Best political television drama

[Confused Democrat]

For me it's between House of Cards and The West Wing.

I think I like House of Cards better, but I'm a sucker for anything by Aaron Sorkin.

[Enduro]

Scandal is crap, and I haven't really seen enough of Designated Survivor. I stopped at around episode 6.

House of Cards and The West Wing is amazing.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Honestly, Designated Survivor is the only one I have seen (but I'm thinking of trying House of Cards or The West Wing) on Netflix.  It's gotten so good this spring, though!!

[OSR stands with Israel]

Designed survivor - jack Bauer is president and he acts like Bauer

[Santander]

The Good Wife, if it counts.

[Mr. Smith]

Commander in Chief is still the best. Pity it got f*(^d by the network.


House of Cards 1-2 were good, 3 was meh, 4 was pretty good until the final minute...but nowhere near as good as 1-2.


West Wing was decent, but Sorkin can get preachy.

Haven't seen the others.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I have to agree with Nathan that it's The Crown.

[Enduro]

I have to agree with Nathan that it's The Crown.

Well, if we're doing monarchy style politics, I'll raise you a Game of Thrones.

[RINO Tom]

Honestly, they're all terrible representations of politics, but I at least enjoyed the West Wing and (briefly) House of Cards.  My dad likes Madame Secretary, I watched the first episode and thought it was alright.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Commander in Chief is still the best. Pity it got f*(^d by the network.

Really? I was a political Mary Sue from episode one.

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I'd say the show went ridiculous after Sorkin, for all his flaws, left. Last seasons were just lol.


Generally speaking, US political dramas have tendency to slide into nonsense garbage despite having a decent, realistic beginnings. House of Cards, while nowhere close in quality to the British original, had semi-decent first season, after which it became absurd and one dimensional.

Right now I prefer Designated Survivor because it doesn't pretend to be a serious political story. It's an enjoyable thriller.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I really wish Americans could do something as good as Borgen...

[Crumpets]

Madam Secretary of these, but I think Boston Legal is my all-time favorite.

[Illiniwek]

House of Cards is the most captivating. The only thing I would change about it though is the weird sexual situations that take place (Zoey with Frank, the threesome moment with Meechum, and the prison cell situation). Not that I am a prude, but all of these are just unnecessarily creepy. Other than that the show is just fantastically fun to watch.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I have to agree with Nathan that it's The Crown.

Well, if we're doing monarchy style politics, I'll raise you a Game of Thrones.

I'd agree that the first season, as a standalone, would be a very strong contender. However GoT got less political as time went on (although it still has a few interesting political moments later on).

[Middle-aged Europe]

The West Wing

The only other of these shows that I've watched in larger quantities is House of Cards, which I find a bit stupid.

[Enduro]

I have to agree with Nathan that it's The Crown.

Well, if we're doing monarchy style politics, I'll raise you a Game of Thrones.

I'd agree that the first season, as a standalone, would be a very strong contender. However GoT got less political as time went on (although it still has a few interesting political moments later on).

I agree, the show strayed away from politics in recent years. Unlike the books, the books managed to stay rooted in politics throughout its run.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Veep (although there are probably better ones that aren't on the air atm), although if we're counting The Wire then that's obviously the correct answer.  Tbh, the only option in this poll that isn't irredeemably awful (besides "Other" ) is The West Wing and even that had many problems both before and especially after Sorkin left.  

Regarding HoC, Corey Stoll gave such an excellent performance as Pete Russo in season one that he almost single-handedly elevated the material to the point that it was much easier to overlook its many (and I do mean many) flaws.  The U.S. version of House of Cards is basically a better acted version of Scandal...or rather, of what Scandal would look like if Scandal thought it was The Wire instead of a cartoonishly OTT soap opera that has absolutely nothing to do with politics in any meaningful sense.  House of Cards (U.S. version) is a show that clearly wants to be taken seriously by Serious People, but the writing simply isn't good enough (not even close) to earn a place in the pantheon of great Peak TV dramas.  

Even with a talented cast, solid directors, and high production values, House of Cards has about as good a chance of becoming a high-quality show as a script like Sharknado does of becoming Citizen Kane.  It isn't even in the same league as shows like The Shield and Oz which paved the way for shows like The Sopranos by establishing FX and HBO* as networks willing to take major risks and/or give writers a platform to produce high-quality content that would never be given the time of day by the likes of NBC or Fox.  The U.S. version of House of Cards is a soap opera and a low-quality one at that; like some of the other shows in this poll it's not really a political show except at the most superficial level. 

*Although HBO has lost a lot of ground by going so all-in on Game of Thrones and now they have nothing to replace it which will be a serious problem in a couple of years if they're not careful.  They don't have the quality market to themselves anymore.  You've got AMC, PBS (albeit to a much lesser degree), and FX is offering an embarrassment of riches these days.  Plus, it's only a matter of time before Netflix manages to produce high-quality enough content to start really playing in HBO's traditional sandbox.  In other words, HBO is going to be in for one hell of a surprise if they think they can coast on their 2000s reputation once Game of Thrones ends.  

HBO has also become far more risk-averse than they used to be (Chris Albrecht's shoes remain unfilled, to say the least) and you even see this with Game of Thrones.  This was especially true during the last season of GoT, which in terms of plot, not having completely illogical things happen because of lazy writing, and having even remotely consistent characterization for the various characters was an absolute sh!tshow.  For that matter, some characters like Sansa, Arya, Edmure, Varys, The Hound, etc were given absolutely idiotic "arcs" which are almost the exact opposite of those from the books (in Arya and the Hound's cases, they are almost like a mockery of the whole point of their book arcs), but I digress.

[Rjjr77]

none of these are really authentic.
Veep isnt a drama but its the closest thing on TV to how actual politics works

[Hash]

Netflix's new Mexican production, Ingobernable (starring El Chapo's girlfriend), is pretty good - it's probably overly conspiratorial and theatrical to be realistic, but it's a good thriller with political themes. The initial president in the show bears a mysterious resemblance to EPN...

[Mr. Reactionary]

I like house of cards.

Frank is 2 parts bill clinton 2 parts tom delay and 1 part joseph stalin.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

The West Wing and The Good Wife

[Gustaf]

I'd say Fearless Leader X is closest to the mark here. I watched about 1.5 seasons of HoC but it really jumped the shark right at the season transition. I've seen all of West Wing and it's a good show, albeit too feel-good.

Designated Survivor is a bit unreasonable and tropey. Haven't seen the rest.