As the sixth season of the always topical and always brilliant “Veep” looms from just a month away, the cast and creative team of HBO’s satirical political comedy attended the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, to discuss what’s coming up on the show, since the last season ended with (SPOILER!) the end of Selina Meyer’s (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) brief Presidency.
‘Seinfeld’s David Mandel has joined the show
With the departure of “The Thick of It’s” brilliant Armando Iannucci from his own series, there was a big seat to fill in the “Veep” writers’ room. Luckily, David Mandel, a writer for “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” has stepped in to fill it.
Mandel teased viewers to “keep your eyes on Obama,” since “Veep” began during the Democratic Obama White House’s reign and has nothing to say about a Republican White House.
Mandel’s goal with the new season of “Veep” is to satirise not the current White House, but rather what Democrats do when they leave the White House. He made specific references to several ex-Presidents, including Jimmy Carter (specifically his “humanitarian work”), Bill Clinton and his Clinton Foundation, and yes, Barack Obama (specifically his “book deal,” which Mandel says Selina will get “for not so much money,” because she isn’t quite as beloved, to say the least).
Louis-Dreyfus: ‘Veep’ is set in ‘an alternative political universe’
Louis-Dreyfus firmly said during the panel, “I don’t want to do Trump stuff.” She is both the star and executive producer of “Veep,” so if she says it, it goes. She explained that the premise that has been “set up” for the show is that it’s set in “an alternative political universe” in which no real politicians are referred to by name “beyond Reagan,” so in the “Veep” world, there is no Trump, which should be a wonderful bit of escapism for American viewers.
Mandel says that “Veep” will stay true to the real political world in that an ex-President’s administration (so, Amy and Gary and Mike and Sue etc.) all kind of disperse and find themselves without jobs, and certainly not “appointed political positions,” and Mandel promises that fans will get to see this idea “unfold.” Reid Scott, who plays Dan, teased that the story of this season will “follow the characters off as they go into different directions,” adding that Dan is going “off into his own world.”
Season 6 of “Veep” will premiere on 16 April on HBO and consist of ten episodes as usual, which is refreshing given the recent trend of shows returning to airwaves with shorter episode counts, like “Game of Thrones” and “Prison Break.”
