Veep

Birds of a feather...

• TVSilicon Valley (2014)

  Both are savage workplace satires that use deadpan cruelty to dissect a closed, status-obsessed ecosystem; the comedy comes from watching bright, ambitious people sabotage themselves through their own character flaws. Each show's protagonist wins hollow victories that never satisfy, and neither offers redemption.

  95%
• TVSuccession (2018)

  Both are savage portraits of power as a corrupting, self-defeating game, with razor-sharp, overlapping dialogue and zero redemption. Veep's political arena and Succession's corporate family empire treat ideology as performance and relationships as transactional.

  95%
• BookVanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero (1848)

  Both are astringent, cynical satires of ambition in a world governed by vanity, status, and self-interest; each uses an arch, mocking authorial presence and characters who rise only by losing their humanity. Veep's political universe is a modern vanity fair, and its refusal of redemption matches Thackeray's.

  88%
• TVThe Larry Sanders Show (1992)

  An unsparing excavation of status anxiety, transactional loyalty, and humiliation as the engine of social life, played with rapid-fire verbal aggression and no moral center. It lacks the showbiz setting but matches Sanders's cold, precise satire of people performing power.

  85%
• TVCurb Your Enthusiasm (2000)

  Both share improvisational dialogue, a protagonist whose rigid principles create humiliating entanglements, and a refusal to offer moral growth. Veep's political warfare and Larry's social warfare are both turf battles for status.

  82%
• TVSeinfeld (1989)

  Both are radical sitcoms about selfish characters who never learn, finding comedy in social awkwardness and petty power dynamics. Veep updates the format with political stakes, but the anti-sentimental spirit is identical.

  78%
• TVIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005)

  Both feature ensembles of irredeemable narcissists locked in schemes, with satire aimed at every corner of American society and no moral center. Veep's verbal brutality matches Sunny's physical and psychological grossness.

  75%
• TVBoJack Horseman (2014)

  Both investigate the emptiness behind public success and the corrosive cost of self-interest. BoJack adds melancholy and empathy, but the skeptical view of fame and the refusal of easy redemption align with Veep's darkness.

  72%
• TVScandal (2012)

  Both are sharp satires of political ambition in Washington, exposing self-interest and the emptiness of power. Scandal's melodrama and Veep's comedy are opposite tones, but both see the system as a cesspool of compromise.

  67%
• TVThe Comeback (2026)

  Both are cringe comedies about desperate ambition and self-delusion in a ruthless industry. Valerie's need for relevance mirrors Selina's hunger for power, and the mockumentary form captures the same uncomfortable realism Veep gets from handheld cameras.

  65%
• TV30 Rock (2006)

  Both are rapid-fire workplace satires that skewer institutional absurdity, with characters who are endlessly humiliated and hungry for status. 30 Rock is more cartoonish and affectionate, but the meta-commentary on power structures will resonate.

  58%
• TVMarried... with Children (1987)

  Both are misanthropic comedies that reject the American dream and depict people trapped in cycles of mutual contempt. Veep's political elite and the Bundys' working-class stagnation both render 'success' as an empty prize.

  55%