Vice (TV series)

Last updated
Vice
Vice title screen.png
Title card from seasons 1–3
Genre Documentary
Created by Shane Smith
StarringShane Smith
Theme music composer Nick Zinner, Ben Vida & Hisham Bharoocha
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes160 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Running time27–43 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network HBO (seasons 1–6)
Showtime (season 7–)
ReleaseApril 5, 2013 (2013-04-05) 
present (present)

Vice (stylised as VICE) is a documentary TV series created and hosted by Shane Smith of Vice magazine. It covers topics using an immersionist style of documentary filmmaking on Showtime. It premiered on April 5, 2013, on HBO. The show's second season aired in 2014 and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series or Special. [1]

Contents

The show originally was executive-produced by Bill Maher, Shane Smith, and Eddy Moretti, and CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria was credited as a consultant. [2] [3]

On May 7, 2014, HBO renewed the series for two more seasons. The 14-episode third season began March 6, 2015, one week after the hour-long "Killing Cancer" aired on February 27. Vice's sixth season aired on April 6, 2018. [4] On March 25, 2015, HBO announced Vice's renewal through Season 7. [5]

The show's cancellation was announced on February 1, 2019, making the sixth season its last season on HBO. [6] However, on September 24, the series was picked up by Showtime and resumed on March 29, 2020. [7] On July 30, 2020, the series was renewed for an eighth season that premiered on March 7, 2021. [8] [9] On February 7, 2022, the series was renewed by for its ninth and tenth season. [10]

Synopsis

The show followed Vice journalists and founders Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi, and segment hosts Ryan Duffy and Thomas Morton as they went to different parts of the world, interviewing people on political and cultural topics. Subjects included political assassinations, young weapons manufacturers, child suicide bombers, Indian and Pakistani border politics, the Chinese one-child policy, climate change, and bonded laborers in Pakistan's brick kilns, featuring the work of human and labor rights activist Syeda Ghulam Fatima.

Correspondents, crew

Release and reception

The first episode aired on HBO on April 5, 2013, and was available for free via YouTube. [24] The series is the first televised program for VICE, featuring Vice staff as correspondents.

Politics, culture, and drugs are the main focuses of the Vice series. The show has received both positive and negative reviews because of its unique, provocative presentation and style. Some compare it to a gonzo type of journalism. [25] [26] Maureen Ryan of The Huffington Post wrote a negative review of the show, due to its presentation. [27] Rolling Stone magazine has written that: "It feels a little like your buddy from the bar just happened to be wandering through eastern Afghanistan with a camera crew." [28] In June 2013, the show was covered extensively in mainstream media for documenting a basketball game with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Vice correspondents have filmed from the inside of crack-cooking kitchens in Atlanta to Haitian secret societies in talk of zombie powder. [29]

Vice News Tonight

A nightly spin-off called Vice News Tonight premiered on HBO on October 10, 2016. The program was relaunched in 2020 on the Vice cable network.

Pulled 2023 episode

It was widely reported in June 2023 that Showtime pulled an episode of the series originally scheduled to air March 28, 2023. The episode, "The Gitmo Candidate & Chipping Away", was scheduled to air four days after Ron DeSantis officially announced he was entering the 2024 Presidential race. In the scrubbed promo for the episode, it described Seb Walker investigating claims that DeSantis witnessed acts condemned by the United Nations as torture during his time as a JAG officer in the Navy at Guantanamo Bay. [36]

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
1 10April 5, 2013 (2013-04-05)June 14, 2013 (2013-06-14) HBO
2 12March 14, 2014 (2014-03-14)June 13, 2014 (2014-06-13)
3 14March 6, 2015 (2015-03-06)June 26, 2015 (2015-06-26)
4 18February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)
5 29February 24, 2017 (2017-02-24)October 13, 2017 (2017-10-13)
6 30April 6, 2018 (2018-04-06)December 14, 2018 (2018-12-14)
7 13March 29, 2020 (2020-03-29)June 21, 2020 (2020-06-21) Showtime
8 15March 7, 2021 (2021-03-07)December 26, 2021 (2021-12-26)
9 16May 1, 2022 (2022-05-01)September 18, 2022 (2022-09-18)
10 7May 7, 2023 (2023-05-07)June 25, 2023 (2023-06-25)

See also

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References

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