Given the huge success of Netflix’s original content, it’s no wonder that other online streaming services are trying to get in on the action. So far, though, no other service has come close to producing content on the same level as “House of Cards” or “Orange is the New Black.” Amazon Prime’s new political comedy, “Alpha House,” is no exception, although it is funnier than expected.

The series, created by “Doonesbury” cartoonist Garry Trudeau, follows four Republican senators who share a house in Washington, D.C. (Think “House of Cards” meets “New Girl.”) The pilot begins with a funny cameo from Bill Murray as Senator Vernon Smits, one of the original housemates. Smits gets arrested a few minutes into the episode, and the frantic, expletive-laced scene really sets the tone for the rest of the series. After Smits’ exit, the three remaining housemates—Senators Gil John Biggs (John Goodman), Louis Laffer (Matt Malloy) and Robert Bettencourt (Clark Johnson)—must find a fourth person with whom to share the house. They eventually settle on Andy Guzman (Mark Consuelos), a suave freshman senator from Florida who stands in stark contrast to his bumbling, middle-aged housemates.

While all of the senators are crass and corrupt, each one has his own specific shtick. Biggs is the crude, apathetic Southerner whose wife basically runs his career. Laffer is an awkward little man who ardently promotes homophobic causes to cover up his own homosexuality. Bettencourt is arguably the sanest one in the group, but he’s also completely corrupt and facing indictment. And of course, Guzman is the charming young Latino with the hot girlfriend and huge ego.

You might expect lots of laughs to come from this apparent clash of personalities, but the show’s focus is more on the senators’ place on an exaggeratedly crooked Capitol Hill. In fact, “Alpha House” presents a pretty scathing satire of Republican Congressional culture, with plenty of topical jokes about filibusters, partisanship and corruption. Some of the funniest parts of the pilot are quick political gags that seem like they’re straight out of the “Colbert Report,” like the jar of American flag pins on the senators’ kitchen table and the “Say No To Sodomy” award presented to Laffer by the Council for Normal Marriage. Colbert even has a cameo in the series when Laffer appears on his show in a gutsy campaign move.

It’s this kind of pointed political satire that makes “Alpha House” a great fit for a streaming service like Amazon. Although topical and funny, the series would never work on network (or even cable) TV because the content is just a bit too edgy and the jokes a bit too biting for a mainstream audience. “Alpha House” easily could have turned into a dull sitcom about a house full of wacky politicians, but instead, it draws influence from satirical and sharp political parodists like Colbert to create a slightly smarter, more incisive comedy.

Sometimes, though, the satire starts to enter cringe-inducing territory. Trudeau may have made a mistake in centering the series on Republican characters because the show often feels like a wanton attack on the GOP. (Just look at the character descriptions above—each senator represents a blatant negative stereotype with few redeeming qualities.) And when “Alpha House” isn’t busy painting Republicans as stupid and/or heartless, it tends to fall back on low-brow humor, like a naked Biggs running into Guzman’s girlfriend as he leaves the bathroom.

Although good for some laughs, “Alpha House” is neither funny enough to be a hit comedy nor poignant enough to be a brilliant satire. If “Alpha House” was meant to be Amazon’s answer to Netflix’s “House of Cards,” it still has a long way to go.

The first three episodes of “Alpha House” are available on Amazon Instant Video for free (no Prime subscription required), and subsequent episodes will be made available to Amazon Prime subscribers every Friday.