“Politics have no relation to morals.”  – Niccolo Machiavelli

“Don’t worry, I hate spoilers.” – Joshua Smith

When House of Cards was pitched to me, it went something like this: “It’s The Godfather meets The West Wing.” Ok, I’m listening. “It’s based on a UK miniseries, based on a novel.” Oh, great. So I’ll have to endure the endless procession of tweets about how it didn’t capture the novel and the British version was more understated and poignant. “It has Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects, American Beauty) and Robin Wright (The Conspirator, Moneyball).” Alright, there’s going to be some stiff competition for Emmys this year. “It’s a collaborative effort between director David Fincher (Fight Club, The Social Network) and producer Andrew Davies (BBC’s Poet Laureate, probably). Ok, I’m in. But since I don’t have 13 hours to spend on a show I’m not watching with my wife, I have to wait until the opportune moment. Cold virus ravaging our bodies and making it impossible to move any more than is necessary to pay the pizza guy and keep the kids alive (same thing)? That’ll do. Read more