Netflix’s super-political drama House of Cards returns for its third season Friday, and if the Muppet version wasn’t enough to hold you over before you watch all the new episodes in one sitting this weekend, we’re here to help.
You should check out these shows if you need a fix of shenanigans and power plays that go all the way to the top.
Boss (2011 – 2012)
In Boss, Kelsey Grammer stars as a hard-ass Chicago mayor (which is probably redundant) whose legacy and control begin to crumble when he is diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disorder. But that doesn’t mean he can’t still walk all over his beleaguered staff and try to bully his way through the upcoming election for the governorship.
The show is an examination of what happens when control freaks lose control, and Grammer handles it all with the kind of craziness and horrible, despotic behavior you’d expect.
Availability: Netflix (streaming and disc), Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu
The West Wing (1999 – 2006)
Aaron Sorkin’s West Wing followed the inner workings of a presidential administration, up to and including the election of the next leader. This long-lived show is basically required watching for anyone who considers themselves a fan of things both political and dramatic. And it’ll give you something to fall back on after you plow through all of those new House of Cards episodes.
Availability: Netflix (streaming and disc), Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
John Frankenheimer helmed The Manchurian Candidate, a Cold War classic about an American soldier (the very British-sounding Laurence Harvey) who gets captured, brainwashed and turned into an assassin. It’s all part of an even larger and more convoluted scheme involving the soldier’s domineering mother (Angela Lansbury) and her McCarthy-esque idiot husband (James Gregory). And Frank Sinatra is there, too, as another hypnotized G.I. trying to make sense of it all.
Availability: Netflix (disc), Google Play, Vudu
Richard III (1995)
This mid-’90s adaptation of a Shakespeare play may not be readily available, but House of Cards fans should definitely track it down because it is basically the same plot with purtier words. Richard III is set in the 1930s, with Ian McKellen playing the eponymous Son of York who bumps off everyone standing between him and the crown. And he does it while often addressing viewers directly to let us in on his evil schemes — because his ego demands an audience, and he has no real friends.
So basically, Frank Underwood is Richard III without the hunchback.
Availability: Unknown
