Viewers who marathoned “House of Cards” on Friday and Saturday got a special unannounced surprise courtesy of Netflix.
Slipped in at the end of the “House of Cards” run was the first formal reveal of a second season premiere date for “Orange Is The New Black.”
The beloved prison dramedy will start Season 2 on Friday, June 6. Expect East Coast residents to start whining for new episodes on June 5 if there’s a heat wave or mosquitos.
As always with Netflix, all 13 episodes will be available to stream upon premiere.
While “House of Cards” was hailed as Netflix’s grand welcome to the world of prestige programming, it was “Orange Is The New Black” that finished in second place in HitFix’s Annual TV Critics’ Poll for 2013, behind only “Breaking Bad.” Fittingly, “Orange Is The New Black” easily topped the HitFix’s Best New TV Show poll.
“Orange Is The New Black” also finished second in my own Top 10 and in Sepinwall’s Top 10.
There had been rumors and speculation that “Orange Is The New Black” might return in the spring, putting both the first and second seasons in the same Emmy eligibility window, a scheduling oddity that most recently came into play when Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie” launched its first season in June 2009 and its second season in March 2010. The double-season had no negative effect on “Nurse Jackie,” which earned eight Emmy nominations that first year, including an Outstanding Comedy Series nod and a Lead Actress win for Edie Falco.
Instead, the first season of “Orange Is The New Black” will be eligible for next year’s Emmys and the second season will be up for consideration in 2015. The trick for Netflix will be getting Emmy voters to notice “Orange,” which has had a mixed awards track record so far. The Writers Guild gave the show a well-earned quartet of nominations, while Taylor Schilling earned a Golden Globe nod. However, the Screen Actors Guild somehow determined that there are 10 better ensembles on TV. One thing that may be complicating matters is the issue of categorization. The WGA agreed with me and placed “Orange” in the comedy field, while Schilling found herself up against the powerhouse gang of drama actresses. Barring a change of heart, “Orange” will be a drama for Emmy purposes.
So far, details on the second “Orange” season have been limited. We’ve gone from hearing that Laura Prepon’s Alex would be in only one or two episodes, to hearing she’ll be in “most” of the episodes. Fortunately, there are enough other characters to love that Alex’s screentime probably won’t have a big impact on my own personal enjoyment.
I interviewed Uzo Aduba in the fall and asked a couple questions about what might be in store for Crazy Eyes, but her answers were mighty vague.
I guess now we just wait! For June 6.