# The Tudors, on Showtime **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 2, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388 "2007-04-02T04:49:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388/21 "2007-04-02T17:00:35Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] I watched the first episode on [Charter.com](http://Charter.com). Agreed on JRM: what were they thinking? I’m well aware that young Henry was athletic and handsome, but you just can’t see [this](http://www.davidbowie.com/users/scottspalding/Jonathan%20Rhys-Meyers.jpg) ever being [this](http://imagesource.allposters.com/images/pic/EAW/m293c~Henry-VIII-Posters.jpg)- the frame’s not there. [/QUOTE] Right. Here are some portraits of the young Henry VIII. Here’s Henry at [18.](http://www.marileecody.com/henry8/henry8unknown3.jpg) At [29.](http://www.marileecody.com/henry8/henry8unknown4.jpg) At [44.](http://www.marileecody.com/henry8/henry8joos1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388/22 "2007-04-03T15:00:06Z")
[QUOTE=brownie55] Dexter is another Showtime original, not HBO. [/QUOTE] Sorry, thanks. :smack: Proof, then, that Showtime _can_ do it right. (I’m a big fan of Dex.) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388/23 "2007-04-03T17:05:39Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Proof, then, that Showtime _can_ do it right. [/QUOTE] Showtime in my experience has a pretty good track record with original series. Dexter, Queer as Folk, The L Word (which I don’t watch but was critically acclaimed), Penn & Teller’s Bullshit!, Huff and Weeds (didn’t watch these either but they also got good reviews) spring to mind. I seem to recall reading that this series was going to run ten episodes. At an hour a week and with them available on demand I think I can find the time to squeeze this in. As I mentioned in another of these threads, since I don’t know a lot about the historical period I’m mostly enjoying comparing the various interpretations and portrayals of the people from different projects. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388/24 "2007-04-03T17:15:28Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Showtime in my experience has a pretty good track record with original series. Dexter, Queer as Folk, The L Word (which I don’t watch but was critically acclaimed), Penn & Teller’s Bullshit!, Huff and Weeds (didn’t watch these either but they also got good reviews) spring to mind. [/quote] Also _Dead Like Me_. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388/25 "2007-04-03T17:27:17Z")
I saw the first two episodes yesterday via Showtime On Demand. I liked it, but agree with the suggestion that the guy playing the Duke of Buckingham seems better suited to play Henry VIII, although perhaps they wanted the big-name actor. It was weird watching him interact with the king of France, given that they were cousins but also fierce rivals. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388/26 "2007-04-04T00:23:58Z")
[QUOTE=Baker] It’s hard to tell from the previews, but there was one scene in them where H8 was shouting at his sister(not sure which one) about a marriage. Showtime has a website with a section devoted to the show, but I’ve avoided peeking ahead to see how far this season will go. [/QUOTE] Gabrielle Anwar is credited as Margaret Tudor, but IIRC Margaret was sent to Scotland to marry well before Henry became king. I’m wondering if they’ve merged the sisters into one - Mary marries Charles Brandon after her first husband, the King of France dies, but I haven’t seen anything in any of the credits about Mary. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388/27 "2007-04-04T05:44:01Z")
The actress playing Anne Boleyn ([Natalie Dormer](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1754059/)) is beautifully cast–she has the kitten faced look and small pursed mouth down to a “t” but my quibble is that they should have her wearing brown contacts, as it’s definite from portraits and contemporary descriptions that Anne was dark eyed. The slippery time sequences are a bit annoying but I’m so inured to it I can barely muster up my outrage as I used… I like JRM a lot so I can accept him in the role–basically I’m watching it as eye candy since there’s not a sparrow’s fart chance of much in the way of historical accuracy. I like Sam Neill as Wolsey and Jeremy Northam as More–that’s some nifty casting. It’s scenic, relatively inoffensive and the costuming is very nice–it ain’t costing me anything to watch so I’ll keep up with it! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388/28 "2007-04-04T10:33:33Z")
[QUOTE=SmartAleq] It’s scenic, relatively inoffensive and the costuming is very nice–it ain’t costing me anything to watch so I’ll keep up with it! [/QUOTE] This actually sums it up much better than I did earlier! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388/29 "2007-04-04T13:53:18Z")
Henry the Eighth _again_? Why don’t they start with his father, that usurping little rat bastard Henry the Seventh? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388/30 "2007-04-04T15:35:45Z")
I agree. Popular culture always ignores Henry VII. It’s like history stopped between the reigns of Richard III and Henry VIII. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tudors-on-showtime/398388.md?page=1)