by The Cowl Editor on April 4, 2019
Film and Television
by Julia Vaccarella ’20 A&E Staff
There is no shortage of political television shows available today with series like House of Cards and Scandal. However, both shows have since run their courses, and HBO’s series, Veep, which aired the first episode of its final season on March 31 after a long hiatus, will soon be joining that list. Unlike its counterparts, Veep takes a comical, and even more often, satirical tone to the political atmosphere.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus has starred on the show and received multiple awards for her performance since Veep premiered in 2012. Cast members include Tony Hale and Anna Chlumsky. In a fitting move to conclude the series, the farewell season will feature only seven episodes.
One of the elements that makes a show like Veep relevant—even eight years later—is the current polarized political climate. Avoiding party affiliation is appropriate for a comedy series and essentially avoids explicit bias on the part of the cast, rendering fans more likely to relate. The episodes of the show have maintained a comical mood that just slightly extends beyond reality. This feature is more appealing to those who are not interested in the complexities of politics, even in the form of a television show. Perhaps this, too, is why the show has been allowed to run for so long.
However, considering that the show has not aired for approximately two years now, viewers will have to see how, and if, the creators have adjusted the series to mirror changes in American politics. Caroline Framke of Variety is skeptical of the final season, asserting that “much of the novelty of Veep’s signature viciousness has worn off. It’s not necessarily the show’s fault that it now exists when the politics of cruelty rules the day, but it does, and the strain of trying to parody it shows. The series’ response to the hyperbolic times largely seems to be upping the ante of its own ferocity to match, but that can only sustain a scene for so long before it flatlines from exhaustion.”
Regardless of what season seven will entail, Veep has come to a point of conclusion. Veep airs on HBO, Sundays at 10:30 p.m.