Comment by geuis | Hacker News Reader

Comment by geuis | Hacker News Reader

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I'm not a fan of political shows. That said, I decided to watch House of Cards last night.

It's not bad. Having Kevin Spacey as the lead is good. There's a good cast of supporting actors too. The writing is a bit mundane, but not terrible. I know the show is somewhat of a remake of a BBC show from a while back, but I never watched it so my take is purely on this experience.

I plan on watching the rest of it. It was interesting enough to have keep me up till 5am doing the "just one more" thing. The format of no commercials and having all the episodes available at launch is a really good thing. I was pleasantly surprised when the 2nd episode started playing as I finished the first one. I was fully expecting to have to wait a week to see the next one. No episode felt rushed, like things had to be crammed into a specific time slot.

The things that work for this format:

1) Release at once 2) Natural variable time lengths 3) Good production values 4) Good cast 5) Decent writing

If they use this as a framework for other types of genres, I think it will be good. I'd personally like to see the next show be sci-fi. Something with a unique premise that has never really been done by networks, because they screw it up. No time travel, or future detective, or alien invaders thing. Something gritty but uplifting, along the veins of Babylon 5, TNG, or BSG.

I'd like to see a near-future show about solar system colonization. Could have an entire system-wide, multi cultural backdrop like Firefly. Hell, try getting Josh Whedon to do it. Visits to Luna, Mars, asteroid mining colonies, deep space science labs, political intrigue from Earth, the companies that own colonies, immigration rights, etc. The solar system as a backdrop is big enough to have an infinite number of stories, but keeps everything so close together that it feels real. Star Trek provided a big galactic tapestry, but many times still felt distant and isolated.

Anyway, check out HoC if you have Netflix. Hopefully we'll see more shows from them.

I watched the first 4 episodes of HoC this weekend and am quite disappointed.

Production is very good, acting is quite good (although Spacey simply plays "high status" all the time with a rigid upper lip and not much nuance).

For me there are two problems

- The two main characters are cynical people who are obsessed with power and just plain mean... and they win every time. I don't care for them; at this point I would like to watch them fail and be humiliated, but I don't think it will happen, so I lost the main incentive to watch the next episode.

- The whole thing is predictable. At the beginning of each episode a minor setback appears for the Underwoods, and they defeat it with a smirk (Robin Wright's smirk really gets on my nerves now, although she's probably one of the most beautiful women in the world).

- - -

On http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Cards_(U.S._TV_series) a critic is quoted saying "This hardwired venality is what makes this show so watchable. Here are the realities of political life as most of us suspect them to be."

I'm not sure. I think HoC takes itself and its subject much too seriously. I think reality is much more absurd and difficult to control, as described in Armando Iannucci's writing, which I can never get enough of (The Thick of It, In the Loop, Veep, etc.)

- - -

EDIT -- The rant above is a little off-topic; the on-topic point is that this is a very good move for Netflix and that (as others have noted) they really don't have a choice.

If they don't produce their own exclusive content they are at the mercy of other content producers who will try to price them out of the market (and would succeed in doing so).

Just finished the rest of the season after my previous post. It gets a lot better in the last 5 episodes. Some of the issues you mention that made it boring all tie together very well. Things start coming to an interesting peak towards the end, and Underwood stops winning so easily as he does in the beginning. Now looking forward to the next season.

>It's not bad. Having Kevin Spacey as the lead is good. There's a good cast of supporting actors too. The writing is a bit mundane, but not terrible.

This is a tangent, but HBO and Showtime appear to have noticed that there's a deep pool of talent actors with skills equal to famous, expensive actors. The cable networks realized that these lesser-known but very good actors can be hired to create very compelling shows that spend less on actors and more on the surrounding stuff that makes actors more effective.

I might be inclined to agree, but to be honest what made me give the show a shot is when I learned that Spacey was in it. Perhaps they won't need to continue to get big name actors though, now that people understand the sort of scale/budget they are operating at.

Anyway, check out HoC if you have Netflix. Hopefully we'll see more shows from them.

If you don't have Netflix, you can watch the Premiere without signing up for the usual first free month.

And the other originals launching this year (in addition to the new Arrested Development season) are listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_original_programs_distr...

> It's not bad. Having Kevin Spacey as the lead is good.

I like the show, but Kevin Spacey's southern accent is so terrible it is distracting. I normally wouldn't care, but my I grew up in the Carolinas and he sounds nothing like any person or politician from the area. He needs to drop the accent as it takes away from the rest of his performance.

If they wanted a correct southern accent they should have hired Kyle Chandler.

There's a lot more than one southern accent. Someone from the Carolinas sounds wholly different from Floridian which sounds different from Texan which sounds different from Oklahoma which sounds different from Louisiana and I think you're getting the picture. I've heard more than one person with that accent of his.

They modelled the accent on the writer/producer's father: http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/house-of-cards-sta....

I obviously can't speak to how well they nailed it, but there was a very specific accent in mind.

Thanks for posting that. It seems they were more interested in enhancing the dialog by adding rhythmic lilt rather than being concerned about producing something that is authentic.

When I was at NC State, I met an old doctor who had an accent kind of like that. I had a feeling it was some sort of "Old Raleigh accent of prestige." I've also heard people talk sort of like that in Georgia, where again I got a feeling it was linked to prestige.

His accent might not be spot-on, but I find it plausible.

Grew up in the south. His accent is wonderful.

There are thousands of accents in that portion of the country just like anywhere else.

For me it's a wonderful departure from Kevin Spacey being "Kevin Spacey" in just about everything else I've seen him in.

House of Cards is delightful.

The accent is good.

I agree that house of cards is a great show and casting Spacey was an excellent choice. The American Beauty Kate Mana really works well too. If you're thinking of the bbc's Yes Minister, then this is nothing like that show. Maybe you had something else in mind.

He's talking about the BBC's 1990 House of Cards (http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0098825/), starring Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart, the Conservative Party whip in the House of Commons.

You should check it out - it's available on Netflix :-P

He had in mind the BBC's House of Cards.

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