Alpha House
| Alpha House | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Garry Trudeau |
| Written by | Garry Trudeau |
| Directed by |
|
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Anton Sanko |
| Composer(s) | Anton Sanko |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 21 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Antoine L. Douaihy |
| Cinematography | Patrick Capone |
| Running time | 26 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Amazon Studios |
| Distributor | Amazon.com |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Amazon Instant Video |
| Original run | April 19, 2013 – present |
Alpha House is an American political satire television series produced by Amazon Studios.[1] 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 congressmen who share a row house in D.C.: Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Representative George Miller (D-CA).[2] 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 Instant Video.[3]
On February 11, 2014, the series was renewed for a second season.[4] Production for the second season began filming in July 2014,[5] and the entire second season became available on Amazon.com on October 24, 2014.[6]
Cast
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 Black 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 Hispanic Republican U.S. Senator from Florida.
- 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 (2 episodes, 2014)
- Haley Joel Osment as Shelby Mellman, a reporter from Reno, Nevada (9 episodes)
- Amy Sedaris as Louise Laffer, the wife of Senator Laffer (8 episodes)
- Wanda Sykes as Sen. Rosalyn DuPeche (D-IL), the senators' next-door neighbor and the Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee (8 episodes)
- Brooke Bloom as Julie Carrell (6 episodes, 2013)
- Kobi Libii as Aaron Stimson, a legislative aide to Senator Bettencourt (7 episodes)
- Ben Rameaka as James Whippy, Senator Laffer's social media aide (5 episodes)
- Bjorn Dupaty as Hakeem Agabi, body man to Senator Biggs and one of his former players (5 episodes)
- Willa Fitzgerald as Lola Laffer, Senator Laffer's daughter (4 episodes)
- Lila Newman as Charlotte "Cee" Biggs, Senator Gil John Biggs' daughter (6 episodes, 2014)
- Natalie Gold as Katherine Sims (15 episodes)
- Owen Campbell as Dilly DeSantis, loosely based off the young data scientists that worked on the Barack Obama presidential campaign in 2012[7] (3 episodes)
- William Thomas Evans as Senator Lamar Farkus (R-DE) (3 episodes)
- Lee Tergesen as Col. Eugene Drake, a gay army commander who intrigues Louis (3 episodes)
- Cynthia Nixon as Sen. Carly Armiston (D-NY), the chair of the Senate Ethics Committee (4 episodes)
- Anita Petry as Camila Perez (3 episodes)
- Chance Kelly as Bo Carthage, the CEO of a private military contractor (2 episodes)
- Molly Kate Bernard as Angie Sullivan (3 episodes)
- Matty Blake as Captain Brandon Carshaw, Ret. (2 episodes)
- Richard Cox as Graydon Talbot (3 episodes)
- Wendy Makkena as Molly P. Andresun (2 episodes)
- Tracy Howe as Colonel Wozniak (2 episodes)
- Janel Moloney as Sen. Peg Stanchion (R-ND)
- Penn Jillette as a fictionalized version of himself, running as the Democratic candidate for Laffer's Senate seat
Cameos
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally streamed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | April 19, 2013 (pilot) and November 15, 2013 | |
| 2 | 10 | October 24, 2014 | |
Reception
Reaction to Alpha House has been generally positive.[8] Metacritic gives season 1 an average rating of 68/100 based on reviews from 18 critics.[9] Rotten Tomatoes gives the show a score of 72% based on reviews from 25 critics.[10]
Broadcast
In Australia, where Amazon Instant Video isn't available, the series airs on SoHo, premiering July 14, 2014,[11] and returning for season two on February 26, 2015.[12]
Production
Post production including ADR recording for the series was done at recording studio Cherry Beach Sound. [13]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Satellite Awards[14] | Television Series, Comedy or Musical | Amazon Studios | Nominated |
| Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical | John Goodman | Won |
References
- ↑ Lazarus, Susanna (May 29, 2013). "John Goodman's Alpha House given full series by Amazon's new pilot scheme". Radio Times. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
- ↑ Bash, Dana (December 4, 2013). "The real 'Alpha House': Yes, this is where some Senators actually live". CNN Politics (CNN). Retrieved December 5, 2013.
- ↑ Cavna, Michael (2014-02-11). "Trudeau puts daily ‘Doonesbury’ on long-term hiatus to work on renewed ‘Alpha House’". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
- ↑ Cavna, Michael (2014-02-11). "THIS JUST IN-Trudeau puts daily ‘Doonesbury’ on long-term hiatus to work on renewed ‘Alpha House’: ‘I’m ready for an extended break’ - Comic Riffs". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
- ↑ Dionne, Zach (2014-03-12). "Amazon Ordered Four of Its Pilots — Including ‘Transparent’ — to Series". Grantland. Retrieved 2014-07-31.
- ↑ "Alpha House on Amazon.com". Alpha House on Amazon.com. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
- ↑ "Cast details from imdb.com". Retrieved 25 October 2014.
- ↑ "Amazon says its original show "Alpha House" is a hit (critics say it’s OK) — Tech News and Analysis". Gigaom.com. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
- ↑ "Alpha House - Season 1 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
- ↑ "Alpha House: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
- ↑ Purcell, Charles (July 14, 2014). "New this week: The Recruit, The Bridge, OITNB, Rake (US), RHONJ, Super Rugby finals and The British Open". Foxtel. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
- ↑ Purcell, Charles (February 26, 2015). "NEW THIS WEEK: NAB Challenge, V8 Supercars, Alpha House, Project Runway All Stars and more". Foxtel. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
- ↑ "Post production for Alpha House in the studio via ISDN". Cherry Beach Sound. October 7, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ↑ "2013 Nominations". International Press Academy. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
External links
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