Alpha House
Alpha House is an American political satire television series produced by Amazon Studios. 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 Prime Video on April 19, 2013.
The series is inspired by several real Democratic Senators who share a row house in Washington D.C. The series has a number of cameos from celebrities such as Bill Murray and politicians such as Chuck 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 Prime Video.
On February 11, 2014, the series was renewed for a second season and the production for the second season began filming in July 2014. The entire second season became available on Amazon.com on October 24, 2014. The series was canceled after the second season.
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 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 Republican U.S. Senator from Florida and candidate for President.
- Yara Martinez as Adriana de Portago, Andy'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, Gil John's demanding wife.
Recurring
- Bill Murray as Senator Vernon Smits, the Senators' fifth roommate who is arrested in the pilot episode for multiple scandals
- Haley Joel Osment as Shelby Mellman, a reporter from Reno, Nevada
- Amy Sedaris as Louise Laffer, Louis's wife
- Wanda Sykes as Senator Rosalyn DuPeche, the Senators' next-door neighbor from Illinois and the Democratic Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee
- Brooke Bloom as Julie Carrell, Louis's Chief of Staff
- Kobi Libii as Aaron Stimson, Robert's legislative aide
- Ben Rameaka as James Whippy, Louis's social media aide
- Bjorn Dupaty as Hakeem Agabi, body man to Gil John and one of his former players
- Willa Fitzgerald as Lola Laffer, Louis's daughter
- Lila Newman as Charlotte "Cee" Biggs, Gil John's daughter
- Natalie Gold as Katherine Sims, Andy's Chief of Staff
- Sofiya Akilova as Marta Stjepanovi-Majdandzic, the Senators' Croatian housekeeper and Andy's mistress
- Tony Plana as Benito "Benny" López, Adriana's aide
- Richard Cox as Graydon Talbot, a spin doctor counseling Andy
- Owen Campbell as Dilly DeSantis, loosely based on the young data scientists that worked on the Barack Obama presidential campaign in 2012
- Molly Kate Bernard as Angie Sullivan, a videographer working for the Republican Party Chair
- Lee Tergesen as Col. Eugene Drake, a gay army commander who intrigues Louis
- William Thomas Evans as Senator Lamar Farkus, a Republican from Delaware
- Cynthia Nixon as Senator Carly Armiston, a New York Democrat and the chair of the Senate Ethics Committee
- Kenneth Tigar as Senator Paul Mower, an Idaho Republican
- Marylouise Burke as Senator Betty Mower, Paul's widow, who takes his position following his death.
- Janel Moloney as Senator Peg Stanchion, a North Dakota Libertarian activist and member of the Tea Party
- Bianca Amato as Senator Alice Graves, a Republican from Maine
- Bob Balaban as Senator Elliot Robeson, a Democrat from California
- Lucy DeVito as Charity Robeson, Elliot's daughter
- Anita Petry as Camila Perez, a Spanish Professor visiting from Barcelona
- Chance Kelly as Bo Carthage, the CEO of a private military contractor
- Matty Blake as Captain Brandon Carshaw, Ret.
- Wendy Makkena as Molly P. Andresun
- Tracy Howe as Colonel Wozniak
- Ted King as Al Hickok, a Tea Party activist running for Senator Laffer's seat during the primaries
- Penn Jillette as a fictionalized version of himself, running as the Democratic candidate for Louis's Senate seat
- Ed Rendell as a fictionalized version of himself, running as the Democratic candidate for Robert's Senate seat
- Matthew Humphreys as Colonel Leland Grimmel, a war hero and former basketball player running as the Democratic candidate for Gil John's Seat
- Todd Susman and Lee Wilkof as the Watt Brothers, wealthy casino owners and businessmen from Nevada funding Louis and Gil John
- Tamara Tunie as Eve Bettencourt, Robert's divorced wife
Cameos
- Stephen Colbert
- Chris Matthews
- Joe Scarborough
- Mika Brzezinski
- Michael Steele
- Chuck Schumer
- Dick Morris
- Anthony Weiner
- Grover Norquist
- Tom Brokaw
- Chris Jansing
- Matt Lauer
- Jane Pauley
- Kelly Ripa
- Michael Strahan
- Rachel Maddow
- Jon Ralston
- Elizabeth Warren
- John McCain
- David Axelrod
- Bradley Whitford
- Jake Tapper
- Andy Cohen
Episodes
Season 1 (2013–14)
Season 2 (2014)
On February 11, 2014, the series was renewed for a second season. Production for the second season began filming in July 2014, and the entire season premiered on Amazon.com on October 24, 2014.Production
Filming took place on stages at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. ADR recording was done at Cherry Beach Sound in Toronto.Broadcast
In Australia, where Prime Video was not yet available, the series premiered on SoHo on July 14, 2014, and returned for season two on February 26, 2015.Reception
Reaction to Alpha House has been generally positive. Metacritic gives season 1 an average rating of 68/100 based on reviews from 21 critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives season 1 a score of 76% based on reviews from 38 critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives season 2 a score of 83% based on reviews from 6 critics.Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
| 2014 | Satellite Awards | Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical | Amazon Studios | Nomitated |
| 2014 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical | John Goodman | Won |
| 2015 | Imagen Awards | Best Actor - Television | Mark Consuelos | Nomitated |
| 2015 | Satellite Awards | Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical | Amazon Studios | Nomitated |
| 2015 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical | John Goodman | Nomitated |