Next generation Kevin Spacey series: on M-Net

Written by Tashi from the blog Tashi's TV on 04 Nov 2013
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It's been a big success for Netflix, it was nominated for nine Emmys as a result and now it's arriving on M-Net.

House of Cards premieres on M-Net this Friday (8 November) at 21h30 and it's notable for a bunch of reasons.

It's one of the first series to be made by on demand provider Netflix so it's next generation stuff. In case you aren't familiar with Netflix, it's an online rental service that provides TV shows and movies on demand.

They only used to stock shows that have already aired on TV but now they're making their own shows and they're releasing them in a blitz of episodes so that viewers can watch them whenever they choose.

House of Cards was released as a full 13-episode series - Netflix subscribers can download the whole series and watch whenever they choose so it's got the binge watching factor.

Another main attraction to it is Kevin Spacey who stars. He plays US congressman Frank Underwood who gets overlooked for a political appointment that he believes he deserves. He then goes on a mission to exact revenge against those he sees as responsible. Sean Penn's ex-wife Robin Wright plays his angular wife.

I've seen the first couple of episodes and it's okay - I wasn't blown away unfortunately. I like that it's next generation stuff and what it means for the future of TV but the series itself isn't anything to rave about - I found the lead characters too cold and stand-offish. Netflix doesn't feel the same about them though because they've ordered a second season.

It'll be airing weekly on M-Net for the 13 episodes.

Here's a trailer ... see what you think:

Actors in this post: Kevin Spacey

Shows in this post: House of Cards

Channels in this post: Netflix, M-Net

2 Comments

tha - bang
04 Nov 2013 14:28

House of cards was originally a BBC production in the late nineties/early naughties and the Americans seem to have americanised that too. Will be interested to see if they can match what the Brits did with it

Boodah
09 Nov 2013 10:38

Tashi, I'm starting to question your taste. House of Cards is dark and I believe that's why it works so well. It is not meant to be be a dramedy, and sure perhaps it could've done with a bit of comedy relief (think Breaking Bad's Saul's punchlines and Jesse's clumsiness), but it works for those with the taste for dark political dramas. House of Lies is comedy first, drama later - and HoL has a very strong lead in Don Cheadle, who by the way also does the "talk to the audience" thing Spacey does. Because of binge watching I managed to watch all episodes and I give the series 8.5/10. I was rooting for Kevin Spacey to take the Emmy for best lead actor.

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