David Oyelowo comes home in Government Cheese first look from Apple TV+
Oyelowo stars in the new "surrealist family comedy" coming April 16, 2025.
Photo courtesy Apple
“The great thing about Apple is that an Apple original is actually a very real thing,” David Oyelowo said in an interview with Deadline earlier this year. And isn’t that the truth: Apple TV+ has been throwing money and talent and ideas to build a library of interesting, diverse, great-looking shows. Oyelowo noticed as much while working on Silo and wanted in on the action, signing a first-look deal with the streamer for his production company with his wife, Yoruba Saxon. Today’s Government Cheese first look (below) is the product of that collaboration, a series that premieres April 16, 2025.
Government Cheese is “a surrealist family comedy set in 1969 San Fernando Valley that tells the story of the Chambers, a quirky family pursuing lofty and seemingly impossible dreams, beautifully unfettered by the realities of the world,” according to a synopsis from Apple. “When Hampton Chambers (Oyelowo) is released from prison, his long-awaited family reunion doesn’t go quite as he’d planned. During his absence, Hampton’s wife Astoria (Simone Missick) and sons Einstein (Evan Ellison) and Harrison (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) have formed an unconventional family unit, and Hampton’s return spins their world into chaos.”
The Chambers are “trying to get their own piece of the American dream while eating government cheese,” Oyelowo teased in his conversation with Deadline. He didn’t give much else away, except to call the comedy “parabolic” and “absurdist.” He had glowing reviews for working with Apple, saying the company knows “what good business looks like, but they’re still young when it comes to being creators of content, and that means that their partnerships with creatives are true.”
Government Cheese is written, executive produced and co-showrun by Paul Hunter (who also directs) and Aeysha Carr. The series also stars Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo), Jeremy Bobb (The Continental), Louis Cancelmi (The Irishman), Julien Heron (Baskets), Djilali Rez-Kallah (My Hero), Louis Ferreira (Stargate Universe), Thomas Beaudoin (Hubert & Fanny), and Kyle Mac (The Boys), with John Ortiz (Bad Monkey) and Adam Beach (Smoke Signals). The first four episodes will be available April 16, after which one episode will air weekly through May 28. You can check out the Government Cheese first look below.
Photo courtesy Apple
Photo courtesy Apple
Photo courtesy Apple
Photo courtesy Apple
Photo courtesy Apple