Julia Louis-Dreyfus bids farewell to Veep (HBO)
The seventh and final season of Veep comes to a close tonight, and with it, the fictional political career of Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Dissertations, theses and think-pieces on Selina and what she represents in 21st century pop culture can and have and will be written. She started out as hapless, beleagured and almost sympathetic, given how the rest of the political establishment rebuffed her and the team surrounding her constantly screwed up. Sure, she was vicious behind closed doors, but there was something sadly admirable about her pressing on.
As the series has gone on, however — and as the real-life American political stage has become more outwardly coarse, shameless, and mean — Selina Meyer has become wholly indefensible, and a lot more reminiscent of current events. Just look at the arc of Anna Chlumsky's Amy Brookheimer, who started the series as Selina's put-upon chief of staff and is ending as a garishly made-up, Kellyanne Conway-esque mouthpiece for Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons), the one character everyone agrees is worse than Selina.
Whether Selina Meyer once again ascends to the highest office in the land or she sees her political career go down in flames, the legacy of Veep as a series that began as a satire of D.C. incompetence and ended as a roman a clef about D.C. villainy is more than secure.
SERIES FINALE: Julia Louis-Dreyfus has delivered one of the defining comedic performances of this era, but can the final episode of Veep see Selina Meyer somehow top the long list of terrible things she's done this season? 10:50 PM ET on HBO
NEW EPISODE: Oh right. Tonight also brings the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones. Last week's episode did not go down easy with the critical community nor with many fans. Just a lot of bad strategy and frustrating show decisions. But with only two episodes to go, expect the action to pick up at King's Landing. It seems more than fitting that on this Mother's Day, the Mother of Dragons and the Queen whose entire adult life has been spent jealously guarding power for her children will face off at last. 9:00 PM ET on HBO
SEASON PREMIERE: The second season Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj drops on Netflix today. Minhaj established with his first season a very distinct vibe apart from his fellow political comedians. Somehow, the well-informed-fuckboy-son-of-immigrants thing really works for him, and his eclectic choice of deep-dive subjects make Patriot Act worth checking out. Streaming on Netflix
SEASON PREMIERE: The first season of Gregg Araki's Now Apocalypse comes to a close tonight. The Starz series has succeeded in establishing itself as energetic and sexy, and according to our Lauren Garafano, a great depiction of Milliannials. 9:00 PM ET on Starz
ALSO TONIGHT
- The Simpsons ends its 30th (!!) season with an episode that welcomes Jenny Slate, Ileana Douglas, and Werner Herzog (!!) as guest voices. 8:00 PM ET on FOX
- Our Cartoon President debuts its second season with its titular animated despot declaring a national emergency in order to build Trump Tower Moscow. 8:00 PM ET on Showtime
- Bob's Burgers delivers a Zeke-focused episode for its 9th season finale, as the Belchers (sans a sabotaging Tina) try to get Zeke out of his latest bit of trouble. 8:30 PM ET on FOX
- Shark Tank ends season 10 by taking a pitch from, among others, prospective restauranteurs looking to cater to those looking for a late-night nosh. 10:00 PM ET on ABC
Joe Reid is the senior writer at Primetimer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His work has appeared in Decider, NPR, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Slate, Polygon, Vanity Fair, Vulture, The A.V. Club and more.
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