Breja: No offense, but I realy dislike that kind of backwards thinking- "I don't want to be spoiled by the original". It's the freaking orignal! You've got it completely ass-backwards. Then again, better late than never I guess :)
Rievier: You know, I would also be in the same boat like you( hell, I don't think I would even watch it) if it wasn't for Kevin Spacey. He makes the show a lot more great than it's supposed to be.
Kevin Spacey is a great actor, but I assure you, the great late Ian Richardson is utterly superb and unequaled as Francis Urquhart. And the british show really is great, as in "truly great drama" not just "great=lot's of fun".
Rievier: Also, wouldn't the british one be different than the american one? I've never seen an british series, or american one being like the original.
I imagine it is. I'm not following the amercian House of Cards, firstly just beacuse I don't much like unnecessary remakes, and secondly I decided to wait for it to wrap up first, and hear if it makes a sensible story as a whole. The british original is actually three short mini-series, which is it's great strenght- each one is tightly plotted and planned from beginning to end. When I heard the american version is going in a normal season-by-season format I lost what faith in it I had. It really is almost impossible to retain that level of intricate storytelling if you also have to worry about your show being renewed for another season, and sometimes about stretching it for more seasons then you should. I mean, the american series is already probably three times as long as the original, maybe more.
Of course there are also bound to be some major changes due to the american setting- the second british mini-series dealt with the conflict between Urquhart and the new King, which would be rather hard ro replicate in the US :D