I'm on the fence, but I'm still loyally watching every episode. Sam Raimi gets a production credit and you can feel his influence in the series. It clearly is meant to be a cross between HBO's Rome and 300, and it does a good job imitating both of them.

It does end up pushing the exploitation line quite a bit. For example, in order to highlight that the graphic and stylized violence of the gladiators' ludus is somehow noble, they aired an episode where Spartacus went to fight in the no-holds-barred pits where the competitors were made up like horror movie villains. Spartacus is at the center of a torrid world of outrageous violence and sex beamed straight into the viewers' id, but his backstory is that he's a good man who's only mission is to find and save his enslaved wife. All fairly standard fare, but pushing the envelope of what one normally sees on television. Sometimes it makes me feel like fool for watching, but I'm still watching.

Storywise, it isn't as tight as Raimi's other projects, but it is still very early in the series. I'm just not sure if they are going to create characters and a story that are big enough to match the outsized world of violence and sex, but I'm still watching. Spartacus is no Titus Pullo by any stretch, but he's got room to grow.

Haven't seen it, but I think I added it to my instant watch Netflix list.

No. Everything needs to be romanticized in order to attempt to appeal to as many demographic groups as possible.

I wish I had Starz.

You made it farther than I did then...

The first episode was pretty poor and I stopped after that, but my wife has watched every episode since and she is really enjoying it, she says it improves a lot from the 3rd episode on.

Yes. I agree with this 100%. The next few episodes have really cleaned up nicely -- but this is common in series/movies as actors flesh out their characters a bit more and writers begin having some real basis for their characterizations that the actors impress upon them. The writing has gotten a lot better, the stories are starting to really develop and, well, if you couldn't sit through the first episode, at least try the second and see if its coming along for you.

Yeah I can't imagine comparing this show to Rome in any meaningful way. Sorry, not even close, on any front. Writing, directing, acting, art direction... Rome is better across the board.

It's trashy and dumb. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as Spartacus does have entertaining moments if you can let all the lame stuff slide, but please don't compare it to a quality show like Rome.

I'm not too familiar with the original Spartacus, but in the first episode of this series they name the gladiator Spartacus after an old king. He's a random gladiator that's named after a historical figure. They create a loose tie-in to the Spartacus name, but give themselves a good excuse to tell an original story. Works for me.

I bet you didn't like Smallville either.

I'd watch it. Unless it's after 9:00. I'm old and don't stay up late anymore.

There are some high and low points. The episode where Spartacus just seems to keep making bad decision after bad decision (the third I think) I wanted to reach through the screen and strangle him. His wife is hot and should be on the show more. So far you've only seen Xena's boobage twice full on the other times she's wearing some pasties with a chain. I'm not sure how Joe Bob Briggs would score it but I'd say a hearty 8 and half breasts for sure.

I was part of a pre-launch focus group for Sparticus last Fall. Hated it. Still hate it. Pass.

My biggest beef with the show is that I have to go out of Media Center to watch it, it does not show up on the Netflix Media Center plugin except only as a DVD queue option.

IDK about that reasoning. He was a warrior who repeatedly defended his town and served in the Roman legion for at least one campaign. The first episode showed him mowing through hordes of barbarians like a they were grass and then pretty much every other episode shows him barely capable of holding his own in single combat. If he sucked that much at combat then he would have been killed long before he was enslaved.