Julia Louis-Dreyfus established a new kind of sitcom actress on a new kind of sitcom

The Washington Post

The Veep star gets the Washington Post profile treatment ahead of Sunday's ceremony honoring her with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The Post's Geoff Edgars writes that Louis-Dreyfus’ success is unprecedented, from Seinfeld to The New Adventures of Old Christine to Veep. She has paved the way, he explains, by serving "as a model for the wave of talented women who emerged over the past decade-plus, including Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, and Amy Poehler." And while she didn't create Seinfeld, he adds, "her nine seasons on the hit established a new kind of sitcom actress on a new kind of sitcom. Post-Lucille Ball, prime time was packed with airheaded babes (Barbara Eden in I Dream of Jeanie or Suzanne Somers on Three’s Company) or matronly voices-of-reason (Marion Ross on Happy Days). Roseanne Barr brought a lunch-pail weariness to television, and Mary Tyler Moore managed to be both independent and sharp. But Elaine and Selina were nothing like Mary. They could be as shallow, nasty and dysfunctional as the guys sitting around Jerry’s apartment, as profane and blue as the potty-mouthed male politicians making backroom deals." ALSO: Louis-Dreyfus said she never considered leaving Veep despite her cancer diagnosis.