobs, either, but at least they aren’t so negative on the professions.

Besides that, there isn’t a lot I can point to that is valid criticism of the show. It is well constructed. There aren’t any easy plot holes to pick on in the pilot. The cast, which includes Justified’s Walton Goggins as Neal’s main rival, Cougartown’s Busy Philipps as Neal’s ex-wife, Boardwalk Empire’s Shea Whigham as her new man, The New Normal’s Georgina King as a teacher at the school, Devious Maids’ Kimberly Herbert Gregory as the new principal, and Know Thy Enemy’s Sheaun McKinney as a cafeteria worker, is great. The legendary Bill Murray (Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, Zombieland) even guest stars in the pilot! Technically, there’s nothing explicitly wrong with the show.

When I see fare like this, it makes me sad for the actors in it, hoping they can find better work soon. Or, selfishly, I’m sad for myself, missing seeing their talent as long as they dedicate their time to a project I’ll never watch when I’ve enjoyed them so much in the past. This is certainly the case with Goggins and Philipps, both of whom I adored in their last works. But if they’re happy and the show does well, then I guess that’s all that matter. Plus, it’s already been announced that VICE PRINCIPALS will only be a two-season show, so their tenure will be relatively brief.

So it will all come down to where you get your sense of humor. I find it hard to pigeonhole exactly what McBride’s is, other than it’s definitely his own. It isn’t overly gross or slapstick or witty or LOL-worthy. It’s just what he finds funny, and it’s good that he gets to represent it on television. I hope he finds his audience, though it clearly does not count me among them.

VICE PRINCIPALS premieres Sunday, July 17^th at 10:30/9:30c on HBO.

Not Quite the CHOZEN Series

Article published as CHOZEN Review on Seat42F.

FX’s newest animated series, originally announced for FXX, but reassigned to FX, is CHOZEN. CHOZEN follows the titular character (Bobby Moynihan, Saturday Night Live), a gay, white rapper just coming off of a ten-year prison stint he didn’t deserve. Now, Chozen is living with his sister, Tracy (Kathryn Hahn, Parks and Recreation), and determined to rebuild his musical career.

Chozen defies just about every stereotype rap music has to offer. He isn’t a minority, didn’t have a hard life, and isn’t into illegal activities, at least, not before he ended up behind bars. He’s a sweet boy who cares about people and loves men, something one does not expect to see in this world.

The question is, how long will that premise remain funny? Initial reactions will likely be of laughter because of the bizarre set up, but after several weeks of the show, that won’t be enough to maintain viewers. There must be a compelling story or characters that viewers want to spend time with. After watching only a single episode, I didn’t see that, but I’ll give it another chance before dismissing it, mostly because the voice cast, which also includes Hannibal Buress, Paul Iacono, Michael Pena, Nick Swardson, Gary Anthony Williams, and Danny McBride, is pretty good.

Part of the challenge CHOZEN faces is attracting fans that aren’t into rap music. I myself don’t appreciate the style for the most part, and the “Pilot” featured several interludes that I did not enjoy. CHOZEN doesn’t defy its source material enough to appeal outside of it from the start. The lyrics are amusing enough, and that helps some, but in order for the series to succeed, it needs a broad-ish base, or a way for its target audience to find it. I’m not sure FX provides that automatically, with Archer being the lead in, but I could be wrong.

I did enjoy several parts of the story that didn’t involve rapping. Chozen and Tracy have an interesting relationship that bears further exploration. Chozen is admirable for not being angry all the time. Jail has given him a taste for weed, made him care less about what others think, and he curses more, but at heart, he’s still a good guy. This is evidenced by the fact that he’s not obsessed with revenge, as many would be. He can grow up and move on, and that’s laudable.

Chozen is the type of guy you want to see do well, but while he does have talent for rapping, I’m not sure he has the personality to make it in such a public business. He has confidence, but lacks the ability to play the politics, so it would be unrealistic for him to go too far.

But it also makes a little bit of a pushover, when taken with the fact that he just quietly served his jail sentence and never appealed to the media or anyone to help him. Or maybe he did and that bit just isn’t included in the “Pilot.” If so, it really should have been. It’s frustrating that Chozen doesn’t just tell the truth. Surely, his body could be drug tested, and his friends and family could testify to his character. Is our justice system so broken we just have to accept that he served a long time for no good reason?

Perhaps I’m overthinking CHOZEN. It’s a comedy, and the most important thing is that it should make people laugh. Had I been laughing, I probably wouldn’t be asking so many questions. Humor is subjective, and I won’t say CHOZEN is a bad series, it’s just not my cup of tea. It is by the producers of Archer and Eastbound and Down, and while I love the former, the latter I can’t stand. Fans of that show, however, who enjoy that sensibility might like this one, too.

CHOZEN airs Mondays at 10:30 p.m. ET on FX.

CLEAR HISTORY Appeal Is Murky

Article first published as CLEAR HISTORY Review on Seat42F.

For those missing Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO recently premiered CLEAR HISTORY. Written by, and starring, Larry David, the tone and humor is pretty much the same, with David inhabiting a similar character. This should tide fans over until David decides to make another season of his well-received comedy series.

The basic premise is of a man named Nathan (David) who gets into a silly argument with his boss, Will (Jon Hamm, Mad Men), leading to Nathan losing his job just before a massive launch of a new car that would have made him a billion dollars. Ten years later, Nathan is living as a drastically different looking guy named Rolly in Martha’s Vineyard, seemingly having escaped his past. That is, until Will shows up on the island, and Rolly begins plotting his revenge.

CLEAR HISTORY is inferior to Curb Your Enthusiasm, so don’t go in expecting an hour-and-a-half episode of the show. David still goes after silly, everyday gripes, but instead of harping on them for thirty minutes, with earlier events coming back full circle, most are dealt with in thirty seconds and then dropped. This is a shame, as there is certainly ripe material here that could fill many installments of Curb, wasted as throwaway gags.

What I don’t buy is that Rolly is considered the nicest guy around. At first, he seems to have turned over a new leaf, not harping on the little things that Nathan used to. But throughout the movie, Rolly makes more enemies than friends, and loses a few chums along the way. Has he turned just because of Will’s presence? It seems doubtful, especially as no character makes that observation.

The ending is contrived, and while a few threads seem to tie together, they don’t play into the final scenes, ruining the setup. Also, the story just can’t decide what it wants to be. For large stretches of the running time, it is a cohesive tale, but then it sometimes falls apart into a series of bits, and the ending is far from satisfying or complete. That is probably the biggest weakness of the project.

Which is not to say CLEAR HISTORY isn’t enjoyable. There are some brilliant turns by wonderful comedic performers, and those alone are worth tuning in for.

The most stand out performance is that of Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) as Tibor, the Czechoslovakian man who sells Rolly an ignition switch, and then gets in a car wreck with him. Tibor’s look and accent are humorous, but it’s more the absolute confusion that he has towards Rolly, not understanding what’s going on when Rolly is involved, and not getting why Rolly isn’t afraid of him, that plays so darn well. Sadly, it is an uncredited role, as Schreiber stars in a series for a rival pay channel.

Among the rest of the cast are familiar faces like Michael Keaton (Batman, Toy Story), J.B. Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Amy Ryan (The Office), Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live), Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down), Eva Mendes (Hitch), Amy Landecker (Dan in Real Life), Patty Ross (The Heat), Paul Scheer (The League), Chicago (the 25 or 6 to 4 band), and many more. Each, without fail, not only fits well into this contrived world, but does an outstanding job of selling the scenes they are involved in. They are not the weakness of the piece, and each is not only funny, but also seems to be really glad to have this job, a definite plus.

A particular element I really enjoy is that of Will’s wife, Rhonda (Kate Hudson, Glee, Almost Famous). At first, she seems a pushover whom Rolly can worm his way in with. But the direction the script goes with her as things play out not only fits with her character nicely, even after a few turns, but also rises above the predictable and expected.

Overall, while not as impressed with CLEAR HISTORY as I have been with other David works, it is a nice little snack as we await his next great project.