Government Cheese: A Story of Family, Faith, and Second Chances

Co-Showrunner /Executive Producer/Director: Paul Hunter 

Co-Showrunner / Executive Producer: Aeysha Carr 

Starring: David Oyelowo, Simone Missick, Jah Di’Allo Winston, Evan Alexander, Adam Beach, and Bokeem Woodbine

Episodes: 10

Where to stream: Apple TV+

Government Cheese isn’t what the title suggests. No, it’s not your typical survival story of a Black family in the 1960s. It’s more about the struggle and exploration of life, building familial bonds, and finding joy and guidance through faith. Which makes it so relatable to many. I know I could relate to it, with my mother and father working their fingers to the bone to provide for the family. My Dad putting his passion into owning his business, being entrepreneurial with various ideas, much like the lead character, Hampton Chambers (David Oyelowo).

Hampton’s journey is one of redemption and readjustment. After serving several years in the prison system, he returns to his family – his wife (Astoria Chambers played by Simone Missick) and sons (Evan Chambers played by Jah Di’Allo Winston and Harrison Chambers played by Evan Alexander) – but finds that things have changed. As the show poignantly illustrates, Hampton comes back to a home that is unfamiliar to him. The boys have aged and are exploring their teenage years, and his wife is busy with work, trying to pursue her passion for decor (a pursuit that is, in itself, a challenge given the time period and her race). It reminds me of my own father coming back to live with us after he and my mom had separated. Things changed; I was in high school, playing sports and participating in clubs, and my little brother was being… himself, which included being out the majority of the evening, besides coming home to eat and sleep. My father, like Hampton, did not know how to adapt. What Hampton had to learn, and what my father had to learn, is the importance of embracing the new way of life and making his life fit with the change..

One of the things I like about Government Cheese is how it explores spirituality and religion. We see this in Hampton’s deepening understanding of the Bible during his incarceration, and in his son Harrison’s exploration of spirituality through the teachings of Hampton’s cellmate, Rudy, played by Adam Beach. Rudy often serves as a voice of reason for Hampton, offering guidance and a unique perspective.

The series, helmed by showrunners Paul Hunter and Aeysha Carr, has a personal and relatable feel, a testament to their connection to the material. One of my favorite episodes thus far is Episode 3, titled “Two Doors,” where Hampton spends time with a mysterious yet charismatic and weird woman named Edith (played by Sunita Mani). She helps him realize the errors of his ways and how to begin his journey to reconnect with and improve his relationships with his wife, his sons, and his family. In a sense, she’s like a mystical figure, maybe even his conscience or spirit person. Overall, Hampton finds her weird but enlightened. Another aspect of the series that I love is the opening of each episode, which includes a unique story that is related to the episode. Take, for instance, the opening of a TV western, which is the TV set that one of the characters ends up on. This adds a layer of creativity and thematic depth to the storytelling.

I had the chance to sit down with some of the cast, and what emerged was a picture of a show that’s as much about the bonds that tie us as it is about the challenges that threaten to break us.

The Life and Temptation of Family: A Conversation with the Chambers Brothers

Jah Di’Allo Winston and Evan Alexander play Harrison and Einstein Chambers, the sons of Hampton. The dynamic between them is complex, shaped by their father’s absence and his attempts to reintegrate into their lives. I asked them about the importance of communication in mending those fractured relationships.

“It’s interesting,” Winston reflects, “when Hampton comes back into the family fold and tries to reinsert himself into that dynamic. Harrison is obviously the most resistant, and it’s because of the lack of communication. It’s like, ‘You’re just coming, throwing yourself back in here with this business plan, and you have not talked about being gone for, you know, x many years.’ So Harrison is a lot more willing to call Hampton out on his absurdity and his madness.”

Alexander adds, “Einstein’s a weird case. He’s not really concerned with the state that Hampton left his family in. When he gets back, I don’t think he’s at all concerned about that or resentful. He’s just like, ‘Hey, what’s up, man? You’re back. Hey.’ So it’s a little different with Einstein.”

Winston points out a key theme in Government Cheese, one that resonates deeply with the complexities of family: “When you’re dealing with young men and their fathers, especially at a pivotal point when you have a strong character like Harrison, who has, while his dad’s been gone, sort of asserted himself as the dominant male figure in the household, and then this guy’s gonna come back and sort of say, ‘No, you’re not the… I’m your dad,’ there’s that bumping heads thing that I think can happen in real life with fathers too, when their sons start to become too independent.”

The show also explores the role of spirituality within the family. As Winston describes it, “Hampton’s journey with his spirituality is the through-line. He’s coming out of prison and he’s sort of had this vacuous change in his perspective and his disposition about the world and about his family and faith. But it’s all very sort of surface level. Although his family is skeptical of it, there’s a real sincerity to a lot of what he feels in trying to make things better for his family. Paul and David and Aisha incorporated all of those elements into the story in a way that doesn’t seem didactic, and how they tied into Hampton and his character and his journey was really fun to watch and fun to be a part of.”

Bootsy’s Code: A Conversation with Bokeem Woodbine

Bokeem Woodbine plays Bootsy, a character who a childhood friend of Hampton operates on his own unique moral code. I asked Woodbine what aspects of the character he connects with.

“His honesty about being himself,” Woodbine says immediately. “That’s something that comes naturally to me, and something that I see kind of declining in a way. It seems like nowadays a lot of people are trying to fit a certain kind of paradigm and not necessarily represent whatever individual trait they might have that is different from the norm. So when I see a character like Bootsy who is just doing his own thing, his own pace, his own way, his own style, is comfortable with that, it just really speaks to me.”

Bootsy is a combat veteran, a fact that deeply informs his worldview. “His idea of right and wrong is a little bit different,” Woodbine explains. “He’s devoted to Hampton and the Chambers family. Bootsy’s a bit of a loner, so he wants to make sure that his best friend Hampton is good to go, coming out of the pen. Morally, his code of ethics is like, ‘I look after my brother right here, and once he’s good to go, who knows what I’ll do?’ He’s morally flexible.”

I couldn’t resist throwing a curveball, asking Woodbine how his character Cleon from Dead Presidents would interact with Bootsy. His response was insightful: “They probably wouldn’t get along because Cleon became very didactic about right and wrong after Vietnam. But they’re probably a little bit more similar than they realize. It would be one of those kind of situations where you realize that you and your enemy might not be that different, and what does that say about you?”

Government Cheese is a show that sparks plenty of questions. It’s not always comfortable, but it’s always honest. It reminds us that family is both a battleground and a sanctuary, that faith can be a source of both comfort and conflict, and that second chances are rarely clean or easy. With its compelling characters, nuanced exploration of faith, and a willingness to look into the complexities of the human experience, Government Cheese is a story that deserves to be told, and one that, I suspect, will stay with me for awhile. Make sure to watch Government Cheese on Apple TV+ and enjoy the comedy.