Joel Goldstein on “Veep”: “This is nothing like reality”

Before the first season of “Veep” premiered last year, star Julia Louis-Dreyfus was sure to stipulate just how much work she’d done to ensure her performance as a disempowered vice president was realistic. She told an assembled group of critics:

“What was most interesting to hear was what was it like living at vice president’s residence. What’s the reality of that? It’s surprisingly small. Where does the secret service go? What happens if you have to get up at midnight to go to bathroom? I was interested not in the grandeur of it, but the real nitty gritty of it. Certain questions were not answered directly and I thought that was interesting.”

While Louis-Dreyfus may have nailed the questions about the security detail on “Veep,” the show’s second season (beginning Sunday) has a long way to go on the broader strokes, said vice-presidential historian Joel Goldstein, of Saint Louis University, who watched some but not all of season 1.

“I really like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and I think she’s terrific, but when I saw the show, my reaction was — this is nothing like reality. Since Mondale, the vice president has really been a big deal.”...