A new political comedy starring John Goodman as a Republican senator living in a “man cave” 
near Capital Hill will not be offered to Amazon viewers all at once as a 10-episode, online binge experience, according to its executive producer.
Jonathan Alter, the former Newsweek columnist and author who is executive producer of the new Amazon show with “Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau, told TheWrap that “Alpha House” would have a different streaming model than Netflix.
Asked if Amazon would put the whole season up at once, Alter told TheWrap: “No. It hasn’t been entirely determined how they’ll put it out. But it will be a different model” than the one used by Netflix.
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The dominant streaming subscription service has made a habit of making its original programs available all at once – “House of Cards,” the new “Arrested Development.” That allows for “binge viewing” of episodes back to back.
“Alpha House,” which was green-lit at the end of May and is the most splashy of Amazon’s forays into original programming, is based on four real-life members of Congress who live together near Capital Hill, including Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill). Trudeau has made them Republican.
Besides Goodman, the single-camera comedy stars Clark Johnson, Mark Consuelos and Matt Malloy as four senators who live in a man cave on Capital Hill. The pilot, with cameos by Stephen Colbert and Bill Murray, elicited strong support from viewers after it was posted on Amazon in April.
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Alter said the show is adding two Democratic women senator characters to the show, and that they haven’t yet been cast. But, he said, “a lot of people want to be involved in this.”
Alter said Trudeau thought that the show would be “funnier” if the legislators were Republican. But the veteran D.C. journalist-turned-TV producer felt bad about it.
At a recent gathering for his new book, “The Center Holds: Obama and his Enemies,” Alter ran into one of the senators. “I told this to Senator Durbin. I said, ‘I’m sorry Garry changed you to Republicans.’ He said, ‘I totally understand.’”
Viewers will need to subscribe to Amazon Prime in order to see the show, which is expected to debut in November.