Veep in a nutshell

Reviewing HBO's Veep, Matt Zoller Seitz is spot-on: "At times the series feels like a live-action version of Doonesbury, but minus the sociopolitical context, and with baroque profanity and scatological metaphors. ... This is a shark-tank world of a type that HBO specializes in; the ego-warring over perks, loyalty, and respect might remind you of the cable channel’s other classic half-hour studies in bad behavior: The Larry Sanders Show [and] Curb Your ­Enthusiasm ... the first three episodes of Veep don’t suggest we’re going to see those series’ depth and poignancy. [British writer-producer Armando Iannucci] has a tactically limited view of political skulduggery, the type showcased in the insufferably cutesy columns of Maureen Dowd. It’s all rather weightless. ... That’s not a bad thing in and of itself—the world can always use one more ­amusing sitcom—but for all its madcap goofiness, Veep doesn’t say or add up to much—which, in a way, suggests it’s the right satire for a political era marked by stupid feuds, inertia, and superficiality."