Danny McBride and David Gordon Green talk about HBO series ‘Vice Principals’

Interviewing Danny McBride and David Gordon Green sounds exactly like it is: hilarious and thoughtful. It provided a deep insight into how the best friends work together, which is the dynamic that resulted in the creation of their show “Vice Principals,” which is in its second season on HBO.

A number of shows are conceived through seeds of inspiration from one’s personal life — as seen in Adam Goldberg’s “The Goldbergs,” Jill Soloway’s “Transparent” and, to an extent, even Mindy Kaling’s “The Mindy Project.”

In McBride and Green’s case, it wasn’t so. McBride’s inspiration came from his time as a substitute teacher, experiencing the dynamic between high school students and their teachers and administrators and the different worlds that they belonged to. 

“It just seemed like a cool place to set a story, and jockeying for the head of this world seemed to draw a lot of parallels to some sort of classic ‘quest for the crown’ story,” McBride said.

The producers made strides to make the show’s world of teachers as accurate as possible, which led to a subtle 1980s theme of music and comedy being relevant in the show.

McBride and Green, often known for their collaborations on shows like “Eastbound & Down” and movies like “Your Highness,” did what any good comedians do — put epic expectations on supposedly mundane, everyday life goals.

Danny McBride (left) and Jody Hill (right) behind the scenes during production of “Vice Principals.”
Courtesy of HBO

‘“Vice Principals,” which was written in its entirety before it was filmed, will end on season two. McBride said the pair designs their projects in a manner that “it can be consumed in one hungover afternoon.”

Green, who served as director and executive producer on the project, discussed his transition from one role to another, especially during the shocking finale of season one.

“The crew didn’t know what was going to happen, and the cast didn’t know what was going to happen to their characters,” Green said. “And then I jump in between the two (watching) these intimate evolutions of both.”

While the first season was able to attract major guest stars like Bill Murray, McBride and Green will limit guest stars in season two.

“In order for this story to be a success, this world really needed to be rounded and needed to feel like it was surrounded by people that were exclusive to this world,” McBride said.

Green and McBride, who met in college, called on their college friends, including Jody Hill, to be executive producers on the project. Both said that their college lives played an important part in their decision to enter show business.

“There’s a lot of elements in this industry that can make you cynical and just bum you out, make you really competitive, so when you have a group of people who are keeping you as grounded as you were in high school, it keeps the process very human,” Green said.

Season two of “Vice Principals” airs every Sunday on HBO, and the series finale will air on Sunday, Nov. 12.

Malvika Randive is a sophomore Psychology & International Relations dual major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. You can reach her at mnrandiv@syr.edu.