Not even 24 hours passed after HBO aired the season premieres of Veep and Silicon Valley and yet the premium cable network announced pickups for two of its most high-profile comedies. The Julia Louis-Dreyfus vehicle and Mike Judge’s take on the tech world will return for a fifth and third season, respectively.
“Veep and Silicon Valley are terrific series, and I’m immensely proud that they will return to HBO next year,” HBO head Michael Lombardo said in a statement. “Along with Game of Thrones and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, both of which have already been renewed for 2016, they give HBO a stellar Sunday night like no other.”
When Veep returns next year, it will do so with its creator and showrunner on board. Armando Iannucci confirmed his exit from the show following the season currently being aired.
“‘Veep’ returns Sunday, HBO10.30pm.Our best season yet.Time for me to quit airports. I’m leaving on a high and kissing goodbye to jet-lag,” Iannucci tweeted on April 10.
The unfortunate departure is an amicable one, and the series will go on with new showrunner David Mandel. Per HBO:
“We have had conversations with Armando for some time about the challenges of maintaining his family life in
London and producing a show in the states. Armando is not replaceable, but we are confident that Veep will continue to be produced at the highest levels with new showrunner David Mandel.”
Mandel previously worked with Louis-Dreyfus on Seinfeld (where he was a writer), and again on Curb Your Enthusiasm (where he served as executive producer) along with Seinfeld creator Larry David. Like the network said, it’d be near impossible to replace Ianucci’s signature charm, but if anyone can try his shoes on for size, it sounds like Mandel is the guy to do it.
Moving on to Thrones, HBO had previously renewed the fantasy drama for a fifth and sixth season last April. New we can report today is that the season 5 premiere, which aired this past Sunday, attracted the series’ largest audience to date: a grand total of about 8 million people, according to Variety. “The Wars to Come” garnered about 800,000 more viewers than any other episode that came before it.