It’s not all about Game of Thrones

YES, yes, it’s all about Game of Thrones and dragons. But if you’re not into it, there are two other excellent shows that are also back this week.

IT’S been 315 days since the last episode of Game of Thrones aired. For diehard fans, that’s a long wait.

That’s 315 days of wondering whether Jon Snow is really dead, or if he is, will he be resurrected? That’s 315 days of not knowing how Daenerys will be greeted by the Dothraki hordes, whether Arya will become a faceless man of Braavos, or where Sansa and Theon are headed, and just how scared should we be of the Night’s King?

So many questions. Some of which, hopefully, will be answered today.

But if you’re not into dragons or the battle for the Iron Throne (yes, these people exist), all the GoT obsessing over the next 10 weeks can be more than a little annoying. So here are two shows you should follow instead (or as well) — they follow the same annual schedule as GoT.

In all the hype surrounding GoT, these two excellent TV series risk being overlooked, and they shouldn’t, because in some ways, they’re even better than GoT, but, hey, apples and oranges. Returning tomorrow are HBO stablemates Veep and Silicon Valley, two of the sharpest comedies to come out of the US in recent years.

VEEP

“What do you mean everyone likes him more than me?!”

Entering its fifth season, Veep is the American version of British cult hit The Thick Of It, adapted by the original creator, Armando Iannucci.

Starring comedy goddess Julia Louis-Dreyfus and a supporting cast of awkward misfits including Tony Hale (Arrested Development) and Anna Chlumsky (My Girl), Veep is a comedy of errors set in the highest corridors of power. And it’s mind-blowingly scary how incompetent those characters are, but if they bear any resemblance to their real-life counterparts, it would explain A LOT.

Season five will pick up exactly where season four left off — with President Selina Meyers staring at a deadlocked election and asking the very sensible question: Why are the total votes in an US electoral college an even number?! Even better, last season’s recurring guest star, Hugh Laurie, will be back and will continue to be a likeable foil to the high maintenance and absurd Selina.

The series has been well awarded, including four Emmys for Louis-Dreyfus every year it’s been on air and the Emmy for Most Outstanding Comedy in 2015.

SILICON VALLEY

Dude, did you have to mention The Big Bang Theory again?

If you’ve ever thought all those young gun tech heads in northern California with their start-ups, entrepreneurial spirit and Series A funding rounds sound like a bunch of wankers, you’ll love this show. If you think those same tech heads are pioneers working in the most interesting field on Earth, you’ll still love this show. It’s both a love letter and a scathing critique.

The story of Richard, an unassuming geek who creates a brilliant, and lucrative, compression algorithm, the raucously funny and clever Silicon Valley is what you wish The Big Bang Theory actually was to explain the latter’s baffling popularity.

After two seasons of warring against a tech behemoth for his creation, as well as the daily battles within his callous but loyal(ish) team, Richard finally emerged victorious in the season two finale. But it was short-lived as he was removed by his investors as the CEO — as he asks in bewilderment: “You want me to be an employee in my own company?!”

Let the fallout begin.

Veep will be returning on Tuesday April 26 at 8.30pm on Showcase on Foxtel. Silicon Valley will be returning on Tuesday April 26 at 9pm on the Comedy Channel on Foxtel.

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