Friday, August 24, 2012

Veep: Season 1 Review


With only eight episodes, it's understandable that Veep never really found it's footing or fully developed any of it's characters, except for Dan (Reid Scott) and obviously Selina (Julia Louis-Deyfus). It was certainly funny, though. It was hit or miss, but it mostly hit. It also never tried to be any thing it wasn't or take any risks. This can be good or bad, but in this case it didn't really help.

The entire season is made up of a different story per episode, which means there's always something new. Sure, there's the side-story with the bills, but the show never really took to much time to establish or expand upon it, so it was just kind of there.

The characters are all funny, but none of them are likeable. Tony Hale returns as a Buster clone, Gary, so his character is cute and innocent, but he's caught in a state that was seen in Season 1, Episode 3 of Arrested Development, "Raising Buster". His job is to stalk the Veep pretty much, and he's made fun of for it, but he always defends himself and acts out as an attempt to make himself look cool, utterly failing on every single one of them, which is the source of a lot of comedy.

Anna Chlumskey plays someone who looks exactly like the secretary from Archer, but blonde. Her character, Amy, is extremely different, though. She does a great job as someone who... I'm not entirely sure. I mean, her actions make sense, and she's funny, but her character is never really developed too much. She's basically someone who needs her job, but she wouldn't do anything for it.

Unlike Reid Scott's character, who is, as Amy put it, a shit. He's a shitty person. He would do anything for his job, and he would betray anyone to get higher on the ladder, which is exactly what he does in the pilot, and attempts to do in the second episode. That's basically all his character is, though, a one dimensional shit. He does a good job, though, as does everyone on the show.


Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Selina Meyer, the Veep, the star of the show. She shines as the main character, as she usually does. She plays someone who surrounded by absolute incompetence, and she is constantly trying to get herself out of situations using awkward well-delivered dialogue. Not to say it's always the staff's fault, as she get's herself into messes just as often.

Other characters include someone who's like a skinny version of Donna from Parks & Rec, played by Sufe Bradshaw, Jonah, who I didn't even know was a liaison from the West Wing until the second to last episode, played by Timothy Simmons, and Mike, a guy who has an imaginary dog and gets into fight with people, played by Matt Walsh. None of these three characters are well-developed, so their humor isn't as funny as it could have been.

The show has okay writing, but the comedy usually delivers. The show doesn't really have a season-long plot, which is usual for the first season of a comedy show or comedy shows in general. It works in this case. The acting is good, but no one really gets a chance to shine next to Julia, who, if not for Amy Poehler, should win the Emmy she's nominated for this year.

This show is worth watching, just don't expect to be rolling on the floor or falling in love with any of the characters. Almost every first season I've seen hasn't been the best, and I believe for this show there's no where to go but up.

6.7/10

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