Specifically, it's the famous King Henry VIII - or Henry 8, as Showtime likes to call him - who stands in the spotlight. One of the most significant monarchs to reign over England, Henry bucked the religious dogma of his day, becoming the first king to divorce his wife and ultimately taking five more before he died. In the midst of the Protestant reformation, Henry defied the Pope and officially broke his country's ties with Catholicism, establishing the Church of England and declaring himself its supreme leader by divine right. Wisely realizing the immense dramatic capital wrapped up in King Henry VIII's throne, creator Michael Hirst follows in the footsteps of William Shakespeare before him. The hour-long television series turns out to be as apt a platform for the story as the theater stage. With a chronologically structured series of events and a ready-made ensemble of characters, "The Tudors" stood a very good chance of success from the outset.Īnd yet the show isn't very good at its outset at all. Affirming any of your sneaky suspicions about what Showtime might crank out, the first couple of episodes are confusing, not particularly compelling, and seemingly more concerned with setting a record for nudity and orgasms in primetime than telling a story. Rather than a meaningful account of this important chapter in Western history, the show initially feels more akin to The CW's "Gossip Girl". That changes, though, when the series starts to play around with the one word that makes Henry VIII the most interesting: divorce.
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