Leningrad regional deputy wants a TV show modeled on ‘House of Cards’ set in Russia

Vladimir Petrov, a deputy in the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region, has approached Yekaterina Mtsituridze, the head of film production company Roskino, and Vladimir Medinsky, Russia’s culture minister, with a proposal to create a television series about the daily lives of Russian legislators, modeled on the TV show “House of Cards,” in the hopes of increasing interest in domestic policy among ordinary Russians.

According to Petrov, “parliamentarism needs to create a positive image and that members [of the parliament] must be national heroes.”

“Currently, a logical step would be to create a national television series about the everyday life of an ordinary Russian deputy. The goal of the series would be to tell the audience about the basics of parliamentary work, the nuances of legislation, and of the process of fighting for one’s point of view. Perhaps it would make sense to create a main character who came ‘from the people,’ that is someone who followed a path of [professional development that led him from] the municipal council through a regional chamber and finally to the ranks of the State Duma,” Petrov said, suggesting that the American TV series “House of Cards,” which depicts the US political process as shrouded in murder and deceit, could serve as a good example for the creators of a similar series set in Russia.