Former Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank has never been one to keep his opinions to himself, and that absolutely extends to his thoughts on pop culture as well. So it’s no surprise that he shared his thoughts on politically themed TV shows on “Conan” Thursday night. But his reaction to one series in particular was a little surprising.

It turns out, Frank doesn’t just dislike “House of Cards,” he’d like to ban it.

Though he’s an advocate for free speech and he didn’t seem as though his ban talk was very serious, he did expound on why he dislikes the Netflix series so much.

“It is the most inaccurate, misleading, and unfortunately, it gives people a bad idea,” Frank said. “We suffer from people saying ‘What’s the point of voting? It doesn’t do any good. None of them can be trusted.’ ‘House of Cards’ just reinforces all of that inaccurate impression.”


The series, which released its third season in February, follows the steady climb up the greasy pole of politics by an unscrupulous, super-ambitious, morally vacant politician named Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey. Needless to say, it doesn’t paint a positive picture of the way Washington works behind the scenes.

But though Frank may not like Frank, he does have a TV recommendation for those with a curiosity about politics: “The West Wing.”

“In ‘West Wing’ you saw real people trying to do that right thing,” Frank said. “Stubbing their toe, getting it wrong and then getting it right.”

The drama series created by Aaron Sorkin, which ran on NBC from 1999 to 2006, depicts the work of the fictional administration of President Jed Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen. Its view of politics was of a noble pursuit, filled with idealists trying to do their best and quoting a lot of Gilbert and Sullivan along the way.


As a friend of Frank’s said of “House of Cards,” “First of all, we’re not that evil; second of all, we’re not that clever.”

As for the rest of the current crop of Washington-based shows, including “Scandal” and “Veep,” Frank said he doesn’t watch them.

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