The Office’s Michael Scott is a comedy character with unprecedented depth and complexity for a major TV sitcom. Reprehensible yet lovable, naive yet conceited, and painfully offensive yet adorably innocent, Michael is the kind of contradictory central hero you simply can’t take your eyes off. We laugh at him but cry with him, and look forward to what he’s going to say next with excitement and dread in equal measure. I thought I’d never come across another sitcom character as wonderfully, cringingly hilarious until I discoveredVeep’s Selina Meyer.
After she starred in the maincast ofSeinfeldfor nine years, it was difficult to imagine that Julia Louis-Dreyfus could ever top her performance as Elaine Benes in the series often touted as thebest sitcom of all time. Yet that was before she was cast in the titular role ofVeep, a behind-the-curtain satire about the inner workings of the vice-president’s office, which has received widespread acclaim since it debuted on HBO in 2012, with a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes.Louis-Dreyfus playsVeep’s Selina Meyer, a narcissistic car-crash of a politicianwho made Michael Scott appear semi-competent.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Performance As Selina Meyer In Veep Is A Comedy Masterclass
Her Portrayal Of Veep’s Main Character Is Among The Best Sitcom Performances Ever
As Vice-President Selina Meyer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus employed her impeccable sense of timing and the knack for physical comedy she displayed so adeptly throughoutSeinfeldto full effect. Butshe also ventured into new, darker comic territory inVeep, as her conniving but wholly inept vice-presidentwould stop at nothing to get her finger on the button. The complete disconnect between Selina’s boundless political ambitions and her total unsuitability for any senior position of public service, along with the amateurish antics of her team, makes for a hysterically brilliant comic portrait.
In addition to its bare-faced cheek and farcical situational humor,Veepdoubles up as a damning indictment of anyone unfit for political office who somehow finds themself in a position of power, as well as skewering the entire American political system. The series drew on the previous work of its creator, Armando Iannucci, who was the originator of the earlier British political mockumentary sitcomThe Thick of Itand its spinoffdark comedy movieIn the Loop.
Iannucci tends not to pull any punches with his brand of satire, and in Julia Louis-Dreyfus, he found the perfect actor to realize his vision of an American series that went even further than its British forerunner.Veepprovides the platform for theSeinfeldactor’s greatest comedy masterclass, in one of history’sbest sitcom performances. As Selina Meyer, she plays an abominable central character whom it’s simply impossible to stop watching.
I Love Michael Scott, But Selina Meyer Might Be The Funniest TV Character Ever
The Stakes Being Far Higher In Veep Makes Meyer’s Incompetence Even Funnier
Selina Meyer was a breath of fresh air for TV comedy. She isn’t so much an impression or takedown of any real politician as an exaggerated embodiment of all that’s awry with Washington’s image-obsessed, lobby-loving political elites.
She might just be the funniest TV character of all time, in the darkest comic terms.
Much like Michael Scott, she’s impossibly childish and utterly self-absorbed, but is thrust into a position of great responsibility in which she has to behave to the contrary. She inevitably falls short virtually every time, and all too often, the mask slips to reveal the grotesque truth behind her attempts at conveying authority and moral integrity. Selina’s hysterical meltdowns during precisely the moments of crisis in which she’s supposed to rise to the challenge her position demands of her provide many of the most hilarious moments acrossVeep’s seven seasons.
Compared toThe Office, however, inVeepthe stakes are much, much higher. In season 4, for example, the immediate political future of the United States is on the line, as is the election of the first female president. In this context, Selina Meyer, proving herself to be at once awful and ridiculous, and far more combustible than Michael Scott, delivers laughs on a whole different level. She might just be the funniest TV character of all time, in the darkest comic terms.
The Office
Cast
This mockumentary comedy series observes the mundane and humorous daily lives of employees at the Scranton branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. It offers insights into office dynamics, personalities, and the eccentric behavior of both management and staff, depicting an ordinary workplace with extraordinary characters.
Veep
When former U.S. Senator Selina Meyer becomes Vice President of the United States, she finds that it is less like what she hoped for, and more what people warned her it would be.
