HBO Renews 'Veep' for Third Season

HBO has ordered a third season of Veep. The news comes just a day after the network reported near-record ratings highs for the sophomore comedy.

With a massive lead-in from Game of Thrones, the April 29 episode of Veep raked in 1.3 million viewers in its inaugural broadcast. It marked a season high and ranks behind only the 2012 series premiere (1.38 million) as the most-watched episode ever.

The critically favored effort and the network's most-watched comedy, Veep comes from executive producers Armando Iannucci (In the Loop) and Christopher Godsick and Frank Rich. It stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Vice President of the United States Selina Meyer and has already earned her an Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a comedy.

Veep joins fellow comedies Girls and Eastbound and Down as comedies set to return with new seasons on the network. The network has an ambitious slate of comedies set to premiere, with Christopher Guest's Family Tree and Stephen Merchant's Hello Ladies both debuting later this year.

Veep also stars Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Reid Scott, Matt Walsh, Timothy C. Simons, Sufe Bradshaw and Kevin Dunn.