VEEP

As if politics weren't funny enough

Imagine a more tightly wound Elaine Benes who is a heartbeat away from the Oval Office (GET. OUT!!!). Although Julia Louis-Dreyfus is her standard, Emmy-winning self as the VPOTUS, it is Reid Scott (THE BIG C) who will emerge as the breakout fan favorite of this show as amoral, political operative extraordinaire/smug ambassador Dan Egan, who glides through life allegiance-free, constantly fixed on the North Star of his own ambition.

Ambition.com

This show has a lot of potential, with its very incisive, cynical, cuttingly dry look at the hyper-politicization of Washington and our distinctly self-absorbed, overshared, 48-hour news cycle-obsessed American culture. Believe it or not, it's REALLY funny, too, in a wry, zoomy faux-documentary PARKS & RECREATION-style way. Every single line is action-packed for comedy if you're attentive enough and open to witty, intellectual humor. But you really REALLY need to keep up. The comedy moves faster than snappy, roving, hallway tracking shot banter in an Aaron Sorkin show.

A few highlights to rope you in:

"This [speech] has been pencil-fucked?" "Yes, thoroughly. Very little romance."

"I don't have time to ignore you, Jonah. Gary? Can you please ignore Jonah for me?"

"I'm not happy about having to give this press briefing." "Of course your happiness is top of my agenda, right above climate control and child trafficking." "Oh my gosh, is this going to become like 'Moonlighting' where we fall in love and start fucking?"


"It is intern season, Gary!" "Do I look like a pimp to you?" "You. Look. Exactly like a pimp."

"It's just a date and no sex. For me, that was twelve years of marriage."

Long live the VEEP!

@@@@ (FOUR REELS):  An urban legend/instant classic.

BIASES: Mid 30s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare. TV? Politics, trashy reality TV, well-written dramas and comedies that are too smart for their own good (and often cancelled).