7 ms·

I just finished watching the first season of House of Cards and I really enjoyed it. It's up there with original HBO programming as far as quality is concerned.

I just finished watching the first season of House of Cards and I really enjoyed it. It's up there with original HBO programming as far as quality is concerned. If they can keep that up then traditional outlets should definitely stay worried. I know there was some talk about Netflix's future because of their dependence on content providers, but if they can keep this up then they certainly have a hand to play.

arjn 13y ago
Yeah, House of Cards with Spacey is excellent. I started and liked it so much I finished watching all episodes in 2 days. Its really good to see companies like HBO and Netflix giving the traditional TV media houses a run for their money. BTW, if you liked House of Cards, check out Game of Thrones.
- tnuc 13y ago
  >... if you liked House of Cards, check out Game of Thrones. Is there anyone on hn who hasn't checked out Game of thrones?
  - sneak 13y ago
    I don't like the genre (fantasy), and I don't like soaps. "OMG, $x is fucking $y!" isn't my idea of entertainment unless $x and $y are people I know personally.
    - cwp 13y ago
      Ok... But have you checked it out?
      - david927 13y ago
        I watched the first episode and honestly didn't find it interesting.
        ericclemmons 13y ago
        I'm with you. The language didn't seem fitting, and if I remember correctly, it was a bit incestuous.
        lostlogin 13y ago
        A bit. Repetitively. The teenage-boy-director style of boob/arse shots a a touch over the top at times too.
        mtgx 13y ago
        I didn't like the first episode much either. But it gets much better.
      - fakeer 13y ago
        >>"OMG, $x is fucking $y!" IMHO, looks like didn't.
    - __david__ 13y ago
      Well, I wouldn't call it either a fantasy or a soap. It's more about politics than almost anything else. The fantasy parts are much more restrained than I expected when I first started watching (seriously, pretty much nothing fantastical happens from after the first scene of the first episode until the last episode of the first season).
  - mpyne 13y ago
    /me raises hand. I also haven't read the books.
  - jfoutz 13y ago
    Me. I don't have HBO, and I'm not willing to pirate it.
    - recursive 13y ago
      I don't have HBO, but I found a legit version on xbox.
    - fakeer 13y ago
      I pay for Netflix from India and for that I've to pay for a broadband service which is INR 2.5K (~$50) which is very costly for India, especially for a single person usage + VPN cost. Somehow I am not able to make HBOGo work on my Mac with all the tweaking and hence I pirate it(Sad :'( ) I wish they had an app that would just make it work magically - something like PnP!
    - chrischen 13y ago
      It's for sale on iTunes, and I believe on physical media as well.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    I read one of the books, but I hate the idea of getting sucked into the plot and then waiting years for the final installments. I manged to postpone reading all the Harry Potter books until last year so I think can hold out on GoT too. I don't have HBO so I'll just pick it up on DVD sometime...after I've gotten around to watching The Wire.
    - koralatov 13y ago
      The rate at which he's writing the books, expect to be finally cracking the binding on them in 2025 or so...
eurleif 13y ago
They just released another Netflix-original series, Hemlock Grove. After watching through it, I'm not that impressed. The reviews I've read also seem to be on the negative side.
- supercanuck 13y ago
  Me too. But my wife really likes it. It is right in her wheel house which makes me think this kind program is definitely geared to a specific audience in mind. I'm sure the production budget reflects that
  - apendleton 13y ago
    Yeah, that's the key, I think. Netflix has a huge amount of viewing-habit data at their disposal, and it's tough to imagine that they didn't target their content acquisitions based on detailed information about their viewers. House of Cards was for the HBO/West Wing set, and Hemlock Grove clearly isn't, but they must know that there's a dedicated audience of schlocky TV-horror enthusiasts in their viewership.
- jamesaguilar 13y ago
  Not to discount your opinion, but I do want to mention that I'm also less than impressed by 50% or more of what comes out on cable, to say nothing of broadcast television. It's just the nature of the creative process (and also, let's face it, varying tastes). Launching a few bad shows will not cripple Netflix, as long as they have a number of good ones and get a good return on that investment.
- rickyc091 13y ago
  Having watched both, well all three of Netflix's original series. I'd have to say House of Cards was the best, Hemlock was alright, a bit gruesome at times and Lilyhammer was... no comment.
  - amalag 13y ago
    I couldn't watch more than 15 minutes of lilyhammer
mmanfrin 13y ago
then they certainly have a hand to play Oh you card you.
filmgirlcw 13y ago
That becomes the question. The problem is that their current production slate indicates that they maybe have one -- maybe two -- standout shows to do a year. HBO typically has 4 (right now that would be Game of Thrones, Girls, Boardwalk Empire and True Blood with The Newsroom being an easy slot for #5). Right now, Netflix's original programming track record is really spotty aside from House of Cards -- which is absolutely HBO quality and would likely have been an HBO show if Netflix hadn't outbid by such an absurd amount (granted it was the right strategy to make but I get why HBO didn't match)). Aside from Arrested Development, however, nothing on their current slate looks like it will rise above Starz quality. And that's a problem if you expect people to consistently pay $8 a month.
- thezilch 13y ago
  I'm pretty sure people consistently pay $8/mon, despite the original content. You literally need only stay out of my way, be easy to use on multiple devices, and only entertain me 2-4hrs/mon to keep me coming back.
  - filmgirlcw 13y ago
    No, by consistently I mean without churn. See, what happens with Netflix, HBO, Showtime -- even regular cable -- is that subscriber churn happens. It's often cyclical. One of the reasons HBO staggers its release schedule for its programming is to try to get people to pay year-round (it's also why they introduced HBO Go -- in essence they gave up their home video revenue, or greatly limited it -- in exchange for keeping people subscribed year-round because of all the content they could get anytime). Netflix's own figures show that they can jump and fall by the millions per quarter. If you want people to continue to subscribe every month -- and not cancel after they see the show they like -- you have to have a constant swath of new and original programming.
    - thezilch 13y ago
      I'm sure Netflix has churn; I'm sure they have clients that turn the service on for only a few months of the year; I'm NOT sure that is the majority, which is what I assumed you and I were referencing when quoting "people." I'd literally pay 3-4x as much for the non-original content. Again, that is only 6-16hrs of content Netflix has to serve up, that is only remotely interesting. The convenience and paying for the business model I believe in does the rest. If HBO offered its service unencumbered of cable subscriptions, I'd still find it less valuable than Netflix.

arjn 13y ago

Yeah, House of Cards with Spacey is excellent. I started and liked it so much I finished watching all episodes in 2 days. Its really good to see companies like HBO and Netflix giving the traditional TV media houses a run for their money. BTW, if you liked House of Cards, check out Game of Thrones.

tnuc 13y ago
>... if you liked House of Cards, check out Game of Thrones. Is there anyone on hn who hasn't checked out Game of thrones?
- sneak 13y ago
  I don't like the genre (fantasy), and I don't like soaps. "OMG, $x is fucking $y!" isn't my idea of entertainment unless $x and $y are people I know personally.
  - cwp 13y ago
    Ok... But have you checked it out?
    - david927 13y ago
      I watched the first episode and honestly didn't find it interesting.
      - ericclemmons 13y ago
        I'm with you. The language didn't seem fitting, and if I remember correctly, it was a bit incestuous.
        lostlogin 13y ago
        A bit. Repetitively. The teenage-boy-director style of boob/arse shots a a touch over the top at times too.
      - mtgx 13y ago
        I didn't like the first episode much either. But it gets much better.
    - fakeer 13y ago
      >>"OMG, $x is fucking $y!" IMHO, looks like didn't.
  - __david__ 13y ago
    Well, I wouldn't call it either a fantasy or a soap. It's more about politics than almost anything else. The fantasy parts are much more restrained than I expected when I first started watching (seriously, pretty much nothing fantastical happens from after the first scene of the first episode until the last episode of the first season).
- mpyne 13y ago
  /me raises hand. I also haven't read the books.
- jfoutz 13y ago
  Me. I don't have HBO, and I'm not willing to pirate it.
  - recursive 13y ago
    I don't have HBO, but I found a legit version on xbox.
  - fakeer 13y ago
    I pay for Netflix from India and for that I've to pay for a broadband service which is INR 2.5K (~$50) which is very costly for India, especially for a single person usage + VPN cost. Somehow I am not able to make HBOGo work on my Mac with all the tweaking and hence I pirate it(Sad :'( ) I wish they had an app that would just make it work magically - something like PnP!
  - chrischen 13y ago
    It's for sale on iTunes, and I believe on physical media as well.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  I read one of the books, but I hate the idea of getting sucked into the plot and then waiting years for the final installments. I manged to postpone reading all the Harry Potter books until last year so I think can hold out on GoT too. I don't have HBO so I'll just pick it up on DVD sometime...after I've gotten around to watching The Wire.
  - koralatov 13y ago
    The rate at which he's writing the books, expect to be finally cracking the binding on them in 2025 or so...

eurleif 13y ago

They just released another Netflix-original series, Hemlock Grove. After watching through it, I'm not that impressed. The reviews I've read also seem to be on the negative side.

supercanuck 13y ago
Me too. But my wife really likes it. It is right in her wheel house which makes me think this kind program is definitely geared to a specific audience in mind. I'm sure the production budget reflects that
- apendleton 13y ago
  Yeah, that's the key, I think. Netflix has a huge amount of viewing-habit data at their disposal, and it's tough to imagine that they didn't target their content acquisitions based on detailed information about their viewers. House of Cards was for the HBO/West Wing set, and Hemlock Grove clearly isn't, but they must know that there's a dedicated audience of schlocky TV-horror enthusiasts in their viewership.
jamesaguilar 13y ago
Not to discount your opinion, but I do want to mention that I'm also less than impressed by 50% or more of what comes out on cable, to say nothing of broadcast television. It's just the nature of the creative process (and also, let's face it, varying tastes). Launching a few bad shows will not cripple Netflix, as long as they have a number of good ones and get a good return on that investment.
rickyc091 13y ago
Having watched both, well all three of Netflix's original series. I'd have to say House of Cards was the best, Hemlock was alright, a bit gruesome at times and Lilyhammer was... no comment.
- amalag 13y ago
  I couldn't watch more than 15 minutes of lilyhammer

mmanfrin 13y ago

then they certainly have a hand to play Oh you card you.

filmgirlcw 13y ago

That becomes the question. The problem is that their current production slate indicates that they maybe have one -- maybe two -- standout shows to do a year. HBO typically has 4 (right now that would be Game of Thrones, Girls, Boardwalk Empire and True Blood with The Newsroom being an easy slot for #5). Right now, Netflix's original programming track record is really spotty aside from House of Cards -- which is absolutely HBO quality and would likely have been an HBO show if Netflix hadn't outbid by such an absurd amount (granted it was the right strategy to make but I get why HBO didn't match)). Aside from Arrested Development, however, nothing on their current slate looks like it will rise above Starz quality. And that's a problem if you expect people to consistently pay $8 a month.

thezilch 13y ago
I'm pretty sure people consistently pay $8/mon, despite the original content. You literally need only stay out of my way, be easy to use on multiple devices, and only entertain me 2-4hrs/mon to keep me coming back.
- filmgirlcw 13y ago
  No, by consistently I mean without churn. See, what happens with Netflix, HBO, Showtime -- even regular cable -- is that subscriber churn happens. It's often cyclical. One of the reasons HBO staggers its release schedule for its programming is to try to get people to pay year-round (it's also why they introduced HBO Go -- in essence they gave up their home video revenue, or greatly limited it -- in exchange for keeping people subscribed year-round because of all the content they could get anytime). Netflix's own figures show that they can jump and fall by the millions per quarter. If you want people to continue to subscribe every month -- and not cancel after they see the show they like -- you have to have a constant swath of new and original programming.
  - thezilch 13y ago
    I'm sure Netflix has churn; I'm sure they have clients that turn the service on for only a few months of the year; I'm NOT sure that is the majority, which is what I assumed you and I were referencing when quoting "people." I'd literally pay 3-4x as much for the non-original content. Again, that is only 6-16hrs of content Netflix has to serve up, that is only remotely interesting. The convenience and paying for the business model I believe in does the rest. If HBO offered its service unencumbered of cable subscriptions, I'd still find it less valuable than Netflix.