HBO’s Critical Darling is Peak Comedy At Its Best, But Runs Seasons Too Long

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As a “Seinfeld” acolyte, I was ashamed that it took me so long to watch “Veep,” given the bajillion Emmys Julia Louis-Dreyfus won for it. I was even more ashamed when I learned that one of the best shows ever, “Succession,” was essentially made by a writer who started on “Veep.” So it seemed the time had come to give it a go. 

 

And I had no idea that it was going to be one of the most comically savage and vicious shows I’ve ever seen, with some of the wildest and most creative and jaw-dropping insults and severe banter and scathing verbal brutality you’ll ever see in any movie or show ever. For that alone, even when the plot of the show falters or becomes unnecessarily convoluted, makes the show worth watching, as the sheer darkly comedic conversational destruction is truly unique. 

 

And this communicative obliteration is carried out by a truly awesome cast, led by maybe the greatest actress the TV medium has ever seen with JLD as the eponymous, venomous and entertainingly horrible Vice President and politician. Her gang of political misfits are awesome too, with the perennially-stressed Amy (Anna Chlumsky), bumbling Mike (Matt Walsh), curmudgeon Ben (Kevin Dunn), robotic Kent Davison (Gary Cole) and by far the show’s two MVP’s, Tony Hale as Selina’s die-hard sycophant Gary, and Timothy Simons as the most hilariously ignorant character you’ll ever see on television, Jonah Ryan. These characters deliver the show's rat-a-tat dialogue with aplomb, and you can tell these folks have just got to be gifted comedians and awesome actors to keep up with the frenetic pacing of the show overall. 

 

“Veep” is one of the most critically acclaimed and lauded shows in HBO’s history, and really in TV history, due to its razor sharp writing and savage political satire. And while, as you just read in the huge run-on paragraphs above, I agree with the writing praise in terms of the characters and dialogue, I do feel like the plotting can go a little off the rails sometimes. 

 

Even when the show is at its best, really from seasons 2-5, Your Humble Reviewer found that occasionally things would get a little convoluted and contrived. Maybe it’s because I don’t know a damn thing about politics, but things seemed a little forced sometimes. Compile that with the fact that “Veep” has virtually a perfect series finale in its fifth season … but then proceeds to have two less than stellar seasons afterwards. It’s an unfortunate case of a show not quite knowing when it end, and when there’s too much of a good thing. 

 

So while I don’t think “Veep” belongs amongst the greatest TV comedies ever, it’s entertainingly scathing throughout its whole run, and when it’s really burning on all cylinders, it’s some of the best written comedy you’ll see. It just doesn’t quite maintain that.