Veep

Just saw the first episode of Veep and, if the rest of the series is as good as the opener, HBO has a brilliant series on its hands. Louis-Dreyfus delivers a performance reminiscent of her Elaine days; utilizing every ounce of her talent and pouring her entire body into each moment. It's easily her best work since Seinfeld, and that's no put down of her post Seinfeld work. It's a commentary on just how brilliant she was on that show.

The supporting cast is up to the task of keeping pace with a comic and actress as strong as their leading woman. Pleasantly surprising is Anna Chlumsky's funny and endearing chief of staff.

One episode may not be enough to judge a series on but, for episode one I vote 10 out of 10. Smart and laugh out loud funny is a hard combo to come across. I sure hope the rest of the show lives up to day one. I look forward to more.

Get the remote, find the rewind button and get ready. Not an episode has gone by where I didn't have to rewind because we missed dialogue over the laughter in the room. In some cases, we just have to re-watch scenes over again for sheer enjoyment of Julia's performance.

This show is bound to get a bad rap because it comes across as vulgar comedy. Audiences are forgiving when it is delivered by men, but when a woman is leading that charge, there seems to be some rule that it must be respectful or clean. Not here and good for her! This show is just flat out a good time and Julia is at her very best (and I miss Elaine!). The supporting cast is strong and able to respond and react to her every action.

The dialogue, be it written or improved, is unmistakably honest and delivered to perfection with the timing that hits the mark with almost every line. With each view, i catch comments and reactions that are not visible on the first view because the show moves like a rocket. The moments are fast and filled with the perfect elements of comedy.

HBO is a good home for VEEP and this show better last. .

Having seen all the original aversion in the UK (The Thick Of it) and adoring it... I didn't think it could be topped in sheer poetry of swear words and toe curling insults. Always close to the bone and often vulgar but in the most intelligent and hysterically funny ways - this is absolutely one to binge and turn it up... you will miss some corkers from the deafening laughter in the room if you dont. Not for the faint of heart or easily offended but utterly wonderful right up to the very last episode. It seemed to cram in quite literally every filthy joke and disgraceful insult they'd ever written and not got the chance to use so as not to waste any. And thank God they did!!! No spoilers but just watch it all it's a breath of fresh air in this oh so vanilla TV landscape.

Why are people voting on a show before it's aired? There is no way this deserves a 4.9; however, I'm sure it will go up as actual viewers chime in. I've seen the first episode and I'm hooked already.

Short and sweet: Louis-Dreyfus is best at characters with an edge. She had me laughing out loud and re-watching line deliveries ("Selena. Hi. I'm melting, I'm melting."). The entire cast is great. Tony Hale does what he does best -- meek, a little dim -- but it works great. Anna Chlumsky holds her own next to Dreyfus. The writing snappy and natural. The direction slick.

I hope this show sticks around for a bit!

Like the rest of Ianucci's work, this is a fantastic political satire. The reflexive self-serving sycophancy, the arbitrary nature of power, the automatic deferral to the hidden powers behind the throne, the elevation of random dross above real issues (brilliantly lampooned in the pilot when the use of cornstarch forks in the White House becomes a stumbling block to setting up a clean jobs task force) are skillfully portrayed, showing how the dysfunction of the modern arena (especially the media's eye, usually passive but, as in the second episode, sometimes accompanied by a mouthful of vicious teeth) prevents the exercise of power for actual governmental function. None of the characters are perfectly likable, though all are well-played, but somehow the ensemble is endearing. Watch this if you want to see a sharp commentary on the drunken carousel that is politics.