A thread for Armando Iannucci's VEEP

all the deleted scenes

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7F30C892CF01C672&feature=plcp

this gets better yeah? that first one was poo

it's hard at first because of the natural comparisons w/the thick of it, but after i'd say ep 3 or 4 i was looking forward to the next episodes. and the finale was thumping

I liked the first one more than many in the middle, but there are several better ones

are you likely to enjoy the characters more with the accretion of detail and establishment of running gags, or hate them now and will hate seeing more of them?

the first one is one of the weaker ones, so stick with it, but don't expect the thick of it

that's what i was expecting :(

amazing series, more watchable that TTOI because of JLD. just feels slicker and better-written too. first one or two eps not amazing but by e5 i was in awe

it's slicker partly because it's not as well written, but it's still very good by the end of the season

i am open to there being cultural differences in how satire translates on each side of the ocean, but that the writing of TTOI is superior seems beyond doubt, to me - veep, which is good!, still pretty regularly incorporated sitcommish zings and ad-homs, a bunch of which fell flat. its successes were more-good-original-swearing, &c. but the thick of it's so multi-layered & plays with conversational & power dynamics so powerfully. it fabricates all of these benign policy nooses that hang the characters, & some of the conclusions - like i am remembering malcolm promising to come up with an appropriate expert to corroborate the new argument of a flip-flop - seem so poignant & OTM wrt how things are now. malcolm's slow turn in the first scene of the first ep still kills me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSRN8O4ULQs

gonna have to rewatch ttoi to see how it compares but as a *comedy series* (not a political satire) i felt veep was a few steps beyond ttoi. just had so much swagger and confidence, seems to be a product of a proper writing team rather than one or two minds (not sure if the creation of either worked in this way but it definitely felt like that. plus julia ld far more charismatic and watchable and inherently funny than any of the ttoi blokes

full disclosure: the pompous unfunny shite chris addison spews on twitter has marred ttoi for me bigtime

Does it improve after the first episode? Because that was a horrible opener. (i'm talking about Veep btw, TToI was gold from the start)

Thought the opener was great, feels like a lot of people who say later episodes improved a lot just found it jarring to adjust to a half hour americanized Iannuci thing but then got to know the characters and liked them. In my opinion it stays good. But sticking with it you may find it grows on you, and there are better episodes later on.

Watched the first episode last night and enjoyed it, I like Anna Chlumsky's character and the obnoxious Jonah guy, not so sure about JLD. It feels very obviously an Ianucci creation and the potential's definitely there, but it's very obviously missing a Malcolm Tucker character (although maybe it wouldn't work in the US).

Think the first episode maybe suffered for lack of a proper crisis, those were very minor fires to have to put out.

'those were very minor fires to have to put out.'

That was the problem. Were we supposed to care about the incorrectly-signed card? Jeeze.

Also, yo, just because you add an unexpected 'fuck' to words/phrases doesn't mean its suddenly hilarious.

I wasn't completely sold on it (have only seen ep 1), but comparisons to TTOI were bound to affect my perspective. I think if it had come without the baggage I might have enjoyed it more.

my problem was not ttoi, my problem was quality/frequency of lols

I wasn't that taken with the first one, but it really hits its stride around ep 4 or 5.

Yeh, stick with it, it gets a lot better. I found myself gradually feeling warmer towards it and by the last 2 or 3 episodes I was anticipating the next one.

Agreed, I wasn't completely sold to begin with but it keeps getting better, and the last two episodes are pure gold. Ep 7, directed by Chris Morris, is jaw-droppingly good - and dark.

this is back now.

first ep was gold, Morris is great for this show

Addison doing the next few? should help bring the nervous vibe

yeah, really poisonous first ep

dan bakkedahl is so good

i wasn't convinced that mr midnight caller's touted credentials as a cold-blooded operative were actually valid, though? he seemed sort of relaxed and then he got hit in the face with some lipstick and crawled away

that was shit

someone actually wrote 'idontgiveafuckistan'

nah it was p good. ppl say dumb shit like that

This is way more realistic than House of Cards

:D

Probably the best ep yet; surprising depth this go round.

some great lines. the "you timed that metaphor out for that shitty ding" thing. the "tiny hands" gag.

"better than my shitty legs. i hate my legs."

So glad this is getting another season. Hitting its stride.

it's pretty decent, but i'm even more glad that this introduced me to "the thick of it." what an amazing show

it makes me laugh like once an episode, and those are always lines that feel like they were written for the thick of it ('i would rather set fire to my vulva', 'rubber idiots', etc.). i mean i'll keep watching and it's been held to an unfair standard, but it's not very funny and i've got a horrible feeling they're going to Make A Point about something at the end of this season with these multi-episode plots they keep touching on.

Multi-episode plots last season as well.

Feel this is basically as good as most TTOI at this point. And I don't see why people still claim it's copy paste. Especially in season 2, with the old characters settled and unique and new ones not having TTOI counterparts at all. The arsenal is pretty robust at this point, someone like Sue on the side holds up as an episode lead.

Thick of It is obv next level, but I'm laughing far harder at this series of Veep than the last. So many nice little moments in E3; the "robust" farce set-up, "procrasturbate", and a touching ending as the responsibilities of office intrude upon the career politician, which didn't happen at all last season (I may have forgotten that tho)

Yeah it's the combination of multi episode stuff and the attempt at a touching ending this week that makes me nervous

Also my complaint is not that it's like/not like ttoi. My complaint is that it's nowhere near as good.

do i need to know anything about british politics to get into The Thick Of It

No

Not really. Political shananigans cross the atlantic quite well. My grasp of US politics is a bit shaky but I've no trouble with Veep. The pop culture references might be more problematic tbh, tho maybe they're not quite as parochial as I remember.

you'll be fine h4a, check it out

i dig veep. its not Hilarious but i get some chuckles out of it and i like the actors and im just into the general vibe

liked the first season, but it definitely feels like this season stepped up a bit, really great right now.

i was on the set for a couple hours a few months ago, worked on a psa w/ J L-D, was really cool to see random cast members walking around and see the sets -- it really looks like they're in cramped old government buildings on the show but it's all these huge sets in a giant warehouse in columbia, maryland.

jld elevates this into something far superior to ttoi imo

interesting that chris morris and chris addison directed the first 2 eps but barely seemed different to the rest, in tone, etc. (thankfully as addison has shown himself to be grimly unfunny outside of ttoi)

i don't think he's terrible in mock the week. but yeah ianucci's group seem pretty good at sticking to a consistant house style