The Huge Veep Comeback On Max, Explained

With the potential promise of Vice President Kamala Harris ascending to the Presidency of the United States lying ahead of the world, it's probably unsurprising to learn that people have begun to binge-watch a well-reviewed comedy about America's first female-identified president. The viewership for "Veep," HBO's comedy in which the foulmouthed, outspoken Selina Meyer ("Seinfeld" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus) starts life as Vice President, then takes over the Oval Office during Season 2, has gone up 350% as of July 22, 2024, according to Luminate data. The show — which is like an American version of HBO's previous political comedy, "The Thick of It" – added 486,000 hours on Max in its most recent week, suggesting audiences are happily binging the political satire. Apparently the election is on Americans' minds even as they've been trying to unwind. Luminate reports that "Hillbilly Elegy," the Ron Howard-directed movie adaptation of Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance's memoir, also saw a surge in its viewership on Netflix.

On "Veep," Selina tends to meet with publicity disaster after publicity disaster on the job, first while adjusting to being a much-ignored-by-her-running-mate Vice President, then as an embattled POTUS who's instantly plunged into a reelection campaign. She constantly finds herself in and out of power, testing and trying those closest to her in the process. When push comes to shove, she might just do anything to succeed. But, as series creator Armando Iannucci has pointed out, one should never view the series as anything but fiction.

Armando Iannucci responded with amusement to the pre-election popularity surge "Veep" has seen. On his X account (formerly known as Twitter), he responded to a tweet from @maitlis positing that "Veep" set the map for Kamala Harris' rise, imagining a world in which President Joe Biden leaves office, Vice President Harris becomes president, and with her in a hopeless tie with Former President Donald Trump, JD Vance would become president. Iannucci's response: "Don't forget we made all that up, though."

The "Veep" creator later responded to a clip of the show in which Selina and her staff celebrate that the never-seen Stuart Hughes won't be running for a second term by saying, "still working on the ending." Iannucci also posted an image of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and President Biden striding down a hallway in the White House.

Of course, Vice President Harris hasn't inherited the White House from President Biden, which means that the scenario suggested by @maitlis is just simple fantasizing. It's unlikely that any flesh-and-blood being would make one of the many serious gaffes that eventually clouds Selina's presidential run — and ultimately results in her being a figure of such ignominy that people leave her funeral to mourn the death of Tom Hanks.

Ready to run with more "Veep?" Check out this article: 30 Best Veep Episodes Ranked.