Series shows Henry VIII as you've never seen him
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- Henry VIII is coming back to the throne. And this time, he's bloody gorgeous.
Showtime's epic 10-part miniseries "The Tudors" holds court starting 10 p.m. EDT Sunday, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers cast as the unlikely lead.
And much like Henry VIII, the show's producers can't disguise their ambitions -- to produce a show that finally gets Showtime an HBO-style hit, popular both with the Emmy nobility and peasants alike. They've invested an unprecedented $38 million and have spent millions more promoting it.
"We are hoping to be back here filming for another two, three, maybe four years, because the material we have to work with is so rich and there's so much story to tell. But we must command an audience, so we have tried to make the story as modern and fabulously good-looking as we can," said executive producer Morgan O'Sullivan at the end of the 22-week shoot in Ireland.
"Sexy is the word," O'Sullivan added with a smile. "But it's all done to advance the story. It's not gratuitous."
Hmmm. Within the first half-hour, Henry manages -- between winning a joust and pursuing war with France -- to father his first bastard son and have his way with another of his wife's busty handmaidens.
Rhys Meyers defends the copious flesh and bumping 'n' grinding in "The Tudors" as on the mark.
"These people had an awful lot of sex, more sex than we have today," said Rhys Meyers, puffing on a Marlboro in his trailer as a downpour pummeled its tin roof....
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Showtime's epic 10-part miniseries "The Tudors" holds court starting 10 p.m. EDT Sunday, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers cast as the unlikely lead.
And much like Henry VIII, the show's producers can't disguise their ambitions -- to produce a show that finally gets Showtime an HBO-style hit, popular both with the Emmy nobility and peasants alike. They've invested an unprecedented $38 million and have spent millions more promoting it.
"We are hoping to be back here filming for another two, three, maybe four years, because the material we have to work with is so rich and there's so much story to tell. But we must command an audience, so we have tried to make the story as modern and fabulously good-looking as we can," said executive producer Morgan O'Sullivan at the end of the 22-week shoot in Ireland.
"Sexy is the word," O'Sullivan added with a smile. "But it's all done to advance the story. It's not gratuitous."
Hmmm. Within the first half-hour, Henry manages -- between winning a joust and pursuing war with France -- to father his first bastard son and have his way with another of his wife's busty handmaidens.
Rhys Meyers defends the copious flesh and bumping 'n' grinding in "The Tudors" as on the mark.
"These people had an awful lot of sex, more sex than we have today," said Rhys Meyers, puffing on a Marlboro in his trailer as a downpour pummeled its tin roof....