On Tuesday, the Tonight show aired a pitch-perfect House of Cards parody called “House of Cue Cards.” It had everything: Jimmy Fallon with an accent, Freddy’s barbecue joint, mysterious text messages—plus Ellen Barkin as Frank’s Botox-faced wife and an Orange Is the New Black reference.
The skit, while hilarious, is by no means the first of its kind. The Netflix series has spawned countless parodies featuring papal conclaves, Larry David, and even Kevin Spacey himself. Their common threads: Southern accents, camera-ready bouffants, and white male protagonists who speak directly to the camera.
See Fallon’s take plus seven more great parodies below.
House of Cue Cards
Fallon’s skit is a two-parter. Bonus points for the subway scene in part two, which certainly looks more believable than House of Cards’ Metro settings. Cathedral Heights: never forget.
House of Nerds
This spoof, which aired at last year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, stars Kevin Spacey, along with actual Washington bigwigs including Valerie Jarrett and John McCain.
House of Deadbeat
Hulu riffed on a promo for House of Cards’ second season in this teaser for its original series Deadbeat. Much like the HOC clip, it tells you nothing about the show—though a comedy about a stoner who counsels ghosts could benefit from more explanatory promos.
Here’s the original promo.
House of Cards Junkie
Comedian Jon Rudnitsky illustrates the phenomenon of Underwooditis—a condition caused by binge-watching House of Cards. Symptoms include bleary eyes, a Dixie drawl, and an irrepressible urge to spill your innermost thoughts to an invisible camera.
House of Thrones
Because you haven’t really reached hit status until you’ve been mashed up with Game of Thrones. (Yes, it’s sponsored by Quiznos—but Ross Marquand does a pretty impressive Spacey impression.)
Hardly Working: House of Cards
The College Humor series offers its take, following a guy who just wants to get ahead at work but could benefit from some of Frank’s expert machinations.
House of Cardinals
The Catholic church gets the Frank Underwood treatment, complete with texting Jesus figures and morally confused nuns.
House of Larry
Funny or Die discovers Woody Allen’s Whatever Works matches up pretty perfectly with House of Cards. Not only does misanthrope Larry David talk directly to the camera (sample line: “Let me tell you right off—I’m not a likable guy”), but Evan Rachel Wood and House of Cards’ Rachel Brosnahan also look surprisingly alike.
Find Tanya Pai on Twitter at @tanyapai.
