Veep Proved it Doesn’t Need its Old Showrunner
Veep’s fifth season was one of its strongest
There is little doubt at this point that Veep is truly one of HBO’s best comedies. The tone of Veep was originally set by Armando Iannucci, the original creator and showrunner. Veep was based on his past series, The Thick of It, which spawned the brilliantly hilarious In the Loop. At this point, however, Veep may be his crowning achievement. Even after he left.
Iannucci left Veep after its fourth season, though not due to the usual creative differences that may cause a showrunner to leave. He instead wanted to not only move on, but wanted to cut down working abroad. He’s now prepping his next film — in the political genre, of course — called The Death of Stalin. But Veep has soldiered on without him to create one of the show’s best seasons to date.
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To pull this all off, HBO brought in Curb Your Enthusiasm’s David Mandel. Curb Your Enthusiasm is one of HBO’s crowning comedic achievements, and it makes perfect sense from someone from that series to head Veep. It’s also thanks to the outstanding writers that Veep has remained such a huge success.
After a showrunner leaves, especially if he was the original driving force, there is always doubt as to whether or not a series can continue properly. Veep proved that it doesn’t need Iannucci to continue, which is more reassuring than anything else. His DNA is still all over the fifth season, and will hopefully continue to be even with his absence.
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Veep is already considered one of the strongest shows on HBO in general, genre aside. If it can continue to perform well without Armando Iannucci, there’s no telling what it can achieve in the future. It’s going to be a long wait until season six.