101 Fun Facts About Veep

What is the title of the memoir Selina publishes after losing the presidency?

A Woman First: First Woman is ghostwritten by Mike McLintock, whose mislaid diary lets The Washington Post run an exposé of her presidency just as the book comes out.

In Veep, what spoils Selina's first televised address as president?

A pair of squeaky shoes steals the moment: every step to the podium squeaks, and the takeaway from her big speech is that the president 'squeaks' to the nation.

After leaving Veep, its creator went on to direct a film satire about the death of which dictator?

Stalin's death, and the scramble among his ministers to succeed him, became The Death of Stalin, a film he was already developing when he handed Veep to a new showrunner.

Selina Meyer had been a US senator from which state before becoming vice president?

Maryland sent Selina Meyer to the Senate before she ran for president, lost the nomination and settled for the vice presidency instead.

Which detail about Selina Meyer does Veep deliberately never reveal?

Her party affiliation is never named, a deliberate choice that keeps the satire aimed at ego and ambition in Washington instead of at one side's policies.

Tony Hale plays Gary Walsh, whose job for Selina is what?

Personal aide and body man Gary Walsh has shadowed Selina for some two decades as one of her closest confidants, yet once she is president he lacks the clearance to stay at her side.

Anna Chlumsky plays which member of Selina's staff?

Amy Brookheimer is Selina's chief of staff and then her campaign manager, until she snaps and quits mid-campaign over the hiring of Selina's dithering old friend Karen Collins.

Reid Scott plays which ambitious, cut-throat member of the VP's office?

Dan Egan joins the vice president's team in the first episode and, after Selina loses the White House, turns up co-hosting CBS This Morning.

Matt Walsh's Mike McLintock holds what job?

Director of communications Mike McLintock has been Selina's press man since her Senate days, and the finale's flash-forward turns the hapless spokesman into a veteran CBS news anchor.

Kevin Dunn plays Ben Cafferty, who holds which post?

White House Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty is a burned-out, hard-drinking fixer who keeps planning his exit, yet lets Selina talk him into staying when she becomes president.

Gary Cole's Kent Davison is best described as what?

A number-crunching strategist, Kent Davison lives by his polling data; Selina cannot stand him at first but comes to rely on his numbers once she is president.

In Veep, Timothy Simons plays Jonah Ryan, who begins the series in what role?

As White House liaison to the VP's office, Jonah clashes with everyone on Selina's staff until an anonymous insider blog gets him fired in season three.

After being fired for running an insider blog, Jonah launches his own news website called what?

Ryantology lasts less than a season: after it spreads a false torture rumour about a rival of Selina's, Jonah bargains his way back into a White House job.

Jonah is drafted to run for Congress in which state to secure a vote for Selina?

Jonah runs in New Hampshire, where a congressman's death opens a seat and his Uncle Jeff Kane's political machine installs him to give Selina a House vote.

In season seven, Jonah's wife Beth turns out to be what?

His biological half-sister: Beth was already his former step-sister when they married, and Jonah's own birth certificate then shows that her father is his father too.

How does Selina first reach the Oval Office near the end of season three?

The president resigns to look after his wife, whose mental health has collapsed, and Selina is sworn in midway through her own primary campaign.

What does Congressman Jonah Ryan make it his mission to abolish?

Daylight saving time becomes Jonah's cause after his failure to understand it gets him into trouble at work, though his efforts to scrap it go nowhere.

Which British actor plays Tom James, Selina's charming running mate?

Hugh Laurie arrives in season four as the senator whose popularity keeps stealing Selina's spotlight; the part was written for him after he let slip he was a fan of the show.

Why does President Meyer go into hiding from the press in season five?

She has had an eye lift, so her vice president has to face the press over a salmonella outbreak in her place, a favour he trades for the promise of a cabinet job.

Selina's eventual successor, O'Brien's former running mate, was a senator from which state?

Laura Montez had been a US senator from New Mexico; her much-touted Latina identity later proves a stretch, to Selina's fury.

Which character is revealed in the finale to have become a successful two-term president?

Richard Splett, the guileless aide, went on to become a successful two-term president; he attends Selina's funeral in the finale's flash-forward.

In Veep's finale, how does Selina win Jonah Ryan's pledged delegates?

By offering Jonah the vice presidency, Selina gets his delegates at the deadlocked convention, a choice that drives Kent Davison to quit politics.

Whom does Selina frame for wrongdoing at the Meyer Fund in Veep's finale?

Gary, her most loyal follower, is hauled away by the FBI over the Meyer Fund while Selina is on stage delivering her acceptance speech.

Selina's funeral in the Veep finale's flash-forward is knocked out of the news by whose death?

Tom Hanks's death bumps Selina's funeral from the news, paying off a line from the very first episode, in which Mike hopes a bigger story, such as Hanks dying, will bury her gaffe.

By the flash-forward that ends Veep, what has become of Jonah Ryan's political career?

He has been impeached: Jonah is not even invited to Selina's funeral and is left to watch the broadcast at home.

Selina's daughter Catherine does what during her mother's funeral?

Watches it on television instead, and gladly: Catherine pours celebratory margaritas at home with Marjorie and their grown son while her mother is laid to rest.

Who took over from Armando Iannucci as Veep's showrunner from season five?

David Mandel took over when the show's creator stepped down after four seasons, unable to keep running an American series while his family life was in London.

Veep is set in Washington, but which city hosted its filming for the first four seasons?

Baltimore stood in for Washington until season five, when a California tax credit lured the whole production to Los Angeles.

At Selina's funeral in Veep's flash-forward, what does the primary rival who later became president do?

She delivers the eulogy, so the last word on Selina, who managed only one full term as president, goes to a rival who outdid her with two.

Why does Veep's finale leave Selina's exact age at her death uncertain?

She always lied about it, so the finale can only say she died at 75, 76 or 77, a politician still managing her image at the end.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's sixth Emmy as Selina broke a record she had shared with Don Knotts and which sitcom star?

Candice Bergen won five Emmys as Murphy Brown, the TV newswoman a real vice president, Dan Quayle, attacked in a 1992 speech for choosing to raise a child alone.

What news did Julia Louis-Dreyfus receive the day after her 2017 Emmy win?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus learned of her breast cancer diagnosis the day after the 2017 Emmys, announced it on 28 September 2017, and returned to finish the show after treatment.

Gary reveals that he holds a Cornell degree in which subject?

Hotel management is what Gary studied at Cornell, yet he has spent some two decades at Selina's side instead of anywhere near a hotel.

Selina's ex-husband, disliked by her staff as one of her weaknesses, is called what?

Andrew Meyer, Selina's ex-husband, keeps turning up as an occasional lover with a new scheme, and his dealings at the Meyer Fund later threaten her campaign.

Catherine's partner Marjorie Palmiotti first enters the show in what job?

Selina's Secret Service agent and body double, Marjorie quits the detail after falling for Catherine and ends up running the Meyer Fund.

Sarah, who plays Selina's daughter Catherine, is the daughter of which actor?

Sarah Sutherland is the daughter of 24 star Kiefer Sutherland and granddaughter of Donald; she spent seven seasons being ignored by her fictional mother.

Jonah's season-seven presidential run is built on what kind of platform?

Nativist and populist to the core, Jonah's campaign rails against vaccines and against maths for its Muslim origins, and gains ground as he peddles conspiracy theories.

In Veep's first episode, a staffer's tweet about Selina's Clean Jobs plan angers which industry?

Plastics makers take offence at the tweet, sent in Selina's name, and the row overshadows the Clean Jobs plan she hoped would be her legacy.

Which comedy honour did Julia Louis-Dreyfus receive in 2018, between Veep's last two seasons?

The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor came in October 2018, just as she returned to work on Veep's final season after a year's break in production.

Which award eluded Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep despite five nominations in a row?

A Golden Globe never came for Selina: Louis-Dreyfus was nominated every year from 2013 to 2017 and lost each time, even as the same role brought her six straight Emmys.

To whom does Selina lose her party's presidential nomination before joining his ticket?

Stuart Hughes beats Selina to the nomination, puts her on his ticket and then freezes her out so completely that viewers never once see him on screen.

Which actor plays Jeff Kane, Jonah's bullying uncle and political fixer?

Peter MacNicol's Emmy nomination for the role was withdrawn in 2016 when it emerged he had appeared in too many episodes to count as a guest actor.

In which state does a recount fail to alter the tied presidential election?

Nevada's recount backfires: the newly found ballots are mostly military absentee votes for O'Brien, so Selina loses the state again and her national popular-vote lead with it.

Which vice president casts the tiebreaking Senate vote that makes Laura Montez president?

Andrew Doyle takes his revenge: Selina had promised him Secretary of State and then dangled the job elsewhere, so he strikes the same deal with the other side.

Which actress plays President Laura Montez?

Andrea Savage, later creator and star of I'm Sorry, plays Laura Montez, who takes credit for Selina's last foreign-policy achievement after her inauguration.

Where is Selina laid to rest in the flash-forward that ends Veep?

Her presidential library, the legacy project she fights to get built in season six, comes with a crypt for her, and at the funeral the pallbearers struggle to get it open.

Which young progressive rival does Toks Olagundoye play in Selina's final campaign?

Kemi Talbot is the young senator Selina calls a protégée and weighs as a running mate, only for Kemi to enter the race herself and later serve two terms as president.

Which actor plays Selina's scheming ex-husband in Veep?

David Pasquesi's character seems to be blown up in the final season after Selina asks for his mess to be cleaned up, yet he is glimpsed alive at her funeral.

In the flash-forward that ends Veep, which line of work has Dan Egan ended up in?

Real estate is Dan's line by the time he turns up at Selina's funeral, having finally walked away from Washington politics.

What does Selina promise to outlaw in Veep's finale to win a socially conservative rival's delegates?

Same-sex marriage is the price of Buddy Calhoun's delegates, and President Meyer keeps the promise: overturning it is one of the few things her term is remembered for.

In season six, which job does Selina convince herself President Montez is about to offer her?

Supreme Court justice is the job Selina expects, but the nomination goes instead to the former president she once served under.

Which former New York Times columnist was an executive producer of Veep and later of Succession?

Frank Rich had been a creative consultant to the show's network since 2008, while still writing his Times column, and helped develop Veep from its outset before producing Succession too.

Who plays Michelle York, Tom James's deputy campaign manager, in Veep's final season?

Rhea Seehorn, Better Call Saul's Kim Wexler, plays Michelle York, whom Selina turns against her own boss; by the end of the series she has switched sides and works for Selina.

Which governor signed the tax credit programme that lured Veep to Los Angeles for season five?

Jerry Brown signed the 2014 law that raised California's film and TV tax credits to $330 million a year, with money set aside to lure shows from other states; Veep collected $6.5 million for season five.

Which unglamorous cause is Selina saddled with as vice president?

Childhood obesity is the campaign the president forces on Selina, a deliberate slight, while he stalls the Clean Jobs plan and the filibuster reform she actually cares about.

Which Minnesota governor and war veteran is Selina's chief rival for the nomination?

Danny Chung, played by Randall Park, never appears on television without mentioning his war record; Selina later offers him the running-mate slot, and he turns her down.

For which cause does Selina secretly do the diplomatic work that her successor takes credit for?

Freeing Tibet is the deal Selina brokers in her last days in office; it is announced at her successor's inauguration, and the truth about who did the work only comes out later.

Who beat Louis-Dreyfus for the 2019 Emmy, ending her Veep winning streak?

Phoebe Waller-Bridge won for Fleabag, which also took the comedy writing prize that night and beat Veep's final season to Outstanding Comedy Series.

To whom did Julia Louis-Dreyfus dedicate her 2016 Emmy for Veep?

Louis-Dreyfus dedicated her 2016 Emmy to her late father, William, who had died two days earlier; that fifth consecutive win passed Helen Hunt's four straight in the category.

Which two other characters had won Julia Louis-Dreyfus Emmys before Selina Meyer?

Elaine Benes and Christine Campbell came first. After Seinfeld, her next sitcom was quickly cancelled amid talk of a 'Seinfeld curse', until The New Adventures of Old Christine won her a lead-actress Emmy in 2006.

On which sketch show was Julia Louis-Dreyfus a cast member from 1982 to 1985?

Saturday Night Live hired Julia Louis-Dreyfus at 21, and in her final season there she met a writer named Larry David, who later invited her to audition for the sitcom he was developing: Seinfeld.

Beyond her acting Emmys, Julia Louis-Dreyfus won three more for Veep in which role?

Producer credits earned her a statuette each time Veep was named Outstanding Comedy Series, which is how her career total reached eleven Emmys: eight for acting and three for producing.

In which city was Armando Iannucci born?

Glasgow is where Armando Iannucci was born in 1963, to a father who had emigrated from Naples; he later walked away from an unfinished Oxford doctorate on Paradise Lost to make comedy.

Which famous comic character did Iannucci co-create on the radio show On the Hour?

Alan Partridge, the inept sports reporter voiced by Steve Coogan, was created for the Radio 4 news spoof On the Hour, which transferred to TV as The Day Today.

On which channel did The Thick of It first air in 2005?

BBC Four launched The Thick of It in 2005 on a tiny budget, a limit its creator says forced him to experiment; the show stayed there until it moved to BBC Two for its third series.

Who plays Number 10's aggressive 'enforcer' Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It?

Peter Capaldi plays Malcolm Tucker, widely assumed to be modelled on Tony Blair's spin doctor Alastair Campbell, though Capaldi says he drew instead on abrasive Hollywood agents and power players.

For which Academy Award was Iannucci's 2009 film In the Loop nominated?

In the Loop earned a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the 2010 Oscars, counting as an adaptation of The Thick of It; it satirised the run-up to an Iraq-style war.

Which Fox series featured Tony Hale as Buster Bluth?

Arrested Development ran on Fox from 2003 to 2006, with Tony Hale as the anxious, mother-fixated Buster Bluth, before Netflix revived it in 2013.

Which Toy Story character does Tony Hale voice?

Forky is a spork that a child turns into a toy in Toy Story 4; convinced he is trash rather than a toy, he keeps trying to throw himself away while Woody keeps stopping him.

Which 1991 film made Veep's Anna Chlumsky famous as a child, playing Vada Sultenfuss?

My Girl and its 1994 sequel made Anna Chlumsky's name as a child; she stepped away from acting around 1999 to attend the University of Chicago before returning in the mid-2000s.

Season five's episode 'Kissing Your Sister' is framed as a documentary made by whom?

Catherine Meyer shoots the documentary as her thesis project, narrating and directing it herself, and the camera ends up recording her falling in love with Marjorie along the way.

Matt Walsh is a founding member of which sketch comedy troupe?

Upright Citizens Brigade began in Chicago in 1990; Matt Walsh and fellow founders Amy Poehler, Matt Besser and Ian Roberts took it to New York in 1996 and went on to open their own theatre.

On which Netflix series does Timothy Simons play Sasha?

Nobody Wants This, a romcom its creator Erin Foster based loosely on her own life, casts Timothy Simons as Sasha Roklov, the older brother of Adam Brody's rabbi.

Which 1993 political comedy featured Kevin Dunn as communications director Alan Reed?

Dave cast Kevin Dunn as Alan Reed, who helps pass off a lookalike as the stricken president, then turns on his scheming boss and supplies the proof that brings him down.

Gary Cole joined the ensemble of which Chicago theatre company in the 1980s?

Steppenwolf took Gary Cole into its ensemble in 1985, reuniting him with Laurie Metcalf and John Malkovich, who had been his theatre classmates at Illinois State University.

Which Comedy Central series did Sam Richardson co-star in with Tim Robinson?

Detroiters was co-created by Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson, both Michigan natives, which is why they set it in Richardson's home city and shot it there on location, playing two hapless ad men.

For which Ted Lasso role did Sam Richardson win a 2023 Emmy?

Edwin Akufo is the petty Ghanaian billionaire who buys Raja Casablanca and tries to lure Sam Obisanya away from Richmond; the part won Sam Richardson the guest-actor Emmy at his second nomination.

Which character does Reid Scott play in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel?

Gordon Ford is the late-night talk-show host who hires Midge as a staff writer in the final season, where she has to hold her own against a room of male colleagues.

Hugh Laurie played the dim Prince Regent and Lieutenant George in which sitcom?

Blackadder gave Hugh Laurie two cheerful fools: the Prince Regent in the third series and Lieutenant George in the fourth, who goes over the top with his comrades in its sombre final scene.

Which medical drama did Hugh Laurie star in from 2004 to 2012?

House cast Hugh Laurie from an audition tape he filmed in a hotel bathroom; his American accent was so convincing that producer Bryan Singer did not realise he was British.

Which two 1990s films made Clea DuVall a rising star before she played Marjorie?

The Faculty and But I'm a Cheerleader, from 1998 and 1999, made Clea DuVall's name; she later moved behind the camera, co-writing and directing the 2020 romcom Happiest Season.

David Mandel wrote which Seinfeld episode, famous for a girlfriend with 'man hands'?

The Bizarro Jerry, from Seinfeld's eighth season, has Jerry dump a girlfriend over her 'man hands' while Elaine finds a kinder mirror image of his whole gang; David Mandel wrote it during his three seasons on the show.

What does Mike McLintock pretend to have to escape work commitments?

A pet dog is his standing excuse, and there is no dog; yet the man who fakes one to duck his duties still rises to White House press secretary in season four.

Whom does Mike McLintock marry in season three?

Mike marries reporter Wendy Keegan, played by Kathy Najimy, in season three; their adoption and surrogacy plans backfire and leave them with three children.

Buddy Calhoun holds which office when Amy meets him in season five?

Nevada Secretary of State Buddy Calhoun, played by Matt Oberg, has a brief fling with Amy in season five; by season six they are engaged and she is running his campaign for governor.

Which illness does Congressman Jonah Ryan exploit for sympathy in season six?

Testicular cancer is behind Jonah's bald look in season six, though he finished chemotherapy months earlier and keeps shaving his head to milk the sympathy.

Which Mad Men star plays Wall Street executive Charlie Baird Jr., Selina's love interest?

John Slattery, Mad Men's Roger Sterling, plays banker Charlie Baird, who dates Selina in season five despite a standing offer from her election opponent to become his Treasury Secretary.

In Veep, the foul-mouthed Congressman Roger Furlong represents which state?

Ohio's Roger Furlong, played by Dan Bakkedahl, keeps hounding Selina's office even after losing his run for governor, and by season six he has risen to House Minority Leader.

Which comedian plays Teddy Sykes, the vice-presidential aide who harasses Jonah in season four?

Patton Oswalt plays Teddy Sykes, who is fired in season four once Jonah reports his groping, then resurfaces in season seven helping to run Jonah's presidential campaign.

Which senile political adviser does Selina hire for the recount?

Bob Bradley, known as 'The Eagle' and played by Martin Mull, arrives as Ben Cafferty's revered mentor; only once he is on the job does the team discover how far gone he is.

Which reporter is taken hostage in Iran and must be retrieved by Selina?

Leon West, the veteran reporter who needles Mike at briefings, is freed when Selina flies to Tehran, then learns he was left in detention a day longer than necessary.

Which country was Minna Häkkinen prime minister of?

Finland's Minna Häkkinen, played by Sally Phillips, first meets Selina in Helsinki in the wake of Selina's anti-Europe gaffe, then keeps resurfacing, later as a back-channel diplomat.

Which Law & Order star plays Selina's personal trainer Ray Whelans?

Christopher Meloni, Law & Order: SVU's Elliot Stabler, plays trainer Ray Whelans, Selina's season-three fling, fired after his blog posts mocking fat people surface.

Which oil lobbyist does Peter Grosz play in Veep?

Sidney Purcell is the oil lobbyist who keeps trying to bend Selina's environmental plans; when Dan is fired from the White House he goes to work for Purcell, who ends up firing him too.

Whom do Selina's staff blame at Veep's season-four congressional hearings, sending him to prison?

Bill Ericsson, the campaign chief Selina poached from a rival, is named by one staffer after another as the man behind the data breach and goes to prison for it; his conviction is later overturned.

What is the name of Selina's landmark bill supporting working mothers?

Families First is the bill for working mothers that Selina champions in season four, until her team decides it is a political liability and secretly pays lobbyists to make sure it fails.

Which honour did Veep's season-four finale, 'Election Night', win?

An Emmy for comedy writing went to 'Election Night', the last episode before the show's creator handed over to a new showrunner; its director, Chris Addison, won the Directors Guild award for it instead.

Where does most of Veep's season-four finale, 'Election Night', take place?

A hotel suite is where Selina spends most of 'Election Night', watching the returns on cable news; Amy, who had quit and become a TV pundit, walks out of the studio mid-count to rejoin her there.

In season six, Selina observes which country's first free election and is offered bribes by both candidates?

Georgia's sitting president offers her a hefty donation for her backing, and his American-backed challenger counters with a bribe of his own; Minna Häkkinen turns up as a fellow observer.

Veep's 2015 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series was its network's first since which earlier show won?

Sex and the City won in 2001, and no premium-cable comedy took the top prize again until Veep ended Modern Family's five-year winning streak in 2015.

Which staffer boasts of being the third most important person in the world, as gatekeeper to Selina?

Sue Wilson, Selina's unflappable secretary, is said to be able to organise the D-Day landings with time to spare; she alone keeps her post when the presidency changes hands.