Static Thoughts - The Thick of It, In the Loop, & VEEP

A couple of weeks ago HBO’s VEEP concluded its 4^th season.  This marks the end of showrunner and creator Armando Iannucci’s phenomenal work on the series as season 5 will see the show enter a period of new leadership.  This also marks the conclusion to a 10 year cycle of Iannucci’s in the realm of televised political comedy.  Iannucci first entered this domain in 2005 with The Thick of It, a political comedy show that revolved around a minister in the fictional British cabinet position of Secretary for Social Affairs.  The show proved popular, lasting for 3 seasons and 2 specials from 2007-2009 when it spun off into a feature film called In the Loop. 

In the Loop marked the first shift over from Iannucci towards American politics in addition to the previous British focusing, revolving around the misadventures of Simon Foster, secretary for international development, who is caught up in pre-war fervor surrounding the launch of the Iraq War.  After a fourth season of The Thick of It co-produced through Hulu Iannucci made the full transition to American politics with HBO’s VEEP in 2012.  With VEEP’s conclusion now seems like a good time to examine Iannucci’s ultimate commentary on American politics compared to England. 

Static Thoughts - Game of Thrones S5

A little over two weeks ago HBO’s Game of Thrones concluded its 5^th season.  It was a very divisive season with an even more divisive conclusion; with a lot of folks I’ve talked to finding the season’s ending unsatisfying and alienating.  Personally I found the entire season to be rife with problems though they weren’t necessarily unique to this season of Game of Thrones.  More this season is just the time when the show’s many issues finally boiled over onto the surface, and I say that as a pretty dedicated fan.  However, even though I know exactly what it is I found so problematic and distasteful about this season of HBO’s hit fantasy show I can’t help but feel a strange sense of reservation in my dislike and wondering if the problem really is Game of Thrones or if it’s more on my end as a viewer. 

Static Thoughts - Star Trek: Voyager invented modern sitcom casting

Recently it was announced that Paramount has been considering bringing Star Trek back to TV, with a major focus on a proposed new show called Star Trek Uncharted.  I’m a huge Star Trek fan so I figured this was as good an opportunity as any to discuss my favorite iteration of the show and easily the most underrated: Star Trek Voyager.  If you don’t know Star Trek: Voyager was the 4^th iteration of the series, set within the same time period as Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.  The focus of the show was on the titular Voyager ship, a new class of starship tasked with taking out a deadly cell of a major terrorist group in the Star Trek universe called the Marquis.  Their operation goes sideways when both Voyager and the Marquis vessel they were hunting get pulled to the other side of the galaxy.  Now stranded as far from home as possible both Marquis and Federation crews have to work together if they’re to have any hope of getting back to Earth.  

Static Thoughts - Adventure Time

Hey welcome to Static Thoughts, the third of my media review shows because I'm a glutton for punishment.  More to the point Static Thoughts will be the banner I use to talk about TV, both current and completed.  Here on Static Thoughts you’ll find reviews, retrospectives, top 10s, recommendations, think pieces, and whatever else I see fit to write relating to television.  Now that we’ve finished the introductions let’s jump into our opening subject: Adventure Time.