The HBO original comedy series Veep (HBO Defined) has won the incredible Julia Louis-Dreyfus four Primetime Emmys, two Critics’ Choice Television Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Television Critics Association Award each. And it is all more than well-deserved.
Louis-Dreyfus plays Selina Meyer, the Vice President of the United States of America working her way to the Oval Office with her crazy, eccentric, often messed-up and extremely manipulative team. Her crew comprises Amy, her chief of staff, Mike, her longtime press spokesperson, Gary, her bodyguard and keeper of secrets, and Sue, her sharp secretary. Often there is also Jonah Ryan, a smug White House Liaison and the most unwanted person in the Veep’s office.
Selina and her team are itching to leave a lasting legacy. But stuck in the least powerful position in the most powerful office in the world, they struggle with the ever-changing politics of Washington. It’s not easy being the Veep at the White House. She and her team have to be on top of everything - healthcare, education, her new pixie cut, her ex-husband, her daughter’s Iranian boyfriend or her vegetarianism - and the pressure is enormous. The result is some of the choicest insults you’ve ever heard on television.
Shot in an authentic, improvisational format, the show often pushes boundaries of what is seen and discussed on television, and does so with a huge helping of scathing humour.