Our Holiday Inn in Brookline had HBO so Sunday night at 10:30 P.M. we watched Julia Louis Dreyfus in VEEP. Dreyfus plays Selena Meyer, Vice President of the United States. Anna Chlumsky stands out as Dreyfus’ loyal and plucky assistant. Reid Scott, Matt Walsh, and Reid Scott are Dreyfus’ staff of political wonks. There’s plenty of political paranoia and shady shenanigans…as you might expect in a political comedy. I was less impressed by the overuse of four-letter words. Some people find them funny. I don’t. As for my opinion of VEEP, let’s just say we’re not signing up for HBO.
We saw an episode in New Orleans and felt exactly the same. It was lame.
I hesitate to render a definitive judgment based on one episode, Jeff. But, you’re right: it was lame.
I don’t have HBO and the little that I’ve seen (and heard) of VEEP wouldn’t encourage me to subscribe. There was a snippet that I saw, however, that reminded me of a far superior program from almost 30 years ago: Dreyfus receives news that the president may have had a heart attack and she has to disguise her elation at possibly being president with the standard phrases of concern. I thought this was done so much better way back in the 1980s by Paul Eddington on the BBC show “Yes Minister” (later “Yes Prime Minister”) when he learns the P.M. has died and he’s next in line for the post. The way he has to forcefully contort his face while he says “Tragic” can still make me laugh.
That sounds hilarious, Deb! I’ll have to seek out YES (PRIME) MINISTER. VEEP is not in that class.
Yes, Minister (and the sequel) was indeed a classic, and so much better written than VEEP. As one critic rightly put it, the premise has her desperately trying to get attention as Vice President by doing anything noteworthy, where the obvious truth is that as the first woman to hold the office she’d have all the attention and publicity she could stand.
Good point, Jeff. The first woman VP would be a media magnet.
I use the occasional four letter word, but when I read or hear it in excess, it bothers me. When I was in the Army, using the big three or four was so ubiquitous one soon didn’t even notice it, but when I got out and was back in civvies I noticed it’s absence. Some of those guys used the F-word as the adjective of choice, often several times per sentence.
As for this movie, and HBO, the movie doesn’t sound interesting, and we have a free HBO for 6 months, with one to go, and so far there has been noting on we want to watch.
If I had HBO, I’d be watching GAME OF THRONES, Rick. I don’t understand why some people find four-letter words comedic. LIke you, when profanities are used to excess, I’m annoyed.
I am curious about a new show coming on A & E next month called LONGMIRE, as it is based on a favorite series of mine, Craig Johnson’s Wyoming series about Sheriff Walt Longmire. I thought of it because his deputy is a foul-mouthed tough Italian woman from Philadelphia who does indeed use “F***” as her adjective of choice in nearly every sentence. I picture her as looking (and acting) exactly like Jo in EUREKA (played by Erica Cerra) though in fact she is being played by Katee Sackhoff, who is blonde. Of course, she does play tough, as in (most recently) 24.
I’m curious about LONGMIRE, too, Jeff. If a character is naturally foul-mouthed, I don’t have a problem with that. But random obscenities annoy me like someone scratching a blackboard.
I’d rather read GAME OF THRONES than watch the HBO version. There are enough twists and turns, many of them complicated political maneuvering, that as much detail and explanation as possible – as in the series of very long books – is needed.
I’ve read the George R. R. Martin series, Rick. It’s a little to long and windy for my taste. But the HBO version has garnered great reviews.
I guess I am going to step out of line here and say I find it very funny. All the manoueving they do on the show to get to be players at all seems right in line with what VPs lives are probably like. Running down to a frozen yogurt place to prove they are with the common man, for instance.
Witness Biden’s gaffe of stepping on the president’s toes on gay marriage last week. And it is entirely in keeping with what we know about presidential language. No one swore more than Nixon and Clinton. Both Clintons from what I hear.
And in keeping with her persona.
I don’t love it as much as GAME OF THRONES but it’s better than the networks do IMHO.
Maybe I need to see more episodes of VEEP, Patti. The episode we caught in Boston was a clunker.
It is one of those shows you need to get into a vibe with. After a while, you catch on to the mood it creates.
You’re probably right, Patti. We need to see more episodes of VEEP. Sometimes HBO programming is available for free on Canadian stations. I’ll have to check it out.
I’ve given VEEP several chances, and have no concerns with the language. I find it less irritating than GIRLS and less dull than GAME OF THRONES (the windiness, I’m afraid, translates), but still not good. What is surprisingly good, without being very surprising otherwise, is Starz’s “me, too” mixture of THE SOPRANOS and MAD MEN, MAGIC CITY. You shouldn’t break your legs trying to see it, but I doubt you’ll hate it if you do.