Good news Selina Meyer fans — HBO’s excellent, biting political satire Veep has been renewed for a third season.  The show has had steady ratings thanks to a big lead-in from Game of Thrones (last year it was paired in a programming bloc with Girls), and the premium network is showing its support three episodes into the series’ second season by going ahead and electing Selina for another term (maybe the President will call?)

Veep, created by Armando Iannucci (In The Loop), stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the hapless Vice-President, along with Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Reid Scott, Matt Walsh and Sufe Bradshaw as her staff. Veep airs Sunday nights at 10 p.m.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her third Emmy in as many series for Veep and it’s not hard to see why. She’s more than just a funny lady here – though to be sure, you may not see anyone quite as funny on television today. Underneath her hapless vice president’s pratfalls and panic attacks, she conveys a strange and abiding sadness. This figure is smart and capable. She wants to make the world a better place. She possesses the tools to leave the government in a better place than she found it. But by the very nature of the system in which she’s trapped, all her assets come to naught. She can only flail about in a mad effort to protect her image and her standing, a process as hysterical as it is quietly troubling. Hit the jump for my full review.

Studio Canal and BBC Films have released the first teaser trailer for writer/director Armando Iannucci’s (In the Loop) upcoming comedy Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.  The film is a feature adaptation of the popular BBC TV series and radio character Alan Partridge, portrayed by Steve Coogan.  Patridge is a bit of a parody of sports commentators and talk show hosts, as the character is himself a radio host and television presenter on I’m Alan Partridge.  I’m quite unfamiliar with Partridge, but this teaser trailer is funny enough and I assume fans of the character will be pleased to see that the movie is finally coming to fruition.  As a fan of Iannuci’s In the Loop and his HBO series Veep, I look forward to seeing more of Alpha Papa

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa opens in the UK on August 7th.

Currently in its fourth season, the hilarious British political comedy The Thick of It, set in the corridors of British government, can now be seen unedited on Hulu with new episodes every Sunday, along with the first three seasons. From executive producer/writer/director Armando Iannucci (In The Loop), the show stars Peter Capaldi, Roger Allam, Rebecca Front, Vincent Franklin, Geoffrey Streatfield, Will Smith, Olivia Poulet, James Smith, Joanna Scanlan, Ben Willbond, Chris Addison and Rebecca Gethings.

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, show creator Armando Iannucci talked about how the arrangement with Hulu came about, how happy he is with the fact that the show can be viewed unedited (without all the bleeping for the often foul language) and the day after it airs on BBC, why politics are inherently comic, what originally inspired the series, how surprised he is with the hugely positive reaction, the transition and adjustments for his American television series Veep, which has already earned a second season on HBO, and how, as a writer, he’s always thinking ahead to the next thing. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

If you haven’t had a good reason to pay for Hulu Plus yet, this just might be it. Hot on the heels of Netflix picking up Arrested Development for a whole new season of new episodes, Hulu is also bringing another show back from the past. You may have heard us talk about the hilarious British comedy In the Loop, mostly because director Armando Iannucci has made a big splash in the United States with the HBO comedy series Veep. But before that film hit the big screen, there was a series, where most of those characters originated, called The Thick of It, which followed the inner workings of the British government.  Hit the jump for more.

On the same day that his HBO show Veep announced its renewal for a second season, writer/director Armando Iannucci (Into the Loop) has confirmed that another of his projects, Alan Partridge, is moving forward with a feature treatment.  Partridge, co-created and portrayed by  Steve Coogan (Tropic Thunder), is a radio host and television presenter on I’m Alan Partridge, a BBC show that parodies chat shows and sports reporters, among others.  The feature adaptation of the BAFTA-winning series has been stuck in development hell for some time, but all that has changed as filming is expected to occur this year with a release some time in 2013.  Hit the jump for more details on the project and to see what Iannucci had to say.

Let’s hear it for the ladies! HBO’s freshman comedy series Veep, from In the Loop writer and director Armando Iannucci and starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Girls, written, directed by and starring Lena Dunham, have only aired a handful of episodes between them, but EW reports each of the series has just been renewed for a second season. Both hit completely different comedic styles and tones, but they have each found their own audiences and seem to have quality writing, directing and performances among them.

There’s been a lot of buzz round Girls (both good and bad as the female sex tries to figure out whether they love or hate the depiction of their particular demographic) and Veep, while not as divisive, certainly brings the laughs (read my review of the series premiere right here). HBO now has a strong slate for their female audiences again for the first time since Sex and the City, so that’s something to be happy about. Maybe people will stop complaining about all the nudity on Game of Thrones now?

For those who haven’t yet had the pleasure of enjoying In the Loop, a British comedy from Armando Iannucci, based on the series The Thick of It set in British government, finally the writer and director is bringing his comedic stylings to American politics. Julia Louis-Dreyfus continues her run as the second most successful cast member from Seinfeld to keep her career going strong with the HBO comedy series Veep. If Aaron Sorkin was a little more of a natural comedic writer, he would have written Veep instead of The West Wing. However, the political satire seems to be a bit less prevalent than the situational comedy, making it slightly less witty, but still very smart. Read my full take on the series premiere of Veep after the jump.

Delivering one of the best political satire comedies I’ve seen in years, In the Loop writer and director Armando Iannucci just had his new comedy series Veep picked up by HBO. Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the series follows former Senator Selina Meyer (Louis-Dreyfus), who becomes Vice President, only to discover the job is nothing like she expected, but everything she was warned about. The cast also includes In the Loop star Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale (Arrested Development) Matt Walsh (Outsourced) and more.

Iannucci says, “I’m thrilled more than anyone is legally entitled to be. HBO is the dream network to make television for, and I’m excited to be working with such a superb and funny cast headed by the uber-superb-and-funny Julia Louis-Dreyfus. If making season one of Veep is as much fun as making the pilot, then I can die chuckling. Plus, we get to say rude words.” Since In the Loop was filled with great comedy and colorful language, this sounds great to me. Hit the jump for the full press release with more details.

It was recently announced that writer/director Armando Iannucci would follow up the uproarious Brit-comedy In the Loop with Out The Window, a recount of the secret love affair between renowned author Charles Dickens and actress Nelly Ternan.  It seems that it is merely the best of times, as the Victorian project is attracting some serious talent: The Observer reports Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) is now the frontrunner to portray Dickens in the biopic, with Ben Whishaw (Bright Star) also in the running.

Iannucci will also take on scripting duties with co-writers Roger Drew and Will Smith, who wrote for the BBC series The Thick of It on which In the Loop was based. Slated for release sometime in 2011,  Out the Window is based on Claire Tomalin’s biography, The Invisible Woman.

In the Loop was one of the best movies of last year.  If you haven’t seen it/didn’t like it, then you should be punched into paralysis.  Variety reports that director/co-writer Armando Iannucci’s next project will be Out the Window, which is slightly different than the hard-swearing, rapid-fire satire of In the Loop:

[The film is] an adaptation of Claire Tomalin’s bio tome “The Invisible Woman,” based on the hidden life of Charles Dickens.  It recounts the tragic story of the Victorian author’s affair with actress Nelly Ternan.

No word if lubricated horse cock will come into play.  Iannucci is co-writing the film with Will Smith (not the actor, but one of the writers of the BBC series The Thick of It, which was the origin of In the Loop) and Roger Drew.  Out the Window is scheduled for release sometime in 2011.