Breakthrough Hit: This show, along with Orange Is the New Black, established Netflix as a serious provider of original programming, proving that streaming services can make engaging television as good as, or better, than traditional Television providers. This led to Amazon Prime and other services to Follow the Leader not long after.
Baltimore doubles for Washington, DC, as well as other locations. Including: the Underwood residence, Zoe Barnes' apartment, Freddy’s BBQ Rib Joint, The Clean Water Initiative building where Claire works, The Washington Herald offices, the Washington Opera House, the Secretary of State's building, Hotel Cotesworth, The Georgetown Hotel, Werner's Bar, Tio Pepe's, the DuPont Circle Bar, as well as scenes set in other locations, including Peter Russo's campaign rally in Pennsylvania and The Sentinel (military academy)’s Francis J. Underwood Library and Waldron Hall in South Carolina.
Most of the interior scenes were shot in a large top-secret industrial warehouse in Joppa, Maryland, 17 miles northeast of Baltimore.
There was some on-location filming. For example, the filming of a mock Presidential motorcade in season 3.
Zoe Barnes's death was shot in Baltimore, due to WMATA not allowing scenes of violence to be filmed in their system.
The international summit in season 4 was filmed in Indianapolis.
Here's an egregious example: Claire's mother's plantation house is supposed to be in Highland Park, an affluent suburb of Dallas. While the green-lawned estate might have passed as a Highland Park manse, the wide lot does look like some of the homes on one of Dallas' toniest streets (Beverly Drive), and the exterior of the southern home rightly carries the posh air of a place for the ultra rich. the backyard shows a large hill of green that goes on for miles. And there are horse stables. Such hills don't exist in that part of Texas. The plantation house itself is actually in Maryland.
Career Resurrection: For Robin Wright, who had spent most of the 2000s in supporting or background roles in independent movies. House of Cards offered her a co-lead role in a mainstream product for the first time in several years, earning her a Golden Globe award as well as multiple Emmy nominations in the process. She was subsequently in more big-budget features (like Wonder Woman (2017) and Blade Runner 2049) as a result.
Elizabeth Norment, who played Nancy Kaufberger, died between seasons 2 and 3.
Reg E. Cathey died shortly after production began on Season 6, though it's unknown if Freddy was intended to appear as his final scene telling Frank off back in Season 4 gave a decent closure to his arc.
Directed by Cast Member: In addition to playing Claire, Robin Wright has directed seven episodes of the show.note Chapter 23 in season 2; chapters 35 and 38 in season 3; and chapters 42, 43, 48, and 49 in season 4
Queer Character, Queer Actor: Frank is revealed to be bisexual. Kevin Spacey, after years of speculation, finally came out as gay during his sexual assault scandal.
Reality Subtext: It's pretty much impossible to not see the scene in the series finale where Stamper claims he killed Frank because "I couldn’t let him destroy everything we built; I had to protect the legacy from the man" as a meta-commentary for what Netflix did by firing Kevin Spacey from the show and killing off his character due to his sexual assault allegations.
Michel Gill (President Garrett Walker) is married to Jayne Atkinson (Secretary of State Catherine Durant).
Paul Sparks' (Thomas Yates) real-life wife Annie Parisse appears as a mother on the Iowa campaign trail.
Michael Kelly's (Doug Stamper) real-life daughter Franke and son Clinton make an appearance in Chapter 36 as Doug's niece and nephew. They even have the same names.
Role-Ending Misdemeanor: Almost like Show-Ending Misdemeanor. After Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of molesting him when he was 14, Netflix first announced that the show would conclude with season six. They then suspended production on the season and fired Spacey after more accusations of sexual harassment and assault came out, including, most damningly, some from the set of the show itself. It was eventually decided that the show's sixth and final season would be completed with Robin Wright as the sole lead.
Separated-at-Birth Casting: Kelly AuCoin, who plays Doug Stamper's brother Gary, seems to have been cast because he looks like a spitting image of Michael Kelly.
Troubled Production: Filming on Season 6 was interrupted by Anthony Rapp's accusation that Kevin Spacey molested him 30 years earlier, when he was fourteen. Netflix quickly announced that this would be the show's final season (though this was always the plan anyway), and shortly afterward shut down production indefinitely as similar stories about Spacey came pouring in. He was then sent for an unspecified "evaluation and treatment," throwing further doubt on whether the season would be completed. And then eight crew members came forward with accounts of Spacey's predatory behavior which made them deeply uncomfortable around him. Spacey was fired a week later. In the end, production on Season 6 resumed with Robin Wright becoming the sole lead.
Other
When Frank Underwood visits Petrov in the Jordan Valley in Chapter 36, the Navy SEAL security team riding in the Hummers with him are all real Navy SEALS that Kevin Spacey worked with on Captain Phillips (on which Spacey served as an executive producer). In particular, the Navy SEAL on his immediate left when Frank steps out of the vehicle is Spacey's actual bodyguard in real life.
