It's all Babs' fault.
She alerted me to a new series, "The Tudors", that premiered on Showtime last night. She thinks it will be our new guilty TV secret. Beneath the respectable sounding title promised to be an uber-trashy modern take on Henry VIII and his court. We're both English history buffs, so I watched it last night.
Ads for the series tipped-off the theme of the series:
"Ladies lose their heads for Henry."
"King of hearts with a powerful sword." (~groan~)
"This lady's not waiting any more!"
Last night's first episode proved to be as anticipated. The actor portraying Henry VIII doesn't resemble any of the famous Holbein portraits. And he's too short for the part--Henry's exceptional height was one of his most noted attributes. The script lacks historical credibility because of its modern sensibility. I seriously doubt that Cardinal Wolsey ever used the word "pan-European" in promoting a peace treaty to the King. I fancy myself something of a Tudor era expert and I question the historical veracity of a couple of the incidents in this episode, but I'll have to research it to see if I'm correct. Not that I think the producers are as interested in historical accuracy as they are in bodice ripping!
The first episode had several nude sex scenes and a bloody murder, earning the R rating. Don't let the children watch this one.
UPDATE: Babs called to opine that the reason the actor portraying Henry VIII isn't believable is because he's playing him as a metrosexual. So true.
The first episode had several nude sex scenes and a bloody murder, earning the R rating. Don't let the children watch this one.
UPDATE: Babs called to opine that the reason the actor portraying Henry VIII isn't believable is because he's playing him as a metrosexual. So true.
I don't get Showtime myself. Even if I did, I was dubious about this program just looking at the ads. Unfortunately Hollywood's standards for decency rating do not include historical accuracy.
ReplyDeleteWe get all the movie channels because El Jefe wants all the sports channels and our satellite provider bundles them up. This is the first time in years I've watched one of them!
ReplyDeleteWe don't get showtime either, so I couldn't watch. The review in the LA times says they aren't saying its historically accurate: they're saying its a TV series based on actual historical events. I've always been a big Tudor history buff as well, so I'm sure that would bug me. Also in the Sunday Times there was this wierd gift-bag thing with pictures from the show on it. What exactly did they think we were going to do with that? Use it to pack our lunch?
ReplyDeleteI don't get Showtime either -- however, I did have to look up the word metrosexual. I have heard it used, but never really had it pinned yet as to the exact definition.
ReplyDeleteOkay. My curiosity got the better of me on this one. You can watch the first two episodes at http://www.sho.com/site/tudors/home.do
ReplyDeleteThe show would be gtreat if it followed history - these actors would have been so much better and the true story is even more fascinating the the fictionalized version. Too bad.
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