Iannucci to fire his satirical gun for HBO

If you've never seen Armando Iannucci's "In the Loop," there are very few rentals I can recommend higher, for two reasons: First, it's just first-rate political satire of the kind we very rarely see nowadays, and second, Peter Capaldi's extremely foul-mouthed turn as Malcolm Tucker is something you'll never forget once you've seen it.

Though I doubt the great Mr. Capaldi will be along for his latest venture, any word of Iannucci coming to American TV for more sharp political satire is certainly welcome in this corner of the world.

It seems that HBO, determined to order at least a pilot from every great director working today, has ordered one for an Iannucci series called "Veep," with Julia Louis Dreyfus in talks to star as the titular vice president of the United States.

Iannucci will write this with "In the Loop" co-writer Simon Blackwell and at least direct the pilot, so this should just be fantastic when it all comes together. And just in case you really have no idea just how funny Malcolm Tucker and "In the Loop" are, here's a choice sample of some of his best stuff. Enjoy the clip, keep an eye out for the show, and stick around afterward for a bonus visit from Alan Partridge.



What could be funnier than that? Trust me, when you watch the whole movie, not much, but Alan Partridge is one thing that just works for me even better. As you'll see from this silent clip below, with surely some help from longtime co-conspirator Iannucci, Steve Coogan's signature buffoon is coming out in a series of webisodes as the host of the radio show "Mid Morning Matters With Alan Partridge" starting Nov. 5 on the Foster's beer Web site (I'm not sure exactly what the URL will be yet, but I'll certainly let you know.) Even without any dialogue, you can see as much from Coogan's antics as from the reactions of everyone around him just how funny this can be. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.