A thread for Armando Iannucci's VEEP

Was he that stupid in the first seasons? I always thought of him as the outsider/thirstier version of Dan.

Jonah was always stupid. He got stupider, but strategically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6zB4VJznEU

But yeah, he (and Mike) got ridiculous, in the best way, like they were some combination of stoned (in Mike's case) or brain-damaged (in Jonah's).

I’m kinda tempted to change my iPhone text notification sound to Peter MacNicol hissing “shut the duck up!”

They definitely adapted mike’s character as they went along, I remember the iteration of him in the pilot being a loser but quite sharp-witted?

Stupid phone lol

Gary is bad tbh (character and performance) this is consistent

― blog haus aka the scene raver (wins), Sunday, 2 July 2017 18:28 (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah gary this season didn't feel right. they really tried to play up the angle of him being in love with selina, where it was never really about that previously. some weird nod to his arrested development character maybe

plus i know it's always been a bombardment of gags but it felt muddled and almost exhausting at times, so much dialogue done so quickly, im sure i missed a shit ton of jokes.

― NI, Sunday, 2 July 2017 19:11 (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I meant Gary was always bad - bad idea - they shouldn't have done it

― blog haus aka the scene raver (wins), Sunday, 2 July 2017 19:21 (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

we've all seen a Smithers before this was just terribly conceived and executed from the beginning

― blog haus aka the scene raver (wins), Sunday, 2 July 2017 19:23 (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I still hold this opinion tbh, found the whole approach to this character really annoying and forced pretty much start to finish and would not have minded his being written out in like s2. The betrayal was nicely done tho

Agree. I get why Gary was there, and it did give the finale its biggest payoff, but I always found him hard to watch.

They definitely adapted mike’s character as they went along, I remember the iteration of him in the pilot being a loser but quite sharp-witted?

― milkshake chuk (wins), Friday, May 17, 2019 8:50 AM (nineteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah mike's change was noticeable. he was always incompetent, but less of a buffoon in the earlier seasons. he was a lot meaner in the beginning, but his softening i think can be explained by his getting married and adopting (several) kids.

Really ? I find him and his relationship with Selina pretty fun throughout the series.
As for Jonah, yeah, he was pretty OTT stupid since the beginning... it just got worse, as impossible as that may seem.
At one point during this season, I was afraid Dan might become serious/nice regarding Amy... thankfully he didn't !

Yeah, Mike, especially with the wife/adopting kids issues might be the character I find the most annoying.

xpost
I was talking about Gary/Selina.

I like the broad, wacky cartoon characters (Jonah, splett, mcnicol) but even in comparison to those something about the physicality of the guy who plays Gary is really jarring to me and rubs me up the wrong way. I always hated the gag of him leaning in and murmuring something in selina’s ear that everyone else can clearly hear, and that was pretty much the only gag for a long time.

We all know a Mike in our workplace, which might explain his particular strain of annoyance.

I love Gary. You all are bonkers.

“Hard to watch” is a good phrase for how I feel, he bugs me on like a visceral level

I like Tony Hale ("guy who plays Gary") too.

I always hated the gag of him leaning in and murmuring something in selina’s ear that everyone else can clearly hear

I mean yeah, but obv the audience needs to hear what he's saying, I can suspend my disbelief for that.

in my brain it was like nobody could hear him because he was so bland that you needed to "attune" to him like some sort of magic sword, otherwise his voice sounded like camo

Finally watched the finale last night btw. I did like for a show that's as loud and verbal as this, it was all about that silence when she's left alone in the oval office for a moment.

I don't know if this season was particularly 'funny' but it did get a lot better as the nihilism and political capriciousness kept ratcheting up.

xp lol

I didn’t hate the gag due to plausibility issues to be clear, it’s just clunky and unfunny and sticks out in a show that generally isn’t

ANNETTE SPLETT.

Honestly this felt like an uncharacteristically optimistic ending for one of the most cynical shows ever. (Except the gay marriage bit obviously).

And Tibet !

I thought even Minna wasn’t as funny as usual (still funny though) !

I didn't realize I had been missing Sue until the last epi.

yes, sue is the greatest

Oh yeah Sue ! What happened to her again ?

she's the secretary to the president, and selina stopped being president, so she wasn't on the show anymore.

Oh yeah right, thanks !

She’s arguably the only NORMAL person in there.

Poor Gary
When you listen to rumour you 'rue' 'more'...

Some articles have pointed out that the Tom Hanks thing in the last episode is a callback to a joke in the first episode, where Mike wonders if a big news story like Tom Hanks dying might be a good distraction from a Selina gaffe. Also, I love that they used a movie excerpt from "The Money Pit" (alongside "A League of Their Own" "Forrest Gump") in the tribute..."Bachelor Party" would have been too ridiculous.

Someone mentioned the Michael Corleone vibe, with which I totally agree. It also reminded me of the devastating ending of "The Grifters."

I'm rewatching the last season, and a few things earlier in the season are made apparent after knowing what happens in the finale:
* Selina makes a list of all the people she doesn't want to be at her funeral, and they ALL end up attending.
* Selina selling Gary out is foreshadowed:
Minna: Selina, if you go to prison, you will not have your Gary to clean up after you.
Gary: No, I'll be there.

The whole finale was pretty solid, but in particular I loved:
* When both Kent and Marjorie break their stone-faces and lose their shit on separate occasions over Jonah being the VP pick

* "No such place, ma'am. The concept of hell is a cultural memory of pre-Mosaic child sacrifice among proto-Judean peoples." And Kent mentioning Euler's number! (And of course, pronouncing "Euler" correctly.)

* "They say experience is the best teacher, and although my own daughter never learned to ride well..."

I haven’t been funny since 1986

So Iannucci is doing Veep in space starring Tom James M.D.?

I've only started watching the show a few weeks ago and it'll be a while until I get through the finale so my thread reading is going to be delayed, buuuuut..

I love the running gag of occasional episodes where the shtick is "oh no, Veep is horny again"

(regardless of her position I mentally refer to Selina, the title character, as "Veep")

*points to screen and whispers* “that’s Veep”

of course Toby Huss shows up on the southern birthday episode

it takes a real Iowan to play a fake southerner

i thought this last season was hilarious. just finished it ten minutes ago and i'm sad already that it's over.

i laughed so many times

“i abhor violence of any type but i have seen plenty of blow him up looks”

andy daly was quietly hilarious.

I've been rewatching the final season because I wasn't satisfied and thought I might have missed something and it actually is better than the first time around.
I guess I was just expecting too much.
I still think it's less funny than the previous seasons but I enjoy more the darker/ott nihilist tone now and consider it was certainly the best way to end this show.
That Beyonce line is all time.

I'm with Mordy. Thought this season was much funnier than the couple that preceded it.

There were some great moments in this season and a great way to end it but nothing quite beats Richard Splet at the fertility clinic.

Richard is a top character for sure

love splett, not sure he'd be the greatest president, but i guess a well-meaning simpleton is better than any of the vicious and corrupt alternatives

I wish he was the real Iowa lieutenant governor or governor

lol

Maybe there could be a dog president.

couldn't be worse than etc etc

If you think Richard's a simpleton you haven't been paying enough attention - isn't it established he has two Yale doctorates? One of them is definitely veterinary medicine.