Did anyone watch "Veep" on HBO?

They totally are. I cringe and laugh during their interactions.

 

I love how he completely misreads every situation and cue he's given. And I think his character was a happy accident. He was introduced on the show as an assistant for Amy at some local state campaign headquarters and probably was only supposed to be on the show briefly, but they recognized how great his character plays and contrived a way to get him to the White House.

 

I think you're right on. As Mikeyt said, now paired with Jonah, they're a hillarious duo.

 

Yes +1

 

Great episode tonight...liked the Watergate hearings homage

 

"I'd like to plead the 5th." Hilarious episode tonight.

 

"I saw him cup the spheres in the hallway, and when Dan tried to Scapegoat Jonah for the data breach."
"What?"
"I like to plead the 5th."
"Wait, would you please repeat that last part?"
"Oh, I'd like plead the 5th."
"No. The part before that."
"Oh, right...

Funny episode...

 

I busted up at: "Yeah, I took noticing in high school."

 

I liked this bit when Richard was going to testify.

"Please raise your right hand".
Richard raises left hand.
"Your right hand, please."
"Sorry, I've been practicing in the mirror."

That got a good laugh out of me. Also the list of names for Jonah in the "Jonad File".

 

Very good episode. Good to see Neelix again! I loved the seriousness of the proceedings and the laughable 'answers' provided by the interrogated - so realistically life like and thus funny. Amongst many great bits, I loved the exhaustive list of pejoratives from Jonad file and Walsh being characterized as a twelve year old boy trapped in a twelve year old girl's body.

The show is definitely funnier with the veep being the president as there is so much more opportunity for clumsy cover-ups and putting out spot fires.

 

Some predictions (and these are not spoilers -- I have no idea how the plot will go). What if President Selina Meyer and her staff are forced to resign and face federal charges, and her VP (Hugh Laurie's character) becomes President... and he pardons all of them and makes her the new Vice President? That way, the show can stay on the air, nobody goes to jail, and Selina is forced to be VP yet again. I can't think of a better way to go.

 

Brought to you by the Jonad file:

J-Rock, Jizzy Gillespie, Jack and the Giant Jackoff, Gaylien, Tinker Balls, Wadzilla, One Erection, The Pointless Giant, The 60-Foot Virgin, Gimpanzee, Jonah Ono, Hagrid's Nutsack, Scrotum Pole, Transgenderformers, 12 Years a Slave to Jerking Off, Benedict Come In His Own Hand, Guyscraper, The Cloud Botherer, SupercalifragilisticexpialiDi*kCheese, Teenage Mutant Ninja A**hole, Spewbacca.

 

The Hugh Laurie character isn't VP, he's her running mate to be VP. The speaker of the house was promoted to VP. He was her running mate at first, but he dropped off the ticket when he got fed up with something she did. He's serving as VP, but he's not on the ticket for the next term. If Seline were forced to resign, THAT guy (the guy who's chief of staff was groping Jonah) would ascend to President.

But even if Hugh Laurie bcame president, I don't think he can just "make" someone VP.

 

Well, the same diff. You see what I'm saying -- they could go with the "here we go again" ending.

 

Well the House has to vote for who's going to be President. They will probably tie early next season and Hugh Laurie's character who'll likely be elected VP by the Senate will become President. President's, when their VP resigns for instance, nominate a person of their choice for VP and, I believe, that person must be confirmed by the Senate. Next season sounds like fun.

 

Can somebody explain the 20th Amendment situation from the finale? I can't find an explanation that makes any sense!

 

The season finale was more about an electoral college tie rather than strictly the 20th Amendment. In a tie, the House Of Representatives votes on who will be President. The issue with that is that it's one vote per state so it is possible for the House to tie as well. If the President is not determined by the start of the new term the Vice President Elect becomes President. In the scenario from the show, presumably the Vice President Elect would have already been determined by a vote in the Senate where each of the 100 Senators gets a vote.

 

But how can the Senate be voting for the vice president separately from the president, and why wouldn't they use the Senate to determine which of the two presidential candidates wins instead of giving it to a vice-presidential candidate?

 

Those are great questions. It's based on the Constitution itself, the 12th amendment from 1804 and the 20th from 1933. What they were thinking is always a wonder.

 

Why did Amy go back to Selina? I didn't get that.

 

She'd been alongside Selina for X years (I forget, it was mentioned, a lot) devoting her life to the goal of getting Selina elected (not appointed) President, and she went back because job or not it's where she belonged that night.

People on another board I read who are way more up on the Constitution than I am called the potential tie and even the possibility of a James/Meyer inversion a week or two before the season finale aired. I just thought the election result would probably be a season ending cliffhanger, but actually hoped they'd put election night off until next season so they could have more show campaign happening when its real-life counterpart was going on.

 

Thoughts on the 5th season of Veep that just ended?

Does anyone else feel like it was a noticeable step down from the previous two? Was (show creator) Iannucci's absence a factor?

 

Felt more like a series finale than a season finale. I enjoyed the season but it definitely wasn't as good as seasons past.

 

Felt that way to me too. After I finished watching it, I went and googled "veep season 6" to see whether there would be one.

 

There will be a season six, it was already renewed. I was taken by surprise by the latest episode and agree it felt more like a series finale than a season ender (and it would have been a good one at that). My only problem with the latest season was that there was too much Catherine. I still think it's probably my favorite comedy series of the century (can't think of anything even close, in fact) and I'm in for wherever the ensemble takes it next.