VEEP - The Complete Third Season

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is back earning her Emmys as Vice President Selina Meyer in the "VEEP: The Complete Third Season," which includes deleted scenes and audio commentaries with cast and crew.

Scottish Armando Iannucci's skewering of American politics is as rapid-fire, but less preachy and more ruthlessly on target, than Aaron Sorkin's offerings, and these ten episodes continue to expose the grueling grind and unfathomable insincerity of political animals.

Episode 1 follows Mike McLintock's (deadpan Matt Walsh) marriage to journalist Wendy Keegan (sassy Kathy Najimy), while Selina hawks her awfully-named memoir "Some New Beginnings: Our Next American Journey" (another potential title was "Red, White and You") to the great Midwestern unwashed in prep for her presidential bid (since POTUS announced at the end of Season 2 that he would not run for reelection). She also pits assistants Dan Egan (Reid Scott) and Amy Brookheimer (Anna Chlumsky) against each other to vie for her campaign manager spot.

"The Choice" follows sleazy sycophant and "unstable piece of human scaffolding 'Jo-nad'" Ryan (Timothy Simons) and his pseudo-muckraking "gossiptainment" blog (where the "footage looks like 'Cloverfield'"), which gets him sacked from the West Wing, so he begins his "Ryantology" consultancy. Episode 3, "Alicia," shows the power of a negative SNL sketch ("nothing is less funny than a comedian"), and #4 "Clovis" ridicules nouveau riche, insulated and masturbatory Silicon Valley culture.

Selina goes "Fishing" (#5) with potential presidential candidate George Maddox (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) to convince the Secretary of Defense not to run. The Veep, her daughter and entourage head to Detroit to announce jobs yet end up at a female gun rally as constituents become aware of Selina's beefcake personal trainer and sometime lover Ray (appropriately meat-headed Christopher Meloni).

The coterie then travels to London in "Special Relationship" (#7) where Selina avoids that "60-year-old fucking intern Prince Charles," but puts her expensive (and squeaky) shoes in her mouth and a ridiculous feathered fascinator on her head while campaign manager Dan has an ignominious nervous breakdown. The team preps Selina to face her opponents in "Debate" (#8), and her body man Gary Walsh (hilarious Emmy-winner Tony Hale) tries to promote Selina's severe new pixie haircut.

In order to become a hardcore stumper, Kent Davidson (Gary Cole) buys Selina a titanium-reinforced soapbox but neglects to prevent her from trashing the "normals," the electorate, on record. The final episode, "New Hampshire," shadows Selina's campaign trail, which has been complicated by some shocking insider news.

The regular cast continues to handle the onslaught of astute and blunt observations, and guest stars step up to the plate as well, including Diedrich Bader as a no-shit potential campaign manager, and Maryland radio personality and actor Shari Elliker as debate moderator Andrea Tandy. Kathleen Felix-Hager designed Selina's sleek and flattering dresses, many featuring prominent back zippers. Second fiddle never looked so dressed to shill.

"VEEP: The Complete Third Season"
Blu-ray
$30.19
http://www.hbo.com/veep#/