5 Reasons You Should Watch 'Veep' Season 2

Culture

HBO's first season of Veep, an R-rated answer to The West Wing, is out on DVD Tuesday, giving potential fans three weeks to catch up on the eight hilarious episodes before the season two premiere April 14. Showrunner Armando Ianucci has created a fine piece of television, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus is as funny as ever in her Emmy-winning role as Vice President Selina Meyer. There are a lot of things to like about this show, so here are the top reasons to check it out before season two drops.

1. Julia Louis-Dreyfus Drops a Great F-Bomb

No one can do it better than Al Pacino, no one, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus makes excellent use of HBO's four-letter-word freedom in Veep. Watching Vice President Meyer's struggle to maintain the composure expected of her office, as well as the domesticity of a lady in a society dominated by old-money patriarchs, makes her private outbursts all the sweeter. Add the fact that Louis-Dreyfus has spent the majority of her career on the largely cuss-less major network primetime circuit, and it's a bit that doesn't get old fast.

2. Chain Of Burn Command

Seasoned character actor, Matt Walsh, plays communications director Mike McLintock. When he's not putting out fires, he's dishing severe burns to his new deputy played by Reid Scott. Scott in turn lights up the vice president's ineffectual and eccentric body-man, Gary, portrayed expertly by Tony Hale. Everyone dumps on White House liaison Jonah Ryan, who only makes it worse for himself when he tries to fire back. Inventive insults are always flying, and many of them are refreshingly vicious. My personal favorite is “Gold-plated shit-gibbon.” Zing!

3. Tony Hale

4. It's Just the Right Length

5. It's the Good Kind Of Predictable