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.
