The first episode of HBO's new comedy Vice Principals hasn't even hit the air but its finale is already in the can. No, the network hasn't preemptively shut down the school-set series that stars Danny McBride and Walton Goggins as the title characters vying for the coveted title of "principal." Instead, the show was planned to run two seasons before coming to a conclusion, one written out well in advance.

As Variety reports, Vice Principals will enjoy an 18-episode run, and then that will be that. There's something refreshing about knowing that a series has an endpoint in mind from the outset, meaning that ratings won't effect its outcome one way or the other. The plan also gives the network time to look two years down the road for an eventual replacement, possibly keeping the creative team together should Vice Principals prove successful.

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Image via HBO

Here's what McBride had to say about the show's run during its premiere:

“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. HBO trusted us to make those episodes without anyone watching them, so they really, really trust us.”

Hill followed up that statement with a short and sweet comment of his own when asked if he had any interest in filming more episodes should the show be successful:

“No. We already shot the 18 episodes and that’s it.”

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Image via HBO

Series director David Gordon Green shrugged off the perceived pressure of going up against critical darlings and awards contenders Veep and Silicon Valley on the network:

“We march to our own beat. We try to tell the stories we want to tell, without compromising and we try not to follow market trends.”

Check out Vice Principals on HBO on July 17th when school gets back in session. In the meantime, check out more of our recent write-ups on the upcoming comedy:

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