Netflix released all 13 episodes of House of Cards on Feb. 1, and almost immediately the political thriller became one of TV's most addictive dramas. Most viewers watch multiple episodes in one sitting, and fans share stories of lapping up the entire season in just a few days. Kevin Spacey stars as Frank Underwood, a crafty politician bent on revenge, with Robin Wright as his cunning wife, Claire. House of Cards was adapted by executive producer Beau Willimon from a BBC series; Willimon is a recovering politico, having worked on several campaigns before turning to writing. He took time out from working on Season 2 to tell us why we should start...
read more
Broadcast network execs have long grumbled about their shows having to compete against edgy, star-driven and sometimes bigger budgeted cable fare at the Emmy Awards. But now broadcast and cable foes may find themselves united against a new rival: digital programmers like Netflix and Amazon.
read more
TV's next great antihero won't be on HBO, the cable network that introduced us to Tony Soprano. He also won't be on FX or AMC, the homes of Vic Mackey, Don Draper and Walter White. In fact, he won't be on TV at all.
That's because Frank Underwood, the ambitious U.S. Congressman played with a biting Southern drawl by Kevin Spacey on House of Cards, is trying to do for Netflix what his morally gray forebears did for their respective networks: put them on...
read more
"I have no patience for useless things." The Machiavellian politician making this pronouncement, in the sinister opening scene of Netflix's instantly gripping shot-across-the-bow miniseries House of Cards, is Francis Underwood (a perfectly reptilian Kevin Spacey). On the surface, he's a team player, a powerful House of Representatives leader in the cynical snake pit of Washington, D.C. The conceit of House of Cards, as it was in the brilliant Emmy-winning 1990 British classic this is based on (first seen in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theater), takes us behind Underwood's mask to reveal the manipulative monster within, a voracious tyrant who doesn't suffer fools gladly and takes no prisoners in his predatory pursuit of power.
read more
Netflix is ready to play with the big boys! In addition to the spring 2013 revival of Arrested Development, the online streaming service will also air David Fincher's latest project House of Cards. From the looks of the first trailer, the project seems to have what it takes to compete with any one of cable's acclaimed dramas.
read more