Airing for seven seasons between 2012 and 2019,Veepproved itself to be one of the very best sitcoms of the 2010s, and possibly even of all time. Sure, it wrapped up pretty recently, and it can take a little while for a TV series to find itself having the kind of legacy that makes it a contender for greatest of all time status… but the prospects forVeeplook good.After all, each of its seven seasons delivered consistently funny comedy and biting political commentary; some more than others, sure, but no season ofVeepcould be called bad.
It would even be hard to single out many episodes ofVeepas being even close to bad or disappointing, and all that makes ranking the seasons of this television series a difficult task. Vice-President Selina Meyer’s constantrise-and-fall-then-rise-again-then-fall-once-more-even-harder-etc storylinewas always a funny and compelling one, helped immensely by how great the various supporting players in the show were, too. All seven seasons of this profane and darkly funny show are ranked below, starting with the good and ending with the great.
7Season 1 (2012)
Number of Episodes: 8
There are afair few shows thattake a little time to find their footingand become great, withVeepbeing one of them. It feels like this happens particularly often for sitcoms, given how important comedic timing/chemistry with other cast members can be in the pursuit of making jokes land, with that sometimes seeming to take a little time to master. InVeep’scase, it probably wasn’t helped either by only having eight episodes to grow and develop in its first season; less than every other season’s episode count (excluding the final season).
Season 1 ofVeepis still pretty funny though, and certain cast members settle into their roles straight away, withJulia Louis-Dreyfusbeing instantly funny in the lead role and also having a great dynamic withTony Hale(who plays her personal aide, Gary) straight away. Some great characters aren’t in the show at this early stage, though, or have reduced roles, andthough people are fairly mean straight away, there’s a little less by way of truly brutal insults, and the level of incompetence from the main characters isn’t quite as hilarious and chaotic as it is in later seasons.
6Season 6 (2017)
Number of Episodes: 10
Certainly not the only show to havea potentially divisive penultimate season(at least compared to earlier seasons),Veep’ssixth season demonstrated that perhaps it was time to start winding things down.Veepdid only return for one more season in 2019, so thankfully, season 6 can’t be seen as the start of a prolonged period of comparatively lackluster seasons; nothing that dramatic.
Also, it might even be dramatic to imply that it was a nosedive in quality, because like the other good-but-not-great season ofVeep– the first – season 6 still has plenty to offer for those who’ve enjoyed what came before. The season does have characters more spread out than they’d usually been in earlier seasons, meaning the chemistry that had been built up between cast members isn’t always fully utilized, which is a shame. It does also contain a fairly good season finale which sets up the final season well, particularly the development that both Selina Meyer and the buffoonish Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons) want to run for President.
5Season 2 (2013)
With its second season,Veepstarted to become a little more confident and noticeably funnier on a more consistent basis, even if its best years were still a little ahead of it back in 2013.Going by IMDb ratings at least, season 2 features three episodes that have an 8.5/10 rating or higher, going by votes from the site’s users, while season 1’s highest-rated episode sits at an 8.1/10.
Season 2 also benefits from introducing Ben Cafferty (Kevin Dunn) and Kent Davison (Gary Cole), both of whom would end up as main cast members later down the line (the former in season 3 and the latter in season 4), which is a testament to how well they fit in here. All the returning cast members get tighter and better-written scripts to work with, too – for the most part – and the chemistry between the cast clearly gets stronger. Season 2 ofVeepmight not be atthe level of an all-time great sitcom,but it was enough of an improvement to suggest more promising seasons were to come.
4Season 7 (2019)
Number of Episodes: 7
Season 7 ofVeepsuffers a little from only being seven episodes long, but there is a nice symmetry to the number of episodes and the number of the season lining up. It also helps that the series finale, appropriately titled “Veep,”ended up being a double-length episode, and perhaps a high point for the entire show. If season 7 isn’t always representative ofVeepat its best, then at least the finale is, and it’s an undeniably strong notefor the entire show to conclude on.
Throughout the rest of the season, some may argue that the main storyline about a messy presidential race feels a little on-the-nose in a way that earlier seasons weren’t necessarily (in terms of how theywould or wouldn’t reflect real-life politics), and the main characters here are crueler than ever. It could feel like too much, and it almost is, but it’s worth it for the way everything concludes. Without it all coming together in the final episode,Veep’sseventh season wouldn’t have been a particularly great one, but it stuck the landing, and that’s what ultimately matters; the ending to this long-running show does end up being an unforgettable one.
3Season 5 (2016)
Season 5 ofVeeplooked like it could’ve represented the show at its shakiest before it began airing, given the show’s creator,Armando Iannucci, exited the show after season 4 finished airing, moving away from TV tofocus more on writing and directing films. His trademark humor and creative profanity-packed dialogue had been vital to the show’s success, though thankfully, in his place, the other writers of the show were able to keep things going pretty well, and new showrunnerDavid Mandel(who’d also written for shows likeSeinfeldandCurb Your Enthusiasm) proved up to the task of continuing everything.
After a tied election the previous season, much of season 5 revolves around its aftermath and eventual resolution, with the high stakes and general anxiety of it all leading to much comedic chaos and borderline sociopathy from most main characters. It’s a novel throughline for the season to follow, and it helps season 5 maintain a level of consistency that ultimately assists in making the departure of Iannucci less noticeable, andcertainly not as detrimental as one might’ve initially expected.
2Season 3 (2014)
Like was the case with another classic sitcomVeepcast member Tony Hale was involved in,Veep’sthird season was a remarkably strong one, and finally saw the show living up to its full potential after a pretty good season 1 and a very good season 2. In season 3, Selina Meyers’ desire to become more than a Vice President (shock horror: a full-on President) becomes clear and public, with this putting more pressure on her day-to-day life, all leading up to a surprising season finale that sets the stage for a dynamite fourth season.
Part of the humor of earlyVeepcame fromthe humdrum and sometimes very unglamorous life of being a Vice President, but the show’s decision to have its lead character aspire for more in the world of politics ended up paying off. With more stress and more at stake comes the opportunities for characters to be more bitter, high-strung, and prone to making mistakes, and it’s the monumental incompetence exhibited by many senior personnel who should know better that often leads to Veep’s funniest moments and episodes.
1Season 4 (2015)
Spoiler alert for a season of television that’s now almost a decade old (and doesn’t have enjoyment hampered too much by knowing what happens narratively), but near the end of season 3, Selina Meyers is suddenly made President when the prior one has to step down. Naturally, given how messy her run as a Vice President was, the idea of seeing her and her staff members handle the pressures of a presidency sounded like it would lead to comedic gold, and season 4 ultimately fulfilled the potential in this regard.
Season 4 is unusual, given it goes against the title of the show, “Veep,” with its lead character now being more than just a V.P. Yet it finds ways to make the comedy of the earlier seasons find itself brought up to even greater heights, and the fourth season of the show ends up being an absolute blast.It was also particularly successful when it came to thePrimetime Emmys, winning several trophies, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (for Louis-Dreyfus) and Outstanding Comedy Series.
