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|country = [[United States]]
|country = [[United States]]
|language = {{English}}
|language = {{English}}
|num_seasons = 2
|num_seasons = 1
|num_episodes = 19
|num_episodes = 13
|list_episodes = List of Spartacus: Blood and Sand,Spartacus: Gods of the Arena |executive_producer = {{Unbulleted list|Steven S. DeKnight|[[Robert Tapert]]|[[Sam Raimi]]|Joshua Donen}}
|list_episodes = List of Spartacus: Blood and Sand episodes
|executive_producer = {{Unbulleted list|Steven S. DeKnight|[[Robert Tapert]]|[[Sam Raimi]]|Joshua Donen}}
|co_exec =
|co_exec =
|producer = Chloe Smith<br>[[Charles Knight (filmmaker)|Charles Knight]]<br>Aaron Lam
|producer = Chloe Smith<br>[[Charles Knight (filmmaker)|Charles Knight]]<br>Aaron Lam

Revision as of 23:17, 1 March 2011

Spartacus: Blood and Sand
GenreHistorical drama
Sword-and-sandal[1]
Created bySteven S. DeKnight
Written byAaron Helbing
Todd Helbing
Miranda Kwok
Steven S. DeKnight
Brent Fletcher
Tracy Bellomo
Andrew Chambliss
Daniel Knauf
Directed byMichael Hurst
Rick Jacobson
Jesse Warn
Starring
ComposerJoseph LoDuca
Country of originUnited States
Original languageTransclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
ProducersChloe Smith
Charles Knight
Aaron Lam
Production locationNew Zealand
CinematographyAaron Morton
EditorsGary Hunt
Jonathan Woodford-Robinson
Running time50 minutes
Original release
NetworkStarz
ReleaseJanuary 22, 2010 (2010-01-22) –
present
Related
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

Spartacus: Blood and Sand is a Starz television series that premiered on January 22, 2010. The series is inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus (played by Andy Whitfield), a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Executive producers Steven S. DeKnight and Robert Tapert focused on structuring the events of Spartacus' obscure early life leading up to the beginning of historical records.[2] The show has been rated TV-MA for graphic violence, strong sexual content, and coarse language.

The show was initially renewed for a second season but production was delayed because Whitfield was diagnosed with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Due to the delay, Starz produced a six-episode prequel series, entitled Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Pre-production of season 2 began following the announcement that Whitfield was cancer free,[3] however his cancer recurred.[4] Starz has since replaced Whitfield with actor Liam McIntyre, who will play Spartacus for season two.[5]

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Spartacus: Blood and Sand characters

Style

Spartacus is treated with a slightly overexposed video stylization, akin to the style used in for the film 300.

It also contains many unusual traits purportedly intended to convey a sense of authenticity. Though in English, the sentence structure seems archaic and follows something closer to Latin rules. For examples, the definite and indefinite articles ('the' and 'a', in English) are avoided in many situations, and the word 'yes' (absent in classical Latin) is replaced by affirming phrases ("that is my desire", etc.).

The program is preceded by a very specific warning, that it purports to portray a "historical portrayal of ancient Roman society that contains graphic violence and adult content". 'Incidental' nudity and scences of a sexual or of a violent nature are present throughout.

Production

On December 22, 2009, a month before it premiered, it was announced that the show was renewed by Starz for a second season.[citation needed] On March 9, 2010, IGN.com reported that production of Season 2 had been delayed due to star Whitfield being diagnosed with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma.[7] Due to the delay, Starz announced on May 11, 2010, that it is developing a six-episode prequel series, entitled Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.[8] The prequel features new and returning stars, headlining the roles of John Hannah as Batiatus, and Lucy Lawless as Lucretia. Star Andy Whitfield will also briefly appear. Production begins in New Zealand in the summer of 2010 and the prequel will air beginning January 2011.[9]

However in September 2010, Starz announced that Whitfield's cancer had returned and he had decided not to return for season 2, tentatively scheduled for September 2011.[10] The show will continue, but Starz plans on recasting the role of Spartacus in the wake of Whitfield's exit.[11] Whitfield also gave his blessing for Starz to recast the role when he announced he would not return.

On January 7, 2011, Starz president Chris Albrecht told journalists at the Television Critics Association press tour that the network had decided to go forward with a second full season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. In an interview later that day, Albrecht said a new lead actor for the series would be announced in the following weeks and the second season of Spartacus will probably arrive in early 2012, if filming is on schedule.

Spartacus series creator Steven S. DeKnight said in an interview, There are a "couple of very strong candidates" for the role of Spartacus, and season two should begin production in New Zealand in April [2011]. DeKnight added that the Spartacus producers and Starz executives weren't always sure they would go forward without Andy Whitfield, who they said had brought "gravity and heart" to the role of the famous warrior. "It's unheard of to recast your titular character in a television show, and we did a lot of soul searching about whether we even wanted to try," DeKnight said. "And then Andy [Whitfield] said, 'I really think the show should go forward without me. I give you the blessing. I want this story told.'"[12]

On Jan. 17, 2011, it was announced that Australian film and TV actor Liam McIntyre had been selected to replace Whitfield.[13]

Reception

The premiere episode of the series set a record for Starz, with 553,000 viewers on their network, and another 460,000 on Encore, where the show was available only that weekend.[14] For the rest of the season the show had 1.285 million average viewers. Critical reception of the first episode was mixed; the review aggregate website Metacritic which assigns a normalized average score out of 100 gave the show a score of 54% based on 22 reviews.[15] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave it the grade B+, saying it "might prove to be the not-at-all-guilty pleasure of the season."[16] Barry Garron of the Hollywood Reporter suggested that with "such thin stories...it's small wonder that sex and violence are used to take up the slack."[17] Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times wrote that John Hannah as Batiatus "keeps the show grounded with a persuasive portrait of a man engaged in a stressful daily business" and called Whitfield as Spartacus "handsome and buff and smart and beastly."[18] Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald gave the season finale a positive review, rating it a B+. He commented on the improvement of the series throughout its first season.[19]

Broadcast

The series aired in Canada on TMN beginning on January 25, 2010.[20] RTL 5 announced in their January newsletter that Spartacus: Blood and Sand will debut in the Netherlands in March.[21] In the United Kingdom, Bravo began airing the series on May 25, 2010.[22][23] Following the axe of Bravo on UK television, Sky One has now picked up the rights to the series and will air all subsequent seasons. The series is also scheduled to premiere in Poland on HBO Poland starting from June 19, 2010 [24] and in Hungary on HBO Magyarország starting from June 1, 2010.[25][26] In Hispanic America the series was released in July 2010 by Moviecity Pack.[27] The series airs in Ireland on TV3.[28] In Brazil, the show airs on Globosat HD. In Turkey the show releases on CNBC-E TV.

Prequel

Main article: Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

The prequel miniseries, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, began production in August 2010 and consisted of six episodes. It premiered on January 21, 2011. It tells the story of Batiatus' struggle to revive the fortunes of his family's ludus in the face of strong opposition from his father and from Capuan rivals. Gannicus is his champion gladiator.

Historical deviations

Producers Steven S. DeKnight and Robert Tapert have stated they used two historical consultants, with whom they exchanged scripts.[2] Despite this, the series contains a number of historical errors.

Notable errors and fallacies are:

  • Lentulus Batiatus' praenomen is given as "Quintus". However, the praenomen of the historical Batiatus was "Gnaeus".[29]
  • Batiatus is depicted having an ambition to become a magistrate or a senator. Historically this would have been impossible, as lanistae (and ex-lanistae), being infames through virtue of their profession, were not permitted to serve either as magistrates or as senators. A lanista was regarded as both a butcher (lanius) and a pimp (leno).[30][31][32]
  • Guards are shown dressed as Roman legionaries wearing lorica segmentata. The first attested use of this type of armor by legionaries dates to around 9 BC,[33] six decades after Spartacus' revolt.
  • Barca is described as a Carthaginian and as being the last prisoner left alive from the fall of Carthage.[34] However, Carthage was destroyed by Rome in 146 BC (at the end of the Third Punic War), seven decades before the time in which the series is set.[35]
  • In the show, Batiatus purchases six slaves for 100 denarii. At this period, the average price for a slave was between 960 and 4000 denarii, with the cheapest known costing 75 denarii.[36]
  • Historically, the revolt of Spartacus began with the rebels seizing kitchen utensils as weapons, before they were able to obtain swords.[37]
  • When the viewer last sees Glaber he is considering running for the office of praetor as Spartacus rebels. Historically, he was already serving as praetor when the revolt started.[38]

References

  1. ^ Stackhouse, Ray. "Spartacus: Blood and Sand — Overview". AllMovie. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  2. ^ a b Interview: Steven S. DeKnight and Robert Tapert from Spartacus: Blood And Sand
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 8, 2010). "'Spartacus' Star Andy Whitfield Is Cancer-Free & Ready To Return To The Starz Series". Deadline. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
  4. ^ Andreeva, Nellie. "'Spartacus' Star Andy Whitfield's Cancer Is Back: Won't Return Next Season To Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  5. ^ Crumpley, Elliot (January 18, 2011). "'Liam McIntyre confirmed to take over Spartacus role". College News. Retrieved January, 18 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  6. ^ Lynch, Rene (January 17, 2011). "Liam McIntyre steps into the arena as 'Spartacus'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  7. ^ "Spartacus Halts Production Of Season 2". IGN. News Corporation. March 9, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
  8. ^ "Starz Homepage".
  9. ^ MacIntyre, April (May 11, 2010). "Spartacus Prequel announced by Starz, Whitfield to star". Monsters and Critics. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  10. ^ Whitfield's Cancer returned
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ http://www.tvsquad.com/2011/01/09/spartacus-starz/
  13. ^ McIntyre new Spartacus
  14. ^ [2][dead link]
  15. ^ "Spartacus: Blood and Sand". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  16. ^ Tucker, Ken (January 20, 2010). "Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  17. ^ Garron, Barry (January 21, 2010). "Spartacus: Blood and Sand -- TV Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 27, 2010. [dead link]
  18. ^ Lloyd, Robert (January 22, 2010). "Review: 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand' on Starz". Lost Angeles Times. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
  19. ^ Perigard, Mark A. (April 16, 2010). "'Spartacus' season finale is a bloody good time". Boston Herald. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  20. ^ "Spartacus: Blood And Sand – Schedule | The Movie Network". The Movie Network. Retrieved January 24, 2010 (2010-01-24). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  21. ^ "Programmering en Sales Promoties" (in Dutch). Retrieved January 23, 2010 (2010-01-23). RTL 5 ends the week with a double episode of the spectacular new series Spartacus: Blood & Sand. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "Preview: Spartacus – Blood and Sand". Beehive City. 2010-04-27. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  23. ^ "Spartacus fights his way to UK pay-TV" (Press release). 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  24. ^ "Spartakus: Krew i piach, odc. 1 - HBO Polska". Hbo.pl. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  25. ^ "Spartacus: Vér és homok 1. - HBO Magyarország". Hbo.hu. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  26. ^ "SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND / Spartacus: Vér és homok". HBO Magyarország. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  27. ^ "Moviecity Pack ¿Qué quieres ver hoy?". Moviecitypack.com. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  28. ^ "Spartacus - TV3". The TV3 Group. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  29. ^ McGushin, Patrick (1991). Sallust: The Histories. p. 113. Retrieved February 3, 2010 (2010-02-03). {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  30. ^ "Eques and Lanista". Penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  31. ^ Kyle, Donald (1998). Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome. p. 109 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EhtnXGJ9h74C&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89&dq=lanista+infamia&source=bl&ots=Bvzm_elVyr&sig=yK8rRuGNMdp7rOOkq2yl_Ry1jOI&hl=en&ei=oCU7TZ2OJ8OFhQeYvNzBCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&sqi=2&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=infamia&f=false.
  32. ^ Berger, Adolf (1953). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law. p. 500 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oR0LAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=berger+roman+law&source=bl&ots=sRRuVZbCfF&sig=lU1Xy-NLJfYHCtqbOA72Lx3n6Ig&hl=en&ei=PCU7TZHIHMWwhQeT5pSqCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=lanista&f=false.
  33. ^ M.C. Bishop (2002) Lorica Segmentata Volume I: A Handbook of Articulated Roman Plate Armour p.23 http://www.scribd.com/doc/3961788/Lorica-Segmentata-Volume-I-A-Handbook-of-Articulated-Roman-Plate-Armour
  34. ^ "Legends". Spartacus: Blood and Sand. February 5, 2010. Starz. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |seriesno= ignored (|series-number= suggested) (help)
  35. ^ D. Metcalfe, Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization by Richard Miles. The Guardian, 24 April 2010
  36. ^ Harris, W.V (1980) Towards a study of the Roman slave trade. Memoirs of the American Academy at Rome 36: 136 n.46
  37. ^ Plutarch, Crassus 8.2-3
  38. ^ Broughton, T.R.S. Magistrates of the Roman Republic II.109, 115
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