Garry trudeau pokes fun of politics in alpha house
Alpha House is an American political satire web television series produced by Amazon Studios. The show stars John Goodman, Clark Johnson, Matt Malloy and Mark Consuelos as four Republican U.S. Senators who share a house in Washington, D.C. It was created by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau. The show premiered on Amazon.com on April 19, 2013.
The series is inspired by several actual Democratic legislators who share a row house in D.C.: Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Representative George Miller (D-CA). The series has a number of cameos from celebrities such as Bill Murray (as Senator Vernon Smits) and politicians such as Schumer as himself. Amazon Studios offered the first three episodes of Alpha House for free, with each subsequent episode released weekly thereafter for Amazon Prime members on Amazon Video.
On February 11, 2014, the series was renewed for a second season. Production for the second season began filming in July 2014, and the entire second season became available on Amazon.com on October 24, 2014. The series was canceled after the second season.
Alpha house trailer
Starring
John Goodman as Gil John Biggs, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina and former basketball coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Clark Johnson as Robert Bettencourt, a Republican U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania who is currently eighth in seniority.
Matt Malloy as Louis Laffer, a Republican U.S. Senator from Nevada who owns the house where the four Senators live.
Mark Consuelos as Andy Guzman, a Republican U.S. Senator from Florida and candidate for president.
Yara Martinez as Adriana de Portago, Andy Guzman's girlfriend and Cuban-American heiress who runs a super PAC that assists Republican campaigns.
Alicia Sable as Tammy Stackhouse, a legislative assistant to Senator Biggs.
Julie White as Maddie Biggs, the demanding wife of Senator Biggs.
Recurring
Bill Murray as Senator Vernon Smits (3 episodes, 2013–14)
Haley Joel Osment as Shelby Mellman, a reporter from Reno, Nevada (12 episodes, 2013–14)
Amy Sedaris as Louise Laffer, the wife of Senator Laffer (14 episodes, 2013–14)
Wanda Sykes as Sen. Rosalyn DuPeche (D-IL), the senators' next-door neighbor and the Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee (14 episodes, 2013–14)
Brooke Bloom as Julie Carrell, Senator Laffer's Chief of Staff (18 episodes, 2013–14)
Kobi Libii as Aaron Stimson, a legislative aide to Senator Bettencourt (7 episodes, 2013–14)
Ben Rameaka as James Whippy, Senator Laffer's social media aide (17 episodes, 2013–14)
Bjorn Dupaty as Hakeem Agabi, body man to Senator Biggs and one of his former players (5 episodes, 2013)
Willa Fitzgerald as Lola Laffer, Senator Laffer's daughter (12 episodes, 2013–14)
Lila Newman as Charlotte "Cee" Biggs, Senator Gil John Biggs' daughter (6 episodes, 2014)
Natalie Gold as Katherine Sims, Senator Guzman's chief of staff (15 episodes, 2013–14)
Sofiya Akilova as Marta Stjepanovi-Majdandzic, the Senators' Croatian housekeeper and mistress of Senator Guzman (7 episodes, 2013–14)
Tony Plana as Benito "Benny" López, Adriana's aide (6 episodes, 2013–14)
Richard Cox as Graydon Talbot, a spin doctor counseling Senator Guzman (9 episodes, 2013–14)
Owen Campbell as Dilly DeSantis, loosely based on the young data scientists that worked on the Barack Obama presidential campaign in 2012 (3 episodes, 2013–14)
Molly Kate Bernard as Angie Sullivan, a videographer working for the Republican Party Chair (4 episodes, 2013–14)
Lee Tergesen as Col. Eugene Drake, a gay army commander who intrigues Louis (3 episodes, 2014)
William Thomas Evans as Senator Lamar Farkus (R-DE) (9 episodes, 2013–14)
Cynthia Nixon as Sen. Carly Armiston (D-NY), the chair of the Senate Ethics Committee (6 episodes, 2013)
Kenneth Tigar as Sen. Paul Mower, (R-ID) (5 episodes, 2013–14)
Marylouise Burke as Sen. Betty Mower (R-ID), widow of Sen. Paul Mower (4 episodes, 2013–14)
Janel Moloney as Sen. Peg Stanchion (R-ND), Libertarian activist and member of the Tea Party (4 episodes, 2014)
Bianca Amato as Sen. Alice Graves (R-ME) (2 episodes, 2014)
Bob Balaban as Sen. Elliot Robeson (D-CA) (2 episodes, 2014)
Lucy DeVito as Charity Robeson, daughter of Senator Robeson (4 episodes, 2014)
Anita Petry as Camila Perez, a Spanish Professor visiting from Barcelona (3 episodes, 2013)
Chance Kelly as Bo Carthage, the CEO of a private military contractor (2 episodes, 2013)
Matty Blake as Captain Brandon Carshaw, Ret. (2 episodes, 2013)
Wendy Makkena as Molly P. Andresun (2 episodes, 2014)
Tracy Howe as Colonel Wozniak (2 episodes, 2013)
Ted King as Al Hickok, a Tea Party activist running for Senator Laffer's seat during the primaries (2 episodes, 2013)
Penn Jillette as a fictionalized version of himself, running as the Democratic candidate for Laffer's Senate seat (5 episodes, 2014)
Ed Rendell as a fictionalized version of himself, running as the Democratic candidate for Robert Bettencourt's Senate seat (2 episodes, 2014)
Matthew Humphreys as Colonel Leland Grimmel, a war hero and former basketball player running as the Democratic candidate for Senator Biggs' Seat (4 episodes, 2014)
Tod Susman and Lee Wilkof as the Watt Brothers, wealthy casino owners and business men from Nevada funding Louis Laffer and Gil John Biggs (4 episodes, 2013–14)
Tamara Tunie as Eve Bettencourt, Robert Bettencourt's divorced wife (2 episodes, 2014)
Season 2 (2014)
On February 11, 2014, the series was renewed for a second season. Production for the second season began filming in July 2014, and the entire season premiered on Amazon.com on October 24, 2014.
Reception
Reaction to Alpha House has been generally positive. Metacritic gives season 1 an average rating of 68/100 based on reviews from 18 critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the show a score of 72% based on reviews from 25 critics.
Broadcast
In Australia, where Amazon Video isn't available, the series premiered on SoHo on July 14, 2014, and returned for season two on February 26, 2015.
Production
Post production including ADR recording for the series was done at recording studio Cherry Beach Sound.
