The Trump era has wrecked Veep: The HBO comedy is now treating its characters like SNL performers

Variety

When Veep premiered, it had nothing specifically to say about the current state of politics. But that's changed under the Trump presidency. "t seems apparent that the praise Veep got for summing up the tone of politics generally has led it to believe it must make a more direct comment — even though that’s not what the show has historically done well, and even though it doesn’t have much to say," says Daniel D'Addario. "What it does try to articulate comes out incomprehensible, a sort of primal scream of rage that doesn’t just grapple towards comment on our Trump-obsessed political moment but feels gruesomely of it." He adds that Veep is "now treating its characters like Saturday Night Live performers, plugging them into parodic that are disconnected from what came before or after. And like Saturday Night Live’s political material, it had little to say but that a famous person sure is distinctive, and it could be funny to see an actor doing what that famous person does."