Posted on 03/28/2015 4:36:38 PM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas
...[Writer Beau] Willimon, then in his 20s, became one of many young people to devote themselves to Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s Beltway-assaulting run for the 2004 Democratic nomination for president...
He was a student at Columbia in 1998, wilting in the New York heat while studying Greek classics at the uptown Ivy, when Carson -- coming off an internship with George Stephanopoulos -- tempted him with tales of his work on a Senate campaign. Congressman Chuck Schumer, a gregarious Democrat from Brooklyn, was a longshot in the party’s primary, but Stephanopolous assured Carson that he would win. Carson started out as an unpaid intern for Schumer and ultimately brought Willimon aboard....
In the midst of his studies, he joined his friend to work Hillary Clinton’s run for Senate in 2000 and then on Bill Bradley’s insurgent campaign for president that same year...
"Showing the system unto itself is the commentary. In that, it is very Wire-ish," he says, comparing House of Cards to the seminal HBO series about the twisted ecosystem of drug dealers and police in Baltimore. "It also treats the audience as mature in the sense of not having to hit you over the head with some sort of ideological message. In that way it is more "show" than "tell" -- that is, it is more effective in delivering a critique by illustrating the realities of the ugly political world rather than by having the characters make sententious speeches."...
Both Dean, who would go on to become the chair of the Democratic National Committee, and President Barack Obama, who Willimon and Carson call his successor as outsider candidate, became part of the establishment. In the same way, Carson has one foot in the biggest fundraising circles in the country and another in a show that exposes its more flagrant -- if extreme and outlier -- abuses. As such, it's best to claim fiction, even if Carson does admit to scanning Politico and other papers daily for stories to send to Willimon.
"If you know where to look in Washington, you can find countless incidents of drama that are worthy of the big screen," he leads, stopping short of providing any concrete example. And yet, there must be many, given the show's whirlwind writing process.
(His bio on Wikipedia is worth reading.)
HoC feels too real not to have an insider contributing. DC is just flat out a scummy nest of vipers that is so far outside what the Founders conceived that it’s a wonder the whole thing has held together.
Absolutely one of the best written shows. However, I didn’t care for this season. I thought it was a little choppy, like they were going down one road and changed midstream. A couple of times. It was a long way around getting to the ending. It wasn’t as finely choreographed as the first two seasons.
I’d always heard it was modeled on the Clintons.
I cancelled HBO decades ago when they had kid shows damning hunting and firearms. My kids were not going watch that crap. The only time I had the urge to watch a show on that network was back a number of years ago when they showed Deadwood. Eventually my town library had the DVDs available and I watched them a couple of years late.
I refuse to subscribe to that leftist channel.
Thanks for the info. I’ve felt the same that it had to be an insider.
ITA. You are right...it didn’t flow as well. Still a great series, though. My fav line this season was when Spacey looked at the camera and barked “WHAT ARE YOU LOOKIN’ AT!” Jumped out of my seat!
You can watch it on NetFlix.
It’s a Netflix show. Start at the beginning. You’ll get hooked.
” wilting in the New York heat”
I laughed so hard when I read that phrase.
Eeew Yuckers don’t have any idea what hot weather is unless they move somewhere else.
Liberal Yankees are such wimps
Did you watch The Wire? If not...DO! 5 seasons and still my all time top favorite series. (HOC comes close) I’m sure you can rent it or find online.
from this series it is apparent that power is more important than money....but then again with power you can get all the money you want
Watched the first season. Thought it was well crafted.
However, cesspools can be well crafted. Will not watch any more of the series. The first season’s going queer and murder elements decided me.
I watch television for entertainment. I refuse to view cesspools of others warped lives.
“DC is just flat out a scummy nest of vipers that is so far outside what the Founders conceived that it’s a wonder the whole thing has held together.”
You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out, and by the Eternal, (bringing his fist down on the table) I will rout you out!
-Andrew Jackson
Congressman Chuck Schumer, a gregarious Democrat from Brooklyn,
has a Conservative Republican ever been described so nicely?
Is “The Wire” on Netflix streaming or DVD?
That was perfect!
It’s not on HBO, it’s on Netflix.
It's a valid criticism. My only criticism of the series is that the darkness is overwhelming. I found myself looking for a ray of sunshine somewhere --anywhere.
But the evocation of that feeling isn't bad.
And I think HOC one of the greatest dramatic portrayals of evil, and certainly the best political drama. Frank is the anti-type of Jesus. The nuns used to say, "if you meet the devil, he'll probably be wearing a three-piece suit."
We certainly need some distilled Essence of Andy to put the fix to what we have now!!
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