PilotWatch: VEEP

HBO Sundays @ 10:00

What's it about?
Former Senator Selina Meyer has accepted the call to serve as Vice President of the United States.  The job is nothing like she imagined and everything she was warned about.  VEEP follows Meyer and her staff as they attempt to make their mark and leave a lasting legacy, without getting tripped up in the day-to-day political games that define Washington.

You should watch if...
• you enjoy political satire.
• you're a Julia Louis-Dreyfus fan.
• you enjoy HBO's brand of comedies that aren't really funny.

So, how was it?
VEEP very much follows HBO's pattern of sitcoms that are not really laugh-out-loud comedies, but more of fast-paced, quick-witted satire, so well exemplified already this year by both Laura Dern's ENLIGHTENED and Lena Dunham's GIRLS.  Now Julia Louis-Dreyfus joins their ranks in another female-centric not-really-funny comedy about a smart but impotent trying to make herself matter in a political field indifferent to her position.  If you liked either ENLIGHTENED or GIRLS, or are a particularly big Julia Louis-Dreyfus fan, you will likely love VEEP. If you're looking for a knee-slapping laugh riot, you'll probably be disappointed.

That's not to say there aren't fun moments.  But funny would be the wrong word.  I had a blast in the first half hour watching Selina and her incompetent team deal with crisis after crisis.  Ms. Louis-Dreyfus delivers a powerhouse performance full of both ambition and insecurity.  The easiest way to describe VEEP is if Leslie Knope from PARKS AND RECREATION made it all the way to Washington and her show got moved to HBO...bigger scale, higher stakes, more vulgarity, but same over-eagerness and bumbling mistakes.

Ms. Louis-Dreyfus is helped out by an exceptionally strong supporting cast in Selina's team.  There's Anna Chlumsky (yes, the girl from MY GIRL) as Selina's chief-of-staff, the most capable of the bunch but still not immune to making horrifying errors.  Tony Hale (ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) is Selina's aide, definitely the "Jerry" of the audience (for you P&R fans) -- the one everyone else can't seem to stand who's just trying to be the best at his job.  Matt Walsh (HUNG) plays Selina's director of communications, who is incapable of rectifying her mistakes, often making them worse.  And there's Reid Scott (THE BIG C) as the new guy on the team, who attracts the hatred of everyone else because he's actually good at what he does.  This supporting team is unanimously brilliant in their roles, making Selina's office a horrifyingly (and amusingly) inept and dysfunctional workplace.

But Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the glue that holds this show together.  She is so good at playing both assertive and uncertain, excelling equally when trying to schmooze with senators, when bungling an important speech, and when having a total breakdown in her office.  If anything, this show will be a terrific showcase fo her wonderful comedic talents.  And while I didn't spend the entire half hour guffawing, she and the rest of the cast are likable and just real enough to keep me coming back for more.

Rating:
*** Solid. I'm interested and will definitely keep watching.
I wouldn't say I'm addicted yet, but I think this show holds promise, if only because of Ms. Louis-Dreyfus' tour-de-force performance.  I'm excited to see what other unfortunate situation she and her team will find themselves in next week.

What did you think, Fellow Addicts? Were you amused by Selina's antics? Or were disappointed that it wasn't more laugh-out-loud funny? Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments!

(For the complete rundown of when all the new shows are premiering, check out my 2012 Midseason TV Preview.)

What did you think of VEEP?