GOVERNMENT CHEESE Review: Bizarrely Amusing Surreal Comedy

Great ideas can come from anywhere.

Government Cheese
The ten-episode comedy makes its global debut on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, April 16 with the first four episodes, followed by new episodes every Wednesday through May 28, 2025. I've seen all ten episodes.

I was raised in the San Fernando Valley during the 1960s, so my interest was naturally piqued when I learned about a new series starring David Oyelowo that is set in the San Fernando Valley during the 1960s.

Hampton Chambers (Oyelowo) has a great idea for a new tool that could revolutionize a segment of the building industry, as well as give his family a fresh start. And his family needs a fresh start, since Hampton is in Chino State Prison when he gets his idea for a self-sharpening electric drill.

Returning home to Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley -- a suburban enclave that was steadily growing (and overwhelmingly white) at the time, located just over the hills and north of the Los Angeles basin -- Hampton expects, or at least hopes, for a hero's welcome as he presents his Great Idea to his family after his two-year stint for check fraud.

His wife Astoria (Simone Missick) and sons Einstein (Evan Ellison) and Harrison (Jahi Di'Allo Winston) are none too welcoming. Well, Einstein is pretty happy to see Hampton -- his default attitude is set to "cheerful" -- but Astoria and Harrison are downright surly about his return. Clearly, Hampton's life before his most recent prison stint was chock full of trouble for his family.

Created by Paul Hunter and Aeysha Carr, the show takes a few episodes to get fully into its surreal swing of things, but the first two episodes establish that it won't fall into or be placed onto traditional narrative blocks. David Oyelowo and Simone Missick are notably convincing as Hampton and Astoria, married people who have a long history together, yet no longer see eye to eye.

It's not just Hampton's most recent (and lengthy) absence that drove a wedge between them, which Missick makes subtly apparent by her body language, and by the way she avoids eye contact with her husband, instead always looking around the room, as though she is waiting for the police to come bursting in or for gunfire to erupt from unexpected places.

Oyelowo carries his body with confidence and speaks in a kind, steady tone, yet he always seems to be trying to convince everyone else that he means no harm. 'Take me as I am, but better' is what he seems to be saying, pleading his innocence constantly.

The performances by Oyelowo and Missick made me think about the challenges that must face anyone who's ever been convicted of a crime. Can you ever 'go straight' if everyone, including your closest friends, family members, and even your partner, question your conduct, perhaps convinced that you're a career criminal, destined to never truly change?

"Don't do the crime if you can't do the time," sang Sammy Davis Jr. in the theme song for the TV show Baretta, starring Robert Blake, which debuted in 1975. Years before that, Hampton Chambers did the crime and did the time. But can he ever live down what he did?

Shot through with surreal comedy and bizarrely amusing set pieces, Government Cheese keeps raising questions that need to be answered, asking them with a raised eyebrow and a wry smile.

Review originally published during SXSW in March 2025.

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