HBO’s ‘Veep’ to End After Season 7
Veep, one of television’s greatest shows, will come to an end next year, The Hollywood Reporter reports. On Wednesday, HBO announced the end to the award-winning series. It was a decision made by the show’s producers, which includes the show’s lead star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
“The decision to bring Veep to a close at the end of next season is bittersweet,” HBO President of Programming Casey Bloys said in a statement, via Deadline. “We love the show and everyone involved but respect the producers’ choice to bring Selina Meyer’s journey to its conclusion after an extraordinary run of critical and award-winning acclaim. Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ comedic brilliance infused Selina with a dynamic presence and a vibrant wit, which will ensure her a place in the history of television’s most iconic comedic characters. We look forward to producing the seventh and final season.”
Louis-Dreyfus, who executive produces the series with David Mandel, told THR the decision did not come lightly. They allowed the story dictate when the right time would be to say farewell.
“It became clear that this season should be the last season,” she said. “We don’t want to repeat ourselves or wear out our welcome. The story has a finality to it that feels end-of-series.”
Louis-Dreyfus brilliantly plays Selina Meyer, the titular Veep, i.e. Vice President (and short-lived, one-time President who is still gunning for that top spot) presiding over the Oval Office in the political satire.
With its fast-paced dialogue, cutting wit and excellently crafted insults (primarily hurled by Meyer at her incompetent and hilarious staff) it’s earned Louis-Dreyfus five consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress and the series has won the Emmy for Best Comedy series the last two years. She and the show are both up for Emmy’s at this year’s ceremony on September 17th. Meyer’s narcissism and her White House staff’s bumbling incompetence that has provided laughs over the seasons has felt particularly relevant during Season Six, which aired earlier this year.
“Dark is what we do,” Louis-Dreyfus told Rolling Stone in May. “It’s our bread and butter. But that’s because funny is often in a dark place.”
Veep‘s seventh and final season will air on HBO in 2018.