In the pay TV channel’s adaptation of the tale of
the rebel Roman slave, the battle cries from the Classical Age have,
well, a distinctly 21st century ring (“My boot will meet your ass in
the afterlife!”). The sexual intrigue seems lifted right out of a
dating show (when a socialite decides to buy one of the
gladiators-in-training, the men are ordered to drop their loincloths so
she can make an informed choice). Then there’s the graphic, slo-mo
violence (including a severed, flying head that would impress
With 1.1 million viewers, “Spartacus” is a home run
for the cable channel, which is available in a modest 17 million homes.
Long overshadowed by rivals HBO and
“Spartacus'” campy, B-movie style is not in line with the reputation of Chief Executive
the former HBO head who shepherded the high-brow dramas “The Sopranos”
and “The Wire,” but he’s happy to take the show’s lead and run with it.
“It’s a different take on a story that’s been pretty
familiar,” Albrecht said. The show’s growing ratings “have made me
think about a lot of stuff. I thought, ‘Wow, we could do a whole
network like this and it would be different.’ It’s not a bad place to
start in terms of restarting the brand.”
In the job only two months — “Spartacus” was
developed under the previous management — Albrecht has been tasked by
Starz’s owner
The makers of “Spartacus,”
had produced similar tongue-in-cheek epics “Hercules: The Legendary
Journeys” and “Xena: Warrior Princess,” and brought the show to Starz
after
drama, adapted from the Oscar-winning film “Crash.” Audiences didn’t
take to the dark series, and it was canceled after two seasons.
Tapert and Raimi’s “Spartacus,” in contrast, is a
gore-and-sex spectacle revolving around the early life of the gladiator
hero made famous by
the same name. The result is part “300,” part Harlequin bodice-ripper
and part soft-core porn. The series’ diverse viewership includes fan
boys, middle-age adults and even a cult following in the gay community.
Afterelton.com, a gay-oriented entertainment Web site, writes glowingly
about the show.
Executive producer and head writer
where the period dialogue is liberally salted with four-letter words.
(DeKnight maintains that the cursing has been approved by historians
who say the expletives were in use in the 1st century BC).
“I think some people were thrown by the fact that we
are not trying to be a stately drama,” DeKnight said. “But (pay cable
shows) have become more distant and esoteric. As much as I love them,
it is a chore to watch them. ‘Spartacus’ is a bit of a throwback.”
The contrast is intentional.
“That made sense for Starz,” said
Once they saw footage from the first episodes, Starz
executives thought they might be on to something and committed to a
second season before the first had even premiered.
For Starz, which owns, produces and will
internationally distribute the show, production costs are manageable.
With per-episode costs pegged at about
And with the focus on action, Shelanski said, “Spartacus” should sell well in overseas markets.
The question now, unfortunately, is when “Spartacus”
will be able to continue filming. Plans for a second season have been
delayed because the show’s star,
The success of “Spartacus” now has Albrecht thinking
that familiar properties may be the way to go for Starz. On Monday,
Starz unveiled plans to mine the mists of medieval times with its
version of “Camelot,” based on
And if Starz, which had revenues of
“There’s value in thinking about things that are …
fun,” Albrecht said. “The idea of being entertained, I think, will be
held up as valuable.”
———
(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.
Visit the Los Angeles Times
