Blu-ray Review: VEEP: THE COMPLETE SERIES

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Oct 28 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.”

The HBO comedy series Veep ran for 7 seasons/65 episodes on HBO, from 2012-2019. After former U.S. senator turned presidential hopeful Selina Myers (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) loses her party’s nomination, she reluctantly becomes the running mate of her rival, and ends up in the somewhat powerless position of Vice President. She often feels ignored by the President and a bit usless. As she counts down the days until she can run again, Selina tries to eek out any little bit of power she can from her thankless position. She is ambitious, but constantly relies on her dysfunctional team of staffers to help her get through the day, and deal with the various issues and potential scandals that seem to arise. She’s also quick to blame her staff when things go wrong. Always by her side with her bag and a kind word is devoted doormat, err body man, Gary Walsh (Tony Hale). Keeping her on schedule is personal secretary Sue Wilson (Sufe Bradshaw). And helping Selina run her day-to-day activates and deal with the public are chief of staff Amy Brookheimer (Anna Chlumsky) and director of communications Mike McLintock (Matt Walsh). New to the team is ambitious deputy director of communications Dan Egan (Reid Scott), who may not be great at his job, but he’s great at making people think he is. Serving as liaison to the VP from the office of the President is Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons), who often finds unwelcome by Selina’s staffers.

The series is part workplace comedy, part political satire, and as wild and crazy as things get at times, the show feels like it is probably the most realistic depiction of what happens behind closed doors in Washington. Selina is quite self-centered, more worried about how things will make her look rather than whether or not they actually help the people she’s supposed to be serving. She is an ambitious woman, always looking for ways to further her career. Selina often ends up putting her foot in her mouth, saying things she shouldn’t and then realizing she had a hot mic. And then relying on her team to find a way to spin things to get out of it.

Veep is an adaptation of the BBC series The Thick of It, from series creator Armando Iannucci. While the series was scripted, scenes were only loosely blocked, and the actors were encouraged to improvise and talk over one another, as multiple handheld cameras captured the spontaneous flow of the action and conversation around the VP office. The result is something that is not only hilarious, but also feels quite natural and real. I had watched this series when it first aired, and found myself laughing and enjoying it all over again as I binged through this Blu-ray release.

In addition to the political activities, the series also delves into Meyer’s personal life, particularly her strained relationship with daughter Catherine (Sarah Sutherland) and ex-husband Andrew (David Pasquesi). It also explores the personal lives of her staffers. The characters are really given a chance to grow over the course of the seasons, with the roles of Selina and her staffers constantly changing and evolving. No matter how horrible Selina treats her team, they always seem to remain in her close orbit and come back for more. Selina can be quite despicable and horrendous at times, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus is so fun to watch, and amazing in this role. And the ensemble has such great chemistry with one another, feeling like one big dysfunctional family.

There are many wonderful guest stars who appear over the course of the series, including some regulars that pop up in the later seasons, such as Gary Cole as political strategist Kent Davison, Kevin Dunn as White House Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty, Sam Richardson as soft-spoken campaign aide Richard Splett, and Clea DuVall as Marjorie Palmiotti, Selina’s bodyguard/lookalike. Other recognizable recurring actors include Dan Bakkedahl, Diedrich Bader, Hugh Laurie, Nelson Franklin, Randall Park, Kathy Najimy, Patton Oswalt, Peter MacNicol, Paul Scheer, and many more.

Warner Bros. had previously released the individual seasons of Veep on Blu-ray as they originally aired, but has now made the Complete Series available in a new, single Blu-ray box set, just in time for s. The disc contents are identical to those from the previous individual season releases, just with more uniform-looking disc art. The discs feature a clean, crisp picture that looks nearly immaculate, with an excellent level of detail throughout. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and makes nice use of the stereo and surround channels to provide an immersive experience, whether it’s the ambiance of the commotion in the VP office, or just some ambiance of wherever the team end up during some political speech or event.

The show’s 7 seasons are split across 13 discs—2 each for seasons 1-6 and a single disc for season 7. The discs are placed stacked and overlapping on plastic trays in a single thick DVD-height plastic keepcase, which is placed inside a carboard slipcover. This is pretty much a re-packaging of the discs from the previous season releases with new disc art. The discs contain all the same bonus material that was found on the original separate season releases, which consists of many audio commentaries, hours of deleted scenes, some outtakes, featurettes, and interviews with the cast/crew. Unfortunately, unlike the original single-season releases, no digital copy is included this time around.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (approx. 31 hours)

All all 65 episodes from all seven seasons on 13 discs:
- Season 1 (2012) – 8 episodes
  “Fundraiser”, “Frozen Yoghurt”, “Catherine”, “Chung”, “Nicknames”, “Baseball”, “Full Disclosure”, “Tears”
- Season 2 (2013) – 10 episodes
  “Midterms”, “Signals”, “Hostages”, “The Vic Allen Dinner”, “Helsinki”, “Andrew”, “Shutdown”, “First Response”, “Running”, “D.C.”
- Season 3 (2014) – 10 episodes
  “Some New Beginnings”, “The Choice”, “Alicia”, “Clovis”, “Fishing”, “Detroit”, “Special Relationship”, “Debate”, “Crate”, “New Hampshire”
- Season 4 (2015) – 10 episodes
  “Joint Session”, “East Wing”, “Data”, “Tehran”, “Convention”, “Storms and Pancakes”, “Mommy Meyer”, “B/ill”, “Testimony”, “Election Night”
- Season 5 (2016) – 10 episodes
  “Morning After”, “Nev-AD-a”, “The Eagle”, “Mother”, “Thanksgiving”, “C**tgate”, “Congressional Ball”, “Camp David”, “Kissing Your Sister”, “Inauguration”
- Season 6 (2017) – 10 episodes
  “Omaha”, “Library”, “Georgia”, “Justice”, “Chicklet”, “Qatar”, “Blurb”, “Judge”, “A Woman First”, “Groundbreaking”
- Season 7 (2019) – 7 episodes
  “Iowa”, “Discovery Weekend”, “Pledge”, “South Carolina”, “Super Tuesday”, “Oslo”, “Veep”
1080p / 1.78:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 DTS Digital Surround, Spanish 2.0 DTS Digital Surround
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish (Seasons 1-7); Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish (Seasons 1-3)

Extras:
All of this material has been ported over from the previous individual season Blu-ray releases.

Season 1
- Audio Commentaries
  - “Fundraiser” – star Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Selina Meyer”), creators/showrunners Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell, and executive producers Christopher Godsick & Frank Rich
  - “Fundraiser” – stars Anna Chlumsky (“Amy Brookheimer”), Tony Hale (“Gary Walsh”), Matt Walsh (“Mike McLintock”), Reid Scott (“Dan Egan”), Sufe Bradshaw (“Sue Wilson”) & Timothy Simons (“Jonah Ryan”)
  - “Frozen Yogurt” – star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, creators/showrunners Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell, and executive producers Christopher Godsick & Frank Rich
  - “Frozen Yogurt” – stars Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Sufe Bradshaw & Timothy Simons
  - “Katherine” – star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, creators/showrunners Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell, and executive producers Christopher Godsick & Frank Rich
  - “Katherine” – stars Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Sufe Bradshaw & Timothy Simons
  - “Chung” – star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, creators/showrunners Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell, and executive producers Christopher Godsick & Frank Rich
  - “Chung” – stars Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Sufe Bradshaw & Timothy Simons
  - “Nicknames” – stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh & Timothy Simons, and creators/showrunners Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell
  - “Baseball” – stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh & Timothy Simons, and creators/showrunners Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell
  - “Full Disclosure” – stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh & Timothy Simons, and creators/showrunners Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell
  - “Tears” – stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh & Timothy Simons, and creators/showrunners Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell
- Governor Chung Retraction (1:17)
  Selina Meyer’s complete word salad retraction speech about Governor Chung.
- Governor Chung Outtake (1:28)
  Outtakes from Selina Meyer recording her retraction speech.
- The Making of Veep (13:24)
  The cast and crew discuss the themes of the series, the humor, the use of improvisation, the cast, filming in Baltimore, the sets, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with creator/executive producer Armando Iannucci, producer Stephanie Laing, executive producer Chris Godsick, co-executive producer Tony Roche, executive producer Frank Rich, co-executive producer/writer Simon Blackwell, consulting producer/writer Roger Drew, costume designer Ernesto Martinez, and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Vice President Selina Meyer”, Anna Chlumsky (“Amy Brookheimer”), Tony Hale (“Gary Walsh”), Sufe Bradshaw (“Sue Wilson”), Tim Simons (“Jonah Ryan”), Reid Scott (“Dan Egan”) & Matt Walsh (“Mike McLintock”).
- Deleted Scenes (24:52)
  More than sixty deleted scenes from the season play back-to-back. There are chapter breaks for the episodes but not the individual scenes.
- Anti-Obesity PSA (:44)
  Selina Meyer’s complete Anti-Obesity PSA.
- Anti-Obesity PSA Outtake (1:10)
  Outtakes from Selina Meyer recording her Anti-Obesity PSA.
Season 2
- Audio Commentaries
  - “Midterms” – creator/executive producer Armando Iannucci, co-executive producer/writer Tony Roche, and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kevin Dunn (“Ben Cafferty”) & Timothy Simons
  - “Hostages” – creator/executive producer Armando Iannucci, co-executive producer/writer Tony Roche, executive producers Chris Godsick & Frank Rich, and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Kevin Dunn
  - “First Response” – creator/executive producer Armando Iannucci, executive producer Chris Godsick, and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Matt Walsh
  - “D.C.” – creator/executive producer Armando Iannucci, co-executive producer/writer Tony Roche, and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Matt Walsh & Gary Cole (“Kent Davison”)
- Deleted Scenes
  Deleted scenes from the season play back-to-back. View by episode, or a Play All on each disc:
  - Disc 1 (16:25) – Play All, or select from:
    - EPISODE 1 Midterms (3:24)
    - EPISODE 2 Signals (2:25)
    - EPISODE 3 Hostages (2:53)
    - EPISODE 4 The Vic Allen Dinner (4:14)
    - EPISODE 5 Helsinki (3:27)
  - Disc 2 (23:23) – Play All, or select from:
    - EPISODE 6 Andrew (5:31)
    - EPISODE 7 Shutdown (2:57)
    - EPISODE 8 First Response (5:33)
    - EPISODE 9 Running (1:36)
    - EPISODE 10 D.C. (7:44)
Season 3
- Deleted Scenes
  Deleted scenes from the season play back-to-back. View by episode, or a Play All on each disc:
  - Disc 1 (9:53) – Play All, or select from:
    - EPISODE 1 Some New Beginnings (3:30)
    - EPISODE 2 The Choice (1:38)
    - EPISODE 3 Alicia (1:12)
    - EPISODE 4 Clovis (1:39)
    - EPISODE 5 Fishing (1:52)
  - Disc 2 (8:24) – Play All, or select from:
    - EPISODE 6 Detroit (2:24)
    - EPISODE 7 Special Relationship (1:59)
    - EPISODE 8 Debate (2:28)
    - EPISODE 9 Crate (1:31)
- Audio Commentaries
  - “Special Relationship” – producer Chris Addison, executive producer Christopher Godsick, and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky & Tony Hale
  - “Debate” – stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Gary Cole, Kevin Dunn & Matt Walsh
  - “Crate” – executive producer Frank Rich, director Chris Addison, and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tony Hale & Matt Walsh
  - “New Hampshire” – stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kevin Dunn, Sufe Bradshaw, Reid Scott & Timothy Simons
- Governor’s Visit (2:56)
  Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Maryland Film Commissioner Jack Garbes meet with the cast/crew of Veep and talk about the state’s benefits for filmmakers.
Season 4
- Deleted Scenes
  Deleted scenes from the season play back-to-back. View by episode, or a Play All on each disc:
  - Disc 1 (8:17) – Play All, or select from:
    - EPISODE 1 Joint Session (1:20)
    - EPISODE 2 East Wing (1:52)
    - EPISODE 3 Data (1:24)
    - EPISODE 4 Tehran (1:33)
    - EPISODE 5 Convention (2:07)
  - Disc 2 (7:34) – Play All, or select from:
    - EPISODE 6 Storms and Pancakes (1:22)
    - EPISODE 7 Mommy Meyer (2:14)
    - EPISODE 8 B/ill (:36)
    - EPISODE 9 Testimony (2:51)
    - EPISODE 10 Election Night (:30)
Season 5
- Deleted Scenes
  Deleted scenes from the season play back-to-back. View by episode, or a Play All on each disc:
  - Disc 1 (11:29) – Play All, or select from:
    - EPISODE 1 Morning After (:46)
    - EPISODE 2 Nev-AD-a (2:51)
    - EPISODE 3 The Eagle (2:27)
    - EPISODE 4 Mother (3:27)
    - EPISODE 5 Thanksgiving (1:58)
  - Disc 2 (22:31) – Play All, or select from:
    - EPISODE 6 C**tgate (:31)
    - EPISODE 7 Congressional Ball (3:01)
    - EPISODE 8 Camp David (2:48)
    - EPISODE 9 Kissing Your Sister (13:31)
    - EPISODE 10 Inauguration (2:38)
- Audio Commentaries
  - “Morning After” – executive producers David Mandel & Lew Morton, co-executive producer Georgia Pritchett, stars Julia Louis-Dreyfuss & Timothy Simons
  - “Mother” – executive producer David Mandel, writers Alex Gregory & Peter Huyck, and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfuss & Tony Hale
  - “C**tgate” – executive producer David Mandel, director Brad Hall, co-executive producer Georgia Pritchett,, and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfuss & Timothy Simons
  - “Congressional Ball” – executive producers David Mandel & Lew Morton, writer Billy Kimball, and stars Reid Scott & Timothy Simons
Season 6
- Audio Commentaries
  - “Omaha” – director David Mandel, writer Lew Morton & star Julia Louis-Dreyfuss
  - “Georgia” – executive producer David Mandel, writer Billy Kimball and stars Matt Walsh, Timothy Simons, Sam Richardson (“Richard Splett”)
  - “Qatar” – executive producers David Mandel & Lew Morton, writer Steve Hely, and stars Reid Scott & Matt Walsh
  - “Blurb” – executive producer David Mandel, director Morgan Sackett, and stars Matt Walsh, Timothy Simons & Clea DuVall (“Marjorie Palmiotti”)
Season 7
- Character Retrospectives (7:21)
  The actors discuss their characters, and talk about what they won’t miss about working on the series. Includes interviews with stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tony Hale, Timothy Simons, Matt Walsh, Anna Chlumsky, Reid Scott & Sam Richardson. Play All, or select from:
  - Selina Meyer (1:01)
  - Gary Walsh (1:01)
  - Jonah Ryan (1:01)
  - Mike McLintock (1:00)
  - Amy Brookheimer (1:01)
  - Dan Egan (1:01)
  - Wat I Won’t Miss (1:11)
- Inside the Final Season (1:35)
  Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus talks about the show’s final season, and what she’ll miss about working on the series. Includes some behind-the-scenes footage.
- Audio Commentaries
  - “Iowa” – director David Mandel, writer Lew Morton, and stars Tony Hale & Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  - “Discovery Weekend” – executive producer David Mandel, writer Erik Kenward, and stars Timothy Simons & Julia Louis- Dreyfus
  - “Pledge” – executive producer David Mandel, director Morgan Sackett, writer Rachel Axler, and stars Anna Chlumsky & Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  - “South Carolina” – executive producer David Mandel, writer Peter Huyk, and stars Clea Duvall, Tony Hale & Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  - “Super Tuesday” – executive producer David Mandel, writers Jennifer Crittenden & Gabrielle Allan, and stars Andy Daly (“Keith Quinn”), Matt Walsh, Sam Richardson, Tony Hale & Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  - “Oslo” – executive producer David Mandel, director Brad Hall, writers Maxtone Graham, Dan O’Keefe, Dan Mintz & Steve Hely, and stars Peter MacNicol (“Jeff Kane”), Clea DuVall, Sam Richardson, Tony Hale & Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  - “Veep” – writer/director David Mandel, and stars Matt Walsh, Tony Hale & Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  - “Veep” – writer/director David Mandel, director of photography David Miller, and executive producer Morgan Sackett

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Episodes:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Highly Recommended
No Need To Double-Dip

Veep is a hilarious comedy that holds up quite well, and makes for fun and timely binge during the current election season. Julia Louis-Dreyfus has managed to embody yet another iconic TV character, and is joined by a talented ensemble cast. The series is not only a great workplace comedy but also a witty political satire. Warner Bros.’ Complete Series Blu-ray features solid audio/video and contains hours of fun audio commentaries, deleted scenes and more. This is a must own for any fan of the series, or anyone looking for a hilarious bingeable comedy. However, there is no need for those who already own the previous individual season releases to double-dip as the contents of this box set are the same.