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[Peru]

Read Ryan's review - she points out the series misses a Malcolm Tucker character and suggest the ineffectual ministers in Thick of It weren't that interesting. While Tucker is great- I had the most fun by far with the ministers and their staff, their helpless sighs, the fumbles, so I'm not sure we're on the same wavelength on what makes AI's political comedy work.

 

[teruterubozu]

The New Yorker counted 250 F-words in the first 8 episodes, saying it's a record even for HBO. Sounds like they might be trying to hard w/this show.

 

[Cornballer]

- HBO put up a ~13 min "Making Of Veep" video, too (youtube)

 

[Akyan]

I'm a huge fan of The Thick Of It, just slightly gutted that it won't be legally available over in the UK until June. :S

 

[Sotha Sil]

I'm guessing he'll have a review up later today or tomorrow.

Nice, thanks. Really curious to read it since the reception is quite mixed.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

The New Yorker counted 250 F-words in the first 8 episodes, saying it's a record even for HBO. Sounds like they might be trying to hard w/this show.

Malcolm spoke at approximately 9 fucks per second and it worked for the character. I wouldn't read too much into that before we know the context.

 

[Meier]

Can't fucking wait. Iannuci is an absolute genius -- this will be amazing.

 

[teruterubozu]

Malcolm spoke at approximately 9 fucks per second and it worked for the character. I wouldn't read too much into that before we know the context.

Yeah not I'm reading too much into it, but if it's distracting to the point where someone starts counting....
Newsweek basically said it portrays The White House a den of foul-mouthed fools.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

People counted with Malcolm too! There were articles dedicated to it at the time, I saw.

 

[Cornballer]

Nice, thanks. Really curious to read it since the reception is quite mixed.

His brief twitter comment on the show:

Yay: HBO's "Veep" is very funny, and as creatively profane as one would expect from Armando Iannucci (In the Loop, The Thick of It)

 

[Expendable.]

Loved In the Loop. Bring it on!

 

[thekad]

Deadwood has 1.5 fucks per minutes or something outrageous and it is one of the best television shows of all time. Prudes can go watch The Big Bang Theory.

 

[Empty]

been excited about this for a while. i'm sure i'll find it funny, i just hope armando can nail the feel of american politics as well as he did that of ours.

 

[dead souls]

I'm totally excited for this. The mixed reviews don't bother me at all. TV critics are pretty much all hacks, so I don't particularly care what they think.

 

[Cornballer]

- Sepinwall's review: Julia Louis-Drefyus in HBO's 'Veep'

It's a fantastic role for Dreyfus, capturing that same Elaine Benes sense of a person who thinks they're smart constantly realizing they're doing something colossally stupid. She tears into Iannucci's dialogue, particularly the creative profanity he had so much fun deploying in "The Thick of It."

 

[Cornballer]

- USA Today: 'Veep' gets clout from Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Veep is, at heart, no more than another workplace sitcom built around the clashing personalities of the workers. The actual jobs don't much matter; you could make Selina a small-town mayor or head of a TV network, and the other characters would still fall into place. Yet despite all, Louis-Dreyfus soars above, a one-woman comedy force who on her own almost makes Veep worth the money subscribers have to spend to watch it. 2 out of 4 stars

- SF Chronicle: Hilarity just a heartbeat away

Everything you fear might be true about how our government works - or doesn't - becomes hilarious fodder for "Veep's" biting satire.

- LA Times: Julia Louis-Dreyfus makes a first-rate, funny 'Veep'

To many millions of "Seinfeld" fans — and to the fewer millions, but millions still, who followed her onto "The New Adventures of Old Christine"— it may be stating the obvious, but it seems worth repeating that Louis-Dreyfus is one of the medium's great comedians. There is a marvelous energy to her work and in her person, which is not exactly slapstick but makes the small package that contains it visibly buck and fizz.

- Red Eye Chicago: Vote yes for 'Veep'

Vice President Selina Meyer is just a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world in HBO's cynical, hilarious and profane political satire "Veep"

Interviews:
- Slate.com: A Conversation With Armando Iannucci
- Huffington Post: 'Veep' Star Anna Chlumsky Talks TV Politics, Working With Julia Louis-Dreyfus And Still Being 'My Girl'



EDIT:
- Poniewozik: Veep

But the fact that Veep’s jaundice is plausible doesn’t make it original, which is the mark of HBO’s best series–the ability to take a familiar setting or genre and offer a surprising insight on it. Veep doesn’t do that, though it’s still an acerbically entertaining show that I’ll keep watching for now because of the strong cast, because of its gift for the obscene bon mot, and because I hope it will grow into something more distinctive.

 

[Cornballer]

- Grantland: HBO's Great New Veep: Dropping F-Bombs on Washington

But if the world of Veep prioritizes style over substance, the show never does. In a comedy landscape littered with post-Apatovian sloth and Family Guy–inflected joke strafing, there’s something dizzyingly great about Veep’s fizzy, defiantly British lyricism. Credit casting, chemistry, or the six weeks of rehearsal HBO sprung for before the cameras started rolling, but no American sitcom has ever pulled off this sort of English-accented humor so well. (Remember the pilot of the domestic Office? Hopefully you don’t.) Anchored by Louis-Dreyfus’s peerless ability to switch from the quick quip to the slow burn, her arch insincerity honed by years of bisque-mentioning and yada-yada-ing , Veep is an expert exercise in recolonization. It may feel foreign, but it hits close to home.

- NY Magazine interview: Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Veep, the Joys of Swearing, and How Female Pols Are Picked Apart

 

[Cornballer]

Series premiere tonight.

Fundraiser

Spoiler

Vice President Selina Meyer and her staff try to find their footing in Washington, D.C.; a series of missteps cause the staff to work damage control.

Note that the premiere will be up on youtube and a number of other places tomorrow.

 

[Cornballer]

- Onion A|V Club review of the premiere

Watching the show can occasionally feel like a mental workout, but the payoff is considerable, because Veep is both very funny and politically astute. A-

 

[Peru]

Can't wait. Hearing the right things from Thick of It-fans who've watched it.

 

[Matt]

Newsweek basically said it portrays The White House a den of foul-mouthed fools.

In my experience...that's at least half right.

 

[Bladenic]

Interested in this though I doubt I'll be able to watch it anytime soon. From reviews I gather it's gonna be decently fun, and Julia seems a safe bet for awards season.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Yeah not I'm reading too much into it, but if it's distracting to the point where someone starts counting....
Newsweek basically said it portrays The White House a den of foul-mouthed fools.

The funny thing is, now that you've read that review quote and you're worried about the swearing being distracting, it's much more likely to distract you than if you weren't primed to think about it.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

needs someone like this eventually:

Have the VP visit England or something.

 

[JGS]

Slightly OT: does HBO ever censor language? I was watching a Floyd Mayweather doc and all the f-words were silenced. It would be explainable if it was filmed that way, but they also showed a commercial for Veep that had bleeps. All of this was before 8 PM. So do they actually censor stuff based on the time aired? Mindblowing if true.

Yes, it depends on who they are trying to attract like every other station.

Bryant Gumbel's show was funny because it would often come on after the sex shows on Thursday, but they censored the language and any nudity that popped up.

I can't remember any of their scripted shows being censored.

Can't wait to see this. They've been running ads throughout the other HBO shows. I had no idea that was Chlumsky, but that wouldn't be surprising since I can't remember the last time I saw her after My Girl.

 

[Wickerman]

Fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shit

Didn't like the pilot but I'll stick with it for a few more episodes

 

[kingocfs]

Thought it was pretty good. Moved kind of fast, but it was sharp.

 

[krypt0nian]

Gave it 15mins. No thank you.

 

[Pollux]

Fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shit

Didn't like the pilot but I'll stick with it for a few more episodes

Same. All the characters are just so fucking stupid. I can't even pretend to go along with it b/c there is no way the that idiots like that would ever get hired for those jobs.

 

[Cornballer]

- Sepinwall's review
- Ken Tucker's review

 

[HawkeyeIC]

Pretty bad, will give it one more episode

 

[Discotheque]

Pretty damn good. It's missing the screen presence of somebody like Malcolm Tucker though (I'd even go for Simon that dude was too funny in the film "In the Loop")

 

[Expendable.]

Holy shit, haven't laughed that hard from start to end of a TV show in a long time. Perfect stuff, can't wait for more.

 

[Poimandres]

So... is this a safe bet for Thick Of It fans? I love that show.

Funny that some people will likely dismiss the show as "immature" because of all the swearing when Thick Of It was one of the sharpest comedies around.

 

[Matt]

Same. All the characters are just so fucking stupid. I can't even pretend to go along with it b/c there is no way the that idiots like that would ever get hired for those jobs.

...about that.....

 

[Brian Fellows]

Didn't think it was all that funny myself. I'll give it one more shot though.

 

[velvet_nitemare]

Wasn't too bad i thought. As a recent convert to specs, i liked the line about glasses being like wheelchairs for the eyes.

 

[Pollux]

...about that.....

good point.

 

[anaron]

Pilots are weird in that their quality is hardly indicative of a series going forward due to the nature of their conception; which means I'm almost always a little more apprehensive in the beginning - but there was certainly a lot to like here and if it can carry on or even improve, I think I will end up totally loving this show.

Dialogue is plenty sharp and managed a few good laughs from me. I actually think that alone will keep me watching. That and the fantastic cast.

 

[Ceebs]

"Hoist by your own retard" was one of the cleverest puns I have ever heard.

 

[Persona7]

I will check this out tomorrow.

 

[Dachande]

Can't fucking wait to watch this later. Massive Thick of It fan, reckon this will be as good.

Season 4 of Thick of It later this year as well, guys...

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

"What if Tom Hanks dies!!!!"

Matt Walsh KILLING IT.

LOVE this show.

 

[Vyer]

Oh, I really enjoyed this. Started off a little slow but really kicked in. When the whole card scene happened everything really clicked. Her reaction when pulled out of the meeting was hilarious.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

Pretty damn good. It's missing the screen presence of somebody like Malcolm Tucker though (I'd even go for Simon that dude was too funny in the film "In the Loop")

Agreed. The MP on The Thick of It is always just the focal point for the inanity; Tucker is the rain-maker. At first, I thought the writers were giving the VP a bit too much dignity, but I suppose I have to adapt to this show being more of an ensemble with the Julia Louis-Dreyfus character as the firm lead - and she certainly did not disappoint, especially with that freak-out over the card. Otherwise, the chemistry between the staffers is good and the wit is as biting as expected. I do worry about the variation in character voice amongst the staffers but that seemed to gel as the pilot went on. Hopefully, they turn into people as miserably distinct as Glenn, Ollie and Terri.

Same. All the characters are just so fucking stupid. I can't even pretend to go along with it b/c there is no way the that idiots like that would ever get hired for those jobs.

Ha, good one.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Didn't care for it, but I'll give it another shot next Sunday since nothing else comes on at 10:00.

 

[Tucah]

LOVED this pilot. I can certainly see why some wouldn't like it but as an Iannucci fan it was everything I could have wanted from an American styled Thick of It. Okay, well almost everything - I missed having someone as scene-stealing as Malcolm. JLD is a great lead and she's in top form here, and works very well with the great ensemble. I personally didn't really think the swearing was overly excessive but I also spent all day yesterday rewatching TTOI and pretty much anything pales in comparison to that.

I can't wait to see some more.

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

the funnies came in 10-15 minutes in

but i loved it

 

[tino]

I am impressed that Elaine continue to find decent work after Seinfeld. What happened to Kramer?!

 

[The Elite]

I am impressed that Elaine continue to find decent work after Seinfeld. What happened to Kramer?!

He got racist.