Alpha House

:

Season 1
Season #: 2, 1
User Score
6.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 35 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 35
  3. Negative: 7 out of 35
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User Reviews

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  1. jlprice8
    Nov 20, 2013
    8
    The humor is dry and biting. Don't forget to bring your cynical face to the game, remember, Republicans are good and everyone else is wrong. Are there Senators like this wandering the halls of Congress? Not these particular ones, but there is a piece of every Senator represented. The writing does not contain a laugh track, as well it shouldn't. I found some things very funny that theThe humor is dry and biting. Don't forget to bring your cynical face to the game, remember, Republicans are good and everyone else is wrong. Are there Senators like this wandering the halls of Congress? Not these particular ones, but there is a piece of every Senator represented. The writing does not contain a laugh track, as well it shouldn't. I found some things very funny that the person sitting next to me didn't even raise an eyebrow at. However, being ex-military (and formally in charge of Marine security at West African embassies) he couldn't stop laughing out loud at show #3."That's exactly how Congressmen act!" he said between tears of laughter.… Expand
  2. rubizzy
    Jan 28, 2014
    9
    This is a great show, with 2 major let downs. The first is that each episode is much too short. Politics is a lot more involved than 20+ minutes can allow for. Second would have to be the poor attempts at tying all of the episodes together. We get it, you are supposed to take more than one episode to run for and win elected office but surely we can spend some time doing a little moreThis is a great show, with 2 major let downs. The first is that each episode is much too short. Politics is a lot more involved than 20+ minutes can allow for. Second would have to be the poor attempts at tying all of the episodes together. We get it, you are supposed to take more than one episode to run for and win elected office but surely we can spend some time doing a little more political fighting. Other than those two small complaints its a brilliant and thanks to John Goodman funny show.… Expand
  3. Jecht_342
    May 4, 2014
    10
    This show is certainly dry in it's humor, but it is hilarious. John Goodman and Clark Johnson are absolutely hilarious. The show is also very liberal. If you are a liberal and a political junkie, you'll probably like it. I can't imagine many conservatives would like it, and I wonder if that is affecting the user score for this show.
  4. rini6
    Nov 24, 2013
    8
    Watched all four episodes so far and enjoyed them. I am a die hard liberal so the hypocrisy of the conservative characters is hilarious to me and John Goodman is always great. I have found some of the characters to be a bit overly broad or too close to caricature on occasion, though. The entire thing is worth watching for the huge star cameo during first few moments of the pilot episode.
  5. tvnewsguido
    Sep 2, 2014
    7
    I was late to the party on this one. Thanks for the snub Emmy voters, the coverage put it on my radar.

    There's a heavily left-wing political agenda at play here but the show relies on logic (instead of snide cheap shots) to make its point.

    It's a very likable and funny cast of characters and almost every single thing about it works on multiple levels.
  6. cavmpc
    Oct 12, 2014
    10
    This series is brilliant satire. What makes it so effective, very funny, and yet absolutely interesting, is that it is very close to the truth in depicting the political class. The actors are perfect; the dialogue is witty, clever, and, frequently they deliver a perfect caricature of the speech, attitudes, and unwitting hypocrisy of so many politicians. Highly recommended.

Awards & Rankings

75
#75 Best TV Season of 2013
94
#94 Most Discussed TV Season of 2013
43
#43 Most Shared TV Season of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Erik Adams
    Nov 27, 2013
    42
    Alpha House hits a few notes of inspired satire--like the bowl of American flag lapel pins the senators keep on the kitchen counter--but Trudeau’s been more biting and much funnier elsewhere, past TV efforts like Tanner ’88 and the malaise-infected Doonesbury Special included.
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  2. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    Nov 22, 2013
    70
    Political comedies tend to work best when they're absurdist (like Duck Soup, or HBO's Veep) or much, much subtler (the gold standard being Tanner '88, a collaboration between Trudeau and Robert Altman). Alpha House falls somewhere in the middle and gets stranded there, though the company is so likable that it's a limbo you may not mind being stranded in.
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  3. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    Nov 20, 2013
    60
    Another of those amusing but not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny sitcoms that are so popular on premium cable channels.
    Read full review
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