Being the President of the United States is not an easy undertaking.
Especially when, as we saw at the end of season 4 of VEEP, you’re Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and your dream run to the presidency is rather cruelly complicated by ending up with the same number of electoral college votes as your opponent.
It’s an unprecedented electoral occurrence, real or imagined, and it means that rather than enjoying being President in an unfettered fashion, that Selina has to keep huddling with her motley crew of advisors to figure out how they’re going to get the necessary votes to stay in power.
And let’s be fair, Selina will do whatever it takes to her hands on the one position she has always coveted, not because it gives her an opportunity to serve the American people but because it offers untold power, privilege and a host of other superficial trinkets and baubles that the shallow-as-a-kiddies-pool President glories in without apology.
The trailer for season 5 suggests that even with the departure of creator and showrunner Armando Iannucci that VEEP retains much of the ready wit and acerbic observation of the body politik that has made it compulsive viewing for anyone who likes their West Wing with a dose of political reality.
We’ll find out if VEEP has ducked the Departure of the Creator Curse – anyone remember Gilmore Girls season 7 or Community season 4? Yikes – when the show returns 24 April on HBO.