The Thick of It/Veep

[DoctorDodge]

Found this trailer today for the upcoming HBO comedy Veep (NSFW):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soJggb_jDL8&feature=youtu.be

Anyone who knows me knows how much I am really looking forward to this show. It's based on UK political satire The Thick of It, but unlike most US versions of UK greats, this one has a much smaller chance of sucking balls due to not only original creator Armando Iannucci's heavy involvement with the show, but also that it carries over a lot of the same writing staff from The Thick of It as well. So everything I've seen so far is that it seems to hopefully carry the same style of TToI, but dealing with American politics instead of British.

By the way, are there any other fans of The Thick of It on this board that have enjoyed that as much as I have? First viewing, I loved it. Difficult for me to understand at times at how fast it goes, but loved it. Now I think it might be one of the greatest shows I've watched, for sheer moments of brilliance like this clip alone (that's definitely NSFW):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHOyiknNuUw&feature=related

[Ricky]

So I just went on YouTube to check out the trailer, clicked the first one I came to, and when I was scrolling through the comments, saw one from "DoctorDodge." There's no way that it's a coincidence. :lol:

[DoctorDodge]

Of course it isn't, Ricky! :lol: You know how much I'm eagerly anticipating this!

Some behind the scenes stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=My8PA7TBqJo

Great to have some input from the legend that is Armando Iannucci. Also, great to know that the creative team of The Thick of It seem to be very much in control here, unlike the disatrous pilot for the TToI remake. Just under a couple more months to go...

And for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, here's the first ep of the series:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSRN8O4ULQs

[alkanto]

Okay, now that I actually watched the trailer (after I realized that I hadn't already seen it) I am really looking forward to that show! Looks fantastic :lol:

[DoctorDodge]

Thick of It quote of the day:

"THE MAN'S A FUCKING KNITTED SCARF, OK?! HE'S A FUCKING BALACLAVA!"

[DoctorDodge]

BUMPing this back up to remind people: Veep in 4 days! Eep! So excited!

[Hannah]

I saw the preview for this and didn't think it looked watchable. I'll give the first episode a try, Doc, since you say it'll most likely be good.

[DoctorDodge]

Well, by my tastes, my love of the Thick of It, and my love of anything made by Armando Iannucci means that I'll surely love it. These days, I'm becoming less and less sure that my tastes are the same as the majority on this board. :lol: I've got good money it'll be a lot better than, say, the first series of The Office remake at least, certainly better than the trailers make Veep out to be (I generally do not like the way they're edited or the music, really). We'll see, anyway.

[alkanto]

Frankly, I'm just hoping I can find it online, now that MegaUpload is down. I have seen the fist 2 eps of The Thick of It and they were pretty good (even if I didn't have the slightest clue as to what they were talking about, politically) so this should be at least watchable. Regardless I'm certainly hoping for the best!

[DoctorDodge]

Frankly, I'm just hoping I can find it online, now that MegaUpload is down. I have seen the fist 2 eps of The Thick of It and they were pretty good (even if I didn't have the slightest clue as to what they were talking about, politically) so this should be at least watchable. Regardless I'm certainly hoping for the best!

This. I may be British, but even I'm not that knowledgeable about our politics, certainly not any moments where they're probably parodying a similar situation that occured in real life. But the comedy always works, either as something really quotable, or as some kind of farce that, worryingly, you can easily believe in. The Thick of It was the key show that proved to me you don't really need to understand something to enjoy it. It's another reason why the move to US politics doesn't bother me: as long as we get the same high standard of writing that we got with TToI, we should have a new award winning show coming up.

[DoctorDodge]

Ok, just finished it. Thoughts? Loved it. It's not the funniest comedy I've ever watched, but it got a number of laughs from me watching it, especially with how awkward it was. What I really enjoyed it for though was for being pure satire, and for that, it definitely gets top marks. From here on in, there's going to be a number of comparisons to the Thick of It and In the Loop, just to warn you.

What it felt like, from start to finish, was being thrown into the world of politics itself, a day in the life of how senators run things in the US. Whether or not it's 100% like this isn't the point, what matters is that it entirely feels natural, at least. I loved how mundane the VP's tasks seemed to be, sponsoring non-plastic disposable knives and forks, but before long she's being met by opposition from everyone because of how much it'll upset the guys at plastics and even possibly oil. What I've just described could be the plot of a whole episode in a lot of cases, but this just describes the first five minutes, maybe ten at most, as eventually things get a whole lot worse for her with one use of a badly chosen word. The final long shot, very reminiscent of In the Loop, was seeing everyone continue their work, giving the impression that we've barely caught a glimpse, one particular shot really, of how non-stop the world of politics is. This kind of frantic pace is something I adored in The Thick of It and In the Loop, and it's nice to see it welcome here.

Another thing I loved: the style of comedy. There's almost a kind of poetry to the way people speak, even when they're swearing. Actually, especially when they're swearing. "This entire speech has been pencil fucked?" "Front and back, with no romance." The guys at HBO really picked the right actors for the roles, as they really know how to say their lines and make them flow. One of the VP's aides I was initially uncertain of, as he seemed to look like a stereotypically dumb character you'd expect in a lot of sitcoms, but even he manages to fit in well, I think.

Compared to the Thick of It, Veep is definitely more glamourous, with a title sequence and much more fitting offices for politicians, but it still retains that subconcious feeling that you're watching what really goes on in American politics with the use of shaky camerawork, which is all you can ask for, really. The thing I really loved about it, though? It's not a remake. The first episode of Veep, despite being very similar in style, look and comedy, is completely it's own thing. It's not a rewrite of a ToI episode crudely constructed to fit American politics: this was built for an American audience from the ground up as an original show. It's an American equivalent of The Thick of It, nothing more, with it's own original characters, none of which are meant to be copies of any from ToI.

Speaking as someone who watched both as a fan of the show that Veep was spiritually based on and as someone who watched it as a show in its own right, I can say that Veep is undoubtedly a wonderful success in both aspects.

[alkanto]

Glad to hear it! I'm currently re-downloading it, as i may have forgot that I couldn't continue a download when I closed my laptop... :P
I'm going to need some good laughs, as I am very pissed at the world atm. (well fine, maybe not the world, but at a few very specific people and their friends...)

[DoctorDodge]

Be sure to post your thoughts later, my love! (And let me know whoever's pissed you off and causing problems for you, so I can, ahem, find ways of solving those problems...:evil:)

Did anyone else watch it? Really keen to know what anyone else thought of it, especially American. Is the show any good at appealing to the US target audience?

[alkanto]

my review is not going to be nearly as in-depth as yours (didn't get sleep, still too riled up/the guilty party still didn't get the message after Steph yelled at them...). But, that being said, I really did enjoy it. It was, admittedly, a lot easier to understand, plot-wise, when compared to The Thick of It. I blame that solely on the fact that I have at least a basic understanding of US politics, vs UK ( :P ) (which, again, I place that blame solely on my mother, who made me listen to political talk radio growing up. I had no choice. I was brain-washed from the start!)

As any good comedy should do, most of the laughs come from situations where it's just fucking awkward, so that was fantastic. I am just eager to see more, particularly for the chance to help flesh out a lot of the side characters and get a feel for where this is going in the long run. But it was good start, for sure.

[DoctorDodge]

Cheers for the thoughts, Pond! I think one thing that did make it a little easier to understand is that, unlike the cutthroat politics of the UK version, no one's job is immediately under threat if they make a mistake, so there's not a rapidly changing cast or much tension in the first ep. Not a criticism, just something I've noticed.

And agreed on the awkwardness, especially halfway through with the use of the "r-word". I'm amazed at some of the flak the show is getting for using the word, considering it is about politics, and at the end of the day, politicians say stupid shit all the time! Still, definitely a great start to a series, especially for something loosely based on a British show.

[Ricky]

Great review, James! Nice to hear that you enjoyed it. Ken Tucker over at EW said that it didn't have too many laughs either, but that it was a very well-constructed pilot. I'm hopefully going to check it out this weekend (we don't get HBO anymore). Was it you who said the pilot will be posted on the HBO site? Maybe I'm confusing you with someone else. :orely:

By the way, what is the "r" word?

[alkanto]

R-word = retard. As you can imagine, in a political setting, saying that isn't such a good idea (not that it is in a normal setting, either...but you get my point!)

[DoctorDodge]

Great review, James! Nice to hear that you enjoyed it. Ken Tucker over at EW said that it didn't have too many laughs either, but that it was a very well-constructed pilot. I'm hopefully going to check it out this weekend (we don't get HBO anymore). Was it you who said the pilot will be posted on the HBO site? Maybe I'm confusing you with someone else. :orely:

I think you're confusing me with someone else! :lol: I had to rely on...other methods to watch the ep. I think you can watch it for free on the HBO site, but i'm not too sure. I do know that when I tried checking other shows out, like Game of Thrones, it wouldn't let me due to being in the UK, the bounders! Be sure to post your thoughts on here if you do watch it.

[Ricky]

Just checked and I CAN watch it on the HBO site! :excited:

[DoctorDodge]

Excellent! Btw, I've just learned that BBC America will finally be showing the 3rd series of The Thick of It over there on Sunday, nearly 2 and a half years after its UK broadcast. You should check it out, just to see how much they censor it.

The funniest complaints about Veep? A lot of people complaining about how much swearing there was. Fans of the Thick of It thought it was pretty mild by comparison and wasn't enough. :lol: Seriously, although swearing on its own isn't clever, creative swearing is, and I don't think there was much of that in Veep, but I'm hoping the writers will include more over the coming weeks. It's the only complaint I do have about the show, anyway.

[Ricky]

I know that we do get BBC America, so I just might if I see that it's on one day.

Oh, and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss was on Conan last night promoting Veep. It was pretty funny, if you're interested in checking it out.

[DoctorDodge]

Oh, this made me laugh. The worst/best NSFW description of a movie ever:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5iRmPBve80&feature=youtu.be

[TCCBodhi]

"The thick of it? The thick of it!? That asshole be ME Obesity? I'm Obesity!

[DoctorDodge]

"What the fuck is hulu?" Even when it's not even the actual show, this shit is awesome!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgaYFgkxu1c&feature=youtu.be

[Ricky]

Just watched the season finale of Veep last night. This whole season--especially the last two episodes--has been hilarious! I liked last season, but Season 2 is even better, taking what made Season 1 great and really amping it up. Really glad that HBO picked it up for Season 3!

[DoctorDodge]

Still need to catch up on season 1. Glad to hear it gets better. Not that I didn't enjoy what I saw of the first season, but there was a sense of the writers finding their feet at some points, moving from the world of UK to US politics.

[tippy4]

Thought that fans of this show would be interested in this......

http://media.paleycenter.org/paleyfest-2014-lineup/

[Ricky]

I was watching the new episode of Veep last night and during the debate scene, I thought the exterior shot of the building looked really familiar. After a few minutes they showed it again, and I realized that it's my school! They did exterior night shots and had it stand in as the University of New Hampshire. It was funny because I was like, "that looks so familiar!" :lol: Now I know why they kept using our parking lot, but I never saw anyone filming.

I just thought that was really cool (but also really strange to see a familiar place on TV like that).