Garry Trudeau ’70, ’73MFA: GOPTV

When I see the words “John Goodman” and “Alpha House” in the same sentence, I’m thinking: Belushi lives! Only he’s wearing a power suit instead of a toga.

That first impression might not be too far off. Alpha House, written by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau ’70, ’73MFA, is a new TV show about four Republican senators sharing a house in Washington, DC. There might not be any food fights or dead horses, but Trudeau’s satire sounds pretty broad: one senator, his machismo under attack by a Tea Party challenger, accepts the Say No To Sodomy Award from the Council for Normal Marriage and takes shooting lessons from Goodman’s good old boy—in the basement.

“Liberals may enjoy this because Trudeau pulls no punches in mocking the Republican Party,” says a Chicago Tribune reviewer, who nonetheless finds the pilot “surprisingly affecting.”

Alpha House is not Trudeau’s first venture into screenwriting: he collaborated with Robert Altman on the HBO mockumentary miniseries Tanner ’88. A Tanner actor, Matt Malloy, costars in Alpha House—but lead billing goes to Goodman, Trudeau’s “fantasy pick” come true. A quick glance at IMDB’s cast listing reveals at least one Yalie: Kobi Libii ’07, who starred in the Yale admissions musical video That’s Why I Chose Yale.

And that phrase—Yale admissions musical video—underscores an aspect of Alpha House that the Animal House gang could never have imagined: the show is produced by Amazon, streamed online, and chosen by viewers from among 14 pilots. Politico reports this week that “Amazon has picked the show as one of the projects it will move forward with,” and will shoot 12 more episodes.