Do you have plans next weekend? Well, you might want to cancel them. In case you forgot, on February 1st, Netflix is dropping the David Fincher-produced and directed (well, the first two episodes anyway) political drama series "House Of Cards" in its entirely. That's right, every episode will be available. If there's a better way to beat the winter cold than with a marathon of that show, we don't know what it is. But morever, it appears that Netflix is in for the long haul on this one.
A recent press release regarding the upcoming projects of executive producer, showrunner, writer and co-creator Beau Willimon revealed quite simply: "The drama’s second season is due to begin production in spring 2013."
The news is surprising at first, but less so when you stop and think about it. With Netflix looking to become a content provider to rival the likes of cable networks such as HBO, AMC, FX and more, it only makes sense that they would want to keep "House Of Cards" moving right along (also, as their first venture, it wouldn't look so good to yank "House Of Cards" after one season). But it also indicates that Netflix believes this will have a long and lucrative shelf life on their service, that even if you're not able to watch it February 1st, the buzz may have you tuning in a few weeks from now, or maybe sitting down when you're on vacation in the summer to watch it. In short, unlike TV shows which are dependent on those week-by-week ratings, Netflix seems be going by a different criteria altogether.
Either way, it's an interesting nugget to keep in the back of your head as you settle in to see where Kevin Spacey's Francis Underwood, the House Majority Whip, goes in his ruthless rise to power in Washington. No word yet on if Fincher will return to helm any episodes, but considering the talent they nabbed for episodes in the first season – James Foley (“Glengarry Glen Ross”), Joel Schumacher (“Falling Down”), Charles McDougall (“The Good Wife”), Carl Franklin (“Devil in a Blue Dress”) and Alan Coulter (“The Sopranos”) – it's likely they won't be short on quality options.