The Washington City Paper continues their love of Veep by going into the consultants behind shows like Alpha House, House of Cards and the glory days of The West Wing. Marin Cogan dives into the Beltway folks that have re-energized and brought more to hashing out the “Veeple” instead of living out the dream of very confused Secret Service hopefuls after White House down and Olympus has Fallen. And sometimes, the shows continue to get things wrong about Washington (we’re looking at you Homeland and King & Maxwell:

“It’s easy to spot when Hollywood gets something majorly wrong about Washington, like when Homeland portrays Farragut Square as a sprawling green park rather than a tiny city square. What’s less obvious is the effort some shows, like House of Cards or Veep, put into hewing closely to the real look and feel of Washington—if not in character and plotlines, then at least in setting and dialogue. It’s the result of a lot of effort from obsessive directors, writers, line producers, props and set designers. But behind all of them are political consultants, current or recovering politicos offering up their experiences and insight as grist for visual fiction.”

Veep ended two weeks ago and House of Cards is back in production for season two in Balitmore–conveniently in the same soundstage as the HBO show. The City Paper goes into the nitty gritty, explaining the shared friendships and co-working conditions that befit programs about Washington as fittingly as the city’s own working relationships around government, private sectors and stealing lines from science fairs.

WCP – Hollywood Squares