American Vandal is an American mockumentary television series created by Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda that premiered on September 15, 2017, on Netflix. The series is a parody of true crime documentaries such as Making a Murderer and Serial. On October 26, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had canceled the series after two seasons; however, it was also reported that producers intend to shop the program to other venues.
It received mostly positive critical reviews, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, and won a Peabody Award.
Premise
The first season follows the aftermath of a costly high school prank that left 27 faculty cars vandalized with phallic images. Senior class clown Dylan Maxwell is accused of the crime by the school. He is expelled, but an investigation into the incident is launched by sophomore Peter Maldonado, with help from his friend Sam Ecklund, to uncover whether Dylan was the one truly behind the crime.
The second season follows Peter and Sam as they investigate a new crime at a Catholic private high school after their cafeteria's lemonade is contaminated with maltitol by someone calling themselves "The Turd Burglar."
Cast and characters
Main
Tyler Alvarez as Peter Maldonado, the co-anchor of Hanover High School's morning show and the writer and director of true-crime documentary series American Vandal. Griffin Gluck as Sam Ecklund, a co-producer of American Vandal and Peter's closest friend. Jimmy Tatro as Dylan Maxwell (season 1), the primary suspect of the prank at Hanover High School.
Recurring
Season 1
Joe Farrell as Jared Hixenbaugh
Jessica Juarez as Brianna "Ganj" Gagne
G. Hannelius as Christa Carlyle
Camille Hyde as Gabi Granger
Camille Ramsey as Mackenzie Wagner
Eduardo Franco as Spencer Diaz
Lukas Gage as Brandon Galloway
Lou Wilson as Lucas Wiley
Calum Worthy as Alex Trimboli
Cody Wai-Ho Lee as Ming Zhang
Saxon Sharbino as Sara Pearson
P.L. Brown as Mr. Baxter
Gabriela Fresquez as Sophia Gutierrez
Ryan O'Flanagan as Steven "Kraz" Krazanski
Karly Rothenberg as Erin Shapiro
Aylin Bayramoglu as Madison Kaplan
Brian Perrault as Zack Rutherford
Season 2
Travis Tope as Kevin McClain
Melvin Gregg as DeMarcus Tillman
Taylor Dearden as Chloe Lyman
DeRon Horton as Lou Carter
Adam Ray as Officer Crowder
Sarah Burns as Ms. Angela Montgomery
Jay Lee as Tanner Bassett
Bellina Logan as Detective Carla Dickey
Barbara Deering as Ms. Cathy Wexler
Miles J. Harvey as Paul Schnorrenberg
Jeremy Culhane as Grayson Wentz
La'Charles Trask as Perry Coleman
Susan Ruttan as Patricia McClain
Jonathan Saks as Drew Pankratz
Kiah Stern as Jenna Hawthorne
Nathaniel J. Potvin as Trevor "Gonzo" Gonzalez
Elisha Henig as Myles Crimmins
Jeanine Jackson as Proud Nun
Cayleb Long as "Hot Janitor" Connor Williams as Ethan Owens Matt Bennett as Gavin Landers Taylor Misiak as Abby Samuels Isaac Lamb as Matthew Gesualdi Luke Wyngarden as Nick Bradley
Episodes
Season 1 (2017) { { Episode table |background=#990404 |overall=3 |season=3 |title=14 |director=7 |writer=10 |airdate=7 |country=US |released=y |episodes=
{ { Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 5
|EpisodeNumber2 = 5
|Title = Premature Theories
|DirectedBy = Tony Yacenda
|WrittenBy = Amy Pocha & Seth Cohen
|OriginalAirDate =
|ShortSummary = Peter goes back to Janson's house to get the voicemail from Janson's daughter, who angrily rips it up, having been annoyed about getting called nonstop by American Vandal'''s growing fandom. This causes Peter to look back at a previous party held at a student's grandmother's house — known colloquially as "Nana's Party" — using video footage from those involved to find out if Dylan and his friends, who attended the party, mentioned about planning the phallic incident, with unsuccessful results. He instead finds evidence that debunks Trimboli's binge-drinking claim. He also notices a paint-spray can, used by Gabi's boyfriend Brandon Galloway on a towel as a promposal, that went missing afterward and later popped up on March 15 to be the drawing weapon. Peter reconciles with Sam after their fallout. With Gabi's help, Sam theorizes that there were three cars — belonging to Keene, physics teacher Mr. Maeda, and football coach Rafferty — hit with paint-spray splatter and deduces that the owners were the main targets, giving them a new lead on the case. |LineColor = 990404 }}