‘Veep’ Re-Elected To Back-To-Back Emmy Wins With Different Showrunners

After snatching the long-held Emmy crown from Modern Family last year, HBO’s Veep won re-election tonight in the Outstanding Comedy Series race. The second consecutive win is particularly notable given the change in showrunners the series underwent between the fourth and fifth seasons. Creator Armando Iannucci departed at the end of Season 4, and Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm alum David Mandel stepped in to take over for Season 5. The timely political satire has enjoyed a seamless transition with the fifth season living up to its legacy while introducing new layers. A sixth season was ordered in April.

Mandel, along with cast and crew led by Julia Louis-Dreyfus — who won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series earlier in the evening — ascended the stage to receive the award from Larry David. Mandel accepted for the large group, saying, “Holy crap, I have a 9:30 AM library shift at my son’s school tomorrow. If anyone is willing to trade, you can just email me.”

Mandel thanked the writers and crew and noted, “I was taught to write comedy by Jim Downey, Al Franken, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David.” He then paid homage to Iannucci, thanking him “for creating this show” to which the group behind him gave hearty applause. Louis-Dreyfus snapped pics onstage.

Mandel wrapped up saying, “This show is so good, this should be an easy job because I get to work with Julia Louis-Dreyfus who just makes it easy.” Before leaving the stage, he gave a shout-out to “chubby Jews from the Upper West Side. Wherever you are, thank you!”

Veep had 16 overall Emmy nominations this year and two wins tonight, plus one at last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys. Veep was seemingly unstoppable coming into tonight and beat out newcomers to the category Black-ish and Masters Of None; and return nominees Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Transparent, Silicon Valley and Modern Family.