The revelation yesterday that Starz has renewed its upcoming big-budget action-adventure series Spartacus more than a month before the first season even premieres is surely strange news in today’s skittish, canceled-before-you-launch television world. Just to break down the astounding move a bit more: Yes, we viewers have yet to see a single episode. (But, I mean, we have seen the above actor’s chest and know that Lucy Lawless is in the cast, and those two things probably would have been enough for me to sign on!) And the network has yet to see ratings or response from advertisers. And it’s certainly a huge risk to sink more money into a series that hasn’t proven itself. But Starz believed in the show so much that they’re willing to take a gamble — a nearly verboten word in the television industry — and push forward with even more episodes.
And you know what? That’s effing cool as hell.
Why? Because I know I’m not going to wind up heart-broken. I know the network isn’t going to pull the plug on the show just as soon as I become emotionally involved. But even more than that, I’m already inclined (sight unseen) to think Spartacus is a good show. Because in an industry dominated by quick-to-cancel or short-run-obsessed suits, the fact that Starz is comitted to this show is a rare vote of confidence. If the network is committed, then so I am I. It’s a long-term relationship! Let’s do this thing.
Sadly, so many great shows — like one of my faves, Privileged, which is pictured above next to Mr. Hot Chest from Spartacus — suffer from the perception that their network just wasn’t that into them. Others that come to mind: Firefly, Life, Reaper. There are zillions of others. When a viewer, like you or me, sees a show get stomped on by its network (moving its timeslot repeatedly, little or no promotion, etc.), we naturally start to lose interest. Against all odds, I stayed committed to Privileged, but the grim reaper claimed it anyway.
So kudos, in this instance, to Starz and Spartacus. I’ll be watching. PopWatchers, will you? Do you agree with me that the renewal move, while unexpected, is totally awesome?
More from EW.com:
This Just In: Starz renews ‘Spartacus’
Lucy Lawless joins cast of Starz’s ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’
Wanna see Lucy Lawless completely naked?
Meh. My chest looks like that… where’s my TV show?
You crack me up. I’ve started to search out your comments, Crispy.
as far as a marketing tool, i think it works excellently. i didn’t really have interest in watching it before, but after hearing this news i’ll be checking it out to see how good it really is.
The trailer alone did it for me.
The loss of Privileged was indeed a sad day. But for all those shows like Privileged, there’s a Friday Night Lights or Scrubs that finds a home on a network that actually backs them.
This is great news. The show looks great and it is nice to know that it won’t be yanked away from us after one season. I can’t wait to see Lucy Lawless back on my TV screen!
So is Reaper really over? Somebody get Ray Wise a new show pronto! One episode on Dollhouse is not enough Wise for this gal.
This news pushes me into the category of “will watch” rather then “might risk getting screwed”. This year seems an inprovement over the last decade = perhaps TV execs are finally getting the idea that people get *p_ssed off* when you cancel their shows – particularly only after a half-dozen airings. Why get invested? They have shown a lot more patience this year – and I think they got rewarded with better shows that improved in ratings as word of mouth spread. Now, all we have to do is convince them to give viewers a ‘parting gift’ of an actual series finale for all cancelled shows that made it a season (even if they get canned between seasons). It’s only respectful for viewers, and should improve the DVD sales regardless.
Just seeing the trailer made me interested (it’s kinda awesome) but this announcement sealed the deal. They get at least three episodes out of me to see if it’s any good as opposed to one and done. I’m kinda optimistic, especially since BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is dead and I need some good escapist TV.
don’t forget about caprica in january! that’ll ease your bsg fix a bit… i know it will mine!
the fact that steven deknight is one of the producers and both maurissa tancharoen and jed whedon are writers have already pulled me in. and i, too, have mourned the loss of one too many cancelled tv shows (privileged being one of them). i’m glad that a network can give this much support to one of their shows.
I think every show should be purchased for 24 eps and mid way through the netwrok needs to say okay your going to have a s2 so have a season finale or sry your not going to have a s2 so please write a series finale. That way everyone is happy!!!
I have loved most of the stuff the people behind the scenes have created, I love Lucy Lawless, and I saw a trailer for this before Avatar and the audience seemed to like it (it looked REEEALY good.) I’m glad it got renewed already, so you know they have at least 2 years to tell their story.
Maybe this means less time between seasons too. (Waiting on you, Party Down!)
I wonder if Chris Albrecht had any say on the decision. The timing of all this news is very interesting.
I do always wonder though, as someone who follows the progress of most TV shows very closely, if everyone else is the same. They perhaps keep up to date with the network news more keenly than they once would have thanks to the net, but surely there are still a lot of people who see a show advertised, watch it, and, apart from seriously hyped shows like Lost, don’t know whether it is or isn’t cancelled until the network starts advertising the “series” or “season” finale. I assume that that the network execs think that is most of the audience, or they wouldn’t keep people in suspense right up til the last, until the whole experience becomes so draining and such a distraction from enjoyment of the show itself that many viewers just decide not to get invested in the first place and the show is doomed from the off. The approach is especially bizarre when it comes to sci-fi shows, which thrive on immersion into the world on the part of the viewer – and that kind of immersion requires trust in both the creative and money end of things, and also a general sense of goodwill towards everyone involved. Just think how Scifi Channel’s (sorry, eurgh, Syfy’s) reputation has skyrocketed since Battlestar Galactica, because of the obvious amount of respect they had for the show. Then look at Fox after their disastrous and confused relationship with Joss Whedon. An incredibly important market for positive word of mouth has just been totally abandoned, and they are now seen by an awful lot of people as the “nasty network” – which cannot be doing their brand any favours. They got some kudos for giving Dollhouse a second chance despite dreadful ratings in the first esason, but since those awful ratings were partly a result of their refusal to trust the creatives in the first place, all that did was salvage some of the lost respect. In any case, what I’m saying is, I agree with the article. It is pretty unusual these days for that amount of faith to be shown in a new show, which is odd given that really it should seem like sheer common sense that any serialised show is going to need some breathing space to grow and you have to give it at least two seasons for that to happen. As evidenced by the current but tragic awesomness of Dollhouse. Sigh. Anyway. Looking forward to Spartacus.
Well, that’s a relief. Not because I care about the show– I’d been seeing stories about the renewal and I was wondering how I had never heard of this show before. Thought I was losing touch with my inner gay man for a minute there.