Veep Life

So, in all of the miserable hubbub about Girls, no one is talking about Veep.  Well, not no one, I heard a thing about it on NPR, but you know what I mean.  But, hey!  Guess what?  Veep is fantastic!

I should have started by mentioning that this show co-stars Tony Hale, and obviously anything Tony Hale touches turns to beautiful gold, including that episode of Dawson's Creek where he tells Dawson he has to pull the old man's plug or when he was the amazing ceramics teacher on Community ("No Ghosting!").  So it should come as no surprise to anyone that his role on an HBO comedy is anything other than perfection.

And, oh!  Julia Louis-Dreyfus!  I mean, talk about women in comedy.  It might be a little unfair to compare Veep to Girls, but too bad so sad, they're on the same night on the same channel so I'ma do whatever I want.  Whereas Hannah in Girls is relentlessly pathetic and trying so hard to be REAL that she becomes REALly unbearable, Veep's Selena is flawed in some charming ways of which she seems hyper-aware yet simultaneously totally oblivious, but her shortcomings only make her more likable and relatable (which, sadly, is I believe what Dunham was trying to achieve). And just the fact that Veep's cast has an authentic gender-balance, actual characters of color, and shows a woman holding a serious position of power (and yet simultaneously no power at all because being the Vice President sucks) in our government makes in miles better in terms of "women characters on television" than anything I saw on Girls.  Point made, contradictions left unexplained, let's move on.




The show is funny.  Like I was saying before getting sidetracked, Louis-Dreyfus shines in this role.  I never watched The New Adventures Of Old Christine because...CBS comedy, 'nuf said, and I'm glad to see her here, able to let loose and curse up a storm on HBO.  Veep showcases the mostly impotent office of the Vice President, and while it IS a political show, it has nothing to do with partisan politics.  This is about the trivial day-to-day bullshit of being the VP; about trying to achieve something and constantly having your legs cut out from under you...and the President NEVER calls.  It's realistic, with the office banter and the undisguised animosities and the pandering and the Twitter gaffs and on and on.  It feels simultaneously like a sitcom and real life (I hope you know by now my repetition is intentional), and there's so much potential for where the show can go...and how it might be affected by actual political change in our own world.

I already like and/or am interested by all of the supporting characters - it's too early to do some sort of rundown, but suffice to say they had me at Tony Hale, and the rest of the actors manage to keep up with (though not surpass) his greatness.  The humor is witty and erudite yet simultaneously base, debauched, and simple.  It's kind of like South Park meets The West Wing, if that makes any sense at all.  Anyway, I would wager that if you're at all interested in politics, or if you like Seinfeld and Arrested Development, or if you just want to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus work her time-defying body like a motherfucker, than Veep is for you.  Even if you don't fall into any of those categories (who ARE you?), still check it out.  It's an easy, enjoyable, laugh-out-loud half-hour, and it's always better to get in on the ground floor because three months from now everyone will be telling you to watch it anyhow.  Listen to your blogger!

Via Dcist