The TV Column

Netflix will deal next round of Cards on Friday

President Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, contemplates his next move from the Oval Office on House of Cards.
President Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, contemplates his next move from the Oval Office on House of Cards.

Are you ready to binge?

Netflix drops all 13 episodes of House of Cards' Season 3 on Friday and many fans will be camping out all weekend with whatever online electronic devices they prefer.

That's right, boys and girls. You don't even need a TV to watch one of the best dramas on TV. Can we call House of Cards a TV show when it isn't technically on television? If being nominated for Emmys counts, then House of Cards is a TV show.

In 2013, the series earned nine Emmy nominations, winning three minor ones. For its second season in 2014, the series received 13 Emmy nominations, including nods for Outstanding Drama, lead actor and actress, and guest actress and actor.

The competition last season included Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Mad Men, True Detective and the winner, Breaking Bad. Pretty impressive company for a series that's online only.

Times have changed. You can download the free Netflix app on your smart TV, game console, streaming player, phone or tablet.

We hook our laptop up to the TV with a cable and watch on the bigger screen. Others watch Netflix's online streaming service (monthly plans begin at $7.99) on PlayStation, Xbox, Roku, Apple TV, Blu-ray players or on an iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, Windows phones and tablets, or simply sitting in front of their personal computer.

I was confused about all this until I got the neighbor's 15-year-old to explain it to me.

And no bingeing. We prefer to savor the deliciously wicked series at no more than two episodes at a time, but it makes it hard to avoid spoilers at that pace.

Netflix "accidentally" launched the first 10 episodes of Season 3 on Feb. 11. They were up for about 25 minutes before Netflix dove in and removed them. Accident or savvy, manipulative promotion? I'd like to think Frank Underwood would appreciate the latter.

Kevin Spacey is masterful as Underwood and this season all his Machiavellian maneuvering has landed him in the Oval Office. President Underwood is masterful, beguiling, charismatic and, most of all, ruthless.

He and his equally ambitious wife, Claire (Robin Wright), have stopped at nothing -- including murder -- to ensure their ascendancy.

So, the power Frank and Claire have always craved is finally in their hands. Now what? The title is House of Cards and if one thing is certain, anything -- allies, enemies, the past -- can bring it all crashing down at any moment.

Here's the Netflix tease for the first episode: "A rocky start for the Underwood presidency. Frank wants to introduce an ambitious jobs program, while Claire sets her sights on the United Nations."

Enjoy.

Family friendly. If TV-MA fare isn't for you, try the Hallmark Channel's new original series The Good Witch. Season 1 begins at 7 p.m. Saturday and stars Catherine Bell (JAG, Army Wives), Bailee Madison (Parental Guidance) and James Denton (Desperate Housewives).

The series is the latest in The Good Witch franchise. The original movie aired on Hallmark Channel in 2008 and there have been six sequels.

In the opening two-hour episode, "Starting Over ... Again," good witch Cassie Nightingale (Bell) and her teenage daughter Grace (Madison) welcome divorced New York transplant Dr. Sam Radford (Denton) and his son to Middletown.

The new neighbors of Cassie's Grey House Bed and Breakfast are immediately spellbound by the mother-daughter duo, but Sam and Cassie soon discover their differences. Let the comedy/drama begin. Ten episodes have been ordered.

Playing catch up. Did you remember to watch the beginning of The Amazing Race 26? The series kicked off at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, but moves to its regular time at 7 p.m. Friday.

Switching nights is always confusing, but CBS wanted a special combo evening with 90-minute premieres for the 30th (!) Survivor season, Survivor: Worlds Apart and Amazing Race 26.

I confess I quit watching Survivor and Amazing Race many seasons ago, when they ran out of ideas and one cast started looking like another. CBS began resorting to gimmicks.

This season the Survivor gimmick is that the 18 players are divided into three tribes according to their occupations -- white collar, blue collar and no collar. Nothing like a little class envy to stir things up.

Meanwhile, the gimmick for this season of Amazing Race is that the teams consist of 11 dating couples. What's the gimmick in that? Five of those couples are on one extended blind date, having met for the first time at the starting line at California's Castaic Lake before flying to Tokyo on the first leg of the race.

At any rate, if you're still a fan, your shows are back on the air.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

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Weekend on 02/26/2015

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