Stephen Colbert makes a bizarrely vicious appearance on 'House Of Cards'
"House of Cards"In the season 3 premiere of "House of Cards," Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) goes on a version of "The Colbert Report" with a dark twist.
The former Comedy Central host is subtly more vicious than he ever was on the show, mocking the fictional president with a uncharacteristic and shocking lack of deference. It's one of many provocative mixings of fantasy and reality that make the Netflix show so much fun.
As you can see in this transcript, it starts off mildly enough:
Colbert: I understand you've got a new piece of legislation, a major new new initiative you're rolling out. What is it?
Underwood: That is correct. It's a new jobs program that we're calling America Works.
Colbert: Oh. So it's a fantasy novel. [Audience laughs.]
Colbert gets harsh.
Underwood: This is a fundamentally different look at how to solve the problem of unemployment. It has the size and the scope of the New Deal.
Colbert: Oh. So it's a socialist redistribution of wealth wherein the baby boomers will latch onto the millennials like a lamprey and just keep sucking until they're as dry as a crouton? [Audience laughs, applauds.]
Underwood: This is about putting people to work and avoiding the entitlements entirely.
Colbert: Well, I like the sound of that. So what, we're gonna privatize Social Security and then raise revenue by hunting the elderly for sport? [Audience laughs.] Good plan. Use that.
Underwood: No, as I said, this is a fundamentally different approach entirely.
Colbert: And you think that the Republicans in Congress will cooperate with you?
Underwood: Oh, I think that it has been proved that both parties want the same thing.
Colbert: A new president in 2016? [Audience laughs.]
Underwood: No. No, I think actually, I think unemployment, eradicating it, and I think a strong economy is something both parties want.
Colbert: Okay, speaking of everyone, there's a recent poll by Reuters. I wanna get this right. It says that eight out of ten Americans agree that you lack, quote, "effectiveness and leadership."
Underwood: Look, I don't let polls like that bother me. I think that once the nation sees AmWorks in action, they will change their attitudes.
Colbert: I'm sorry, "AmWorks?" I'm sorry-- I didn't realize it was called AmWorks. Is that like Amway? Is it a pyramid scheme? Is that what you're selling the American people?
Underwood: No, it's actually just an abbreviation to make it easier to say.
Colbert: Well, if you make it small enough, uh, maybe it'll be easier to swallow. [Audience laughs, groans.] You know, even though you're a Democrat, I respect you. But let's just take a look at the facts here for a second. You've been president for six months, and again, I wanna get this right, unemployment has gone up, our trade deficit with China has increased, the number of vetoes has skyrocketed. I'm not entirely sure that I'm confident that you'll be able to eradicate unemployment the same way you've been able to eradicate your approval polls. [Audience laughs.]
"House of Cards"The scene isn't over-the-top but it's also a meaner Colbert than we've ever seen (Amazon's "Alpha House" had its own version of a politician's disastrous appearance on Colbert).