Trapped By Winter Storm, Americans Want 'House Of Cards' Right Now

Our dependence on instant-gratification television has come to this.

Shut-ins on the East Coast, stuck at home during of one of the worst snowstorms of a winter that's already had its fair share of bad snowstorms, are demanding that Netflix release the second season of its hit drama "House of Cards" one day before its scheduled Friday debut.

From Wednesday evening to Thursday morning, a winter storm pummeled the East Coast as it moved from the South to the Northeast. Streets in D.C. are empty. Fifteen inches of snow blanketed Baltimore. Black ice covers Atlanta, where drivers are being asked to stay home. Snow and arctic winds with gusts up to 55 m.p.h. are blasting New York City.

All of which is to say, half the country is ready for a diversion from the winter weather, preferably in the form of a caustic political thriller starring Kevin Spacey. The new season of "House of Cards" was scheduled to coincide with Valentine's Day on Friday. But cabin fever is driving many Americans to demand it one day early.

When reached for comment about whether Netflix would consider a one-day-early release, spokesperson Joris Evers said: "Hunker down for one more day. And perhaps (re)watch season one as you hunker down."

Netflix doesn't tell the public how many people watch "House of Cards" or any other show it produces, forgoing the traditional ratings metrics used in broadcast and cable television because it does not need to attract advertisers. So this demand might be as good an indication of the success of Netflix's grand TV experiment as we're going to get.

For the record: On Thursday, the high in Los Gatos, Calif., where Netflix is headquartered, is expected to hit 69 degrees, with no precipitation.