In season 6 of "Veep," Selina Meyer trades the White House for a NYC brownstone and a South Bronx office
Season six of HBO's epically foul-mouthed sitcom Veep takes the show where it's never been before: Out of the White House. The previous season ended with the demise of Selina Meyer's brief presidency due to a quirk of constitutional law, but the hilariously sociopathic former leader is still wheeling and dealing--only now, from NYC.
In the season premiere, we find out--via an interview on CBS This Morning with former underling Dan, who's now co-hosting the show--that Selina is at work on a memoir and running The Meyer Fund, a non-profit with a vague mission (Selina mentions "adult literacy and AIDS.")
Considering that she barely knows what her organization does, it certainly has a grand office, but Selina is less than pleased with its location: The South Bronx. Perhaps this is a nod to Bill Clinton's post-presidency move to offices in Harlem, a choice that surprised many at the time.
Selina loathes the location ("This is the worst place they've ever stuffed an ex-president, and I'm including JFK's coffin") but can't afford anything else, given that her late mother left the bulk of her estate to Selina's daughter, Catherine. But the building is actually quite impressive--a shot of the exterior reveals that the address is 369 East 149th Street, located in the Melrose neighborhood a few blocks from Grand Concourse. In real life, the multi-office property is a twelve-story pre-war structure with a striking facade.
The interiors of the office are cavernous, a grand, high-ceilinged space configured for a very of-the-moment open office plan, complete with standing desks. (Whether anyone's actually working is unclear.)
Selina's own office is similarly vast and ornate, but she has humiliation in store: Catherine and her wife Marjorie stop by to drop off the ex-president's monthly allowance. Seilina's dependence extends to her living arrangements: She's staying with the couple in Catherine's home, which we get a good look at later in the episode.
It's tough to say which neighborhood this is in, but from outside, it has all the markers of a classic Brooklyn brownstone, with a dramatic entrance, tall windows, and elegant facade.
Inside, Selina and her loyal "body man," Gary, clearly feel at home, eating Chinese takeout and playing backgammon at the kitchen island. We get a glimpse of the adjacent dining room, which features some elaborate mill work--and loads of space, by NYC standards.
Gary may be delighted with the slower pace of life he can now enjoy with his beloved boss, but Selina isn't. She summons Catherine, Marjorie, and her oleaginous ex-husband Andrew into the living room for an announcement: She intends to run for president again.
Gary seems on the verge of a heart attack, and Catherine is devastated, but amid all the tumult, we're able to take in the space (and get really jealous.) Between the decorative fireplace, the built-in bookshelves, and of course, all that square footage, there's plenty to covet here for anyone who loves classic NYC architecture, interior design, and not being crammed like a sausage into a tiny, dingy apartment.
At least for once the grandeur depicted makes sense--this isn't Carrie Bradshaw improbably living large off a weekly column, but rather a former president whose daughter inherited a mound of money.
But, much like another president we know, Selina can never be content with all that she has. Later, former chief of staff Ben drops by, and Selina floats the idea of running again. He deflates her dreams immediately, telling her that she doesn't have the public support for a viable candidacy. It would be a sympathetic moment if Selina weren't such an unreprentant narcissist--and if she didn't have such a gorgeous home in which to recuperate from the disappointment.
Though the first episode only takes us through the first floor of the brownstone, subsequent ones offer glimpses of other rooms. And for a tour of the set, check out the video below:
Watch @MrTonyHale give a tour of our Selina brownstone set! #bts #veep pic.twitter.com/jLwlEBM15D
— Veep (@VeepHBO) May 1, 2017
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