While the candidates in the 2016 presidential race have provided plenty of absurd political theater, the fictional shenanigans of Selina Meyer and company aren’t quite as high stakes — which makes them much easier to laugh at.
That said, the recently released season five trailer for HBO’s Veep offers a welcome distraction from the real-life campaign trail and a heavy dose of what’s perhaps the only thing capable of unifying even Democrats and Republicans: laughter.
Thankfully — other than the fact that the presidency is hanging in the balance — not too much has changed in this fictional White House: Lovable lackey Gary Walsh (Tony Hale) is still at Selina’s (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) side, Selina is still the hot mess you know and adore, and it is politics as usual for and Amy (Anna Chlumsky), Dan (Reid Scott), Jonah (Timothy Simons), and the rest of this hilarious cast.
In characteristic Veep form, this trailer is caustic and irreverent, drawing laughs out of religion, drunk driving, casual sex, and financial crises. When Selina is told that, to win the election, she must do the one thing her opponent can’t, her response is “drive sober?” When she finds out that she has presided over the fourth-largest market drop in history and that the event is already being referred to as “Black Wednesday,” her response is “Jesus, it’s only Wednesday?”
To be fair, hump day can be rough …
In all seriousness, season five of Veep promises exactly what the people want: more Veep. Like a veteran politician driving home his or her best talking points during a stump speech, the series is sticking with a tried and true formula — and that’s fine by us.
Veep is set to return to the air April 24, 2016, and by the looks of things, it is more than ready to hit the ground running.
