Cool News
Is HBO About To Launch A New Sci-Fi Series - Set In Ancient Rome??!!
I am – Hercules!!
This is from an untested source, but sounds too crazy not to be true:
Herc,
Longtime reader, here with a scoop I picked up on through friends of
this new show's lead actor. Apparently, HBO has been developing a new
series called 'The Centurion'. It takes place in Rome during the height
of the empire. The interesting thing is that the story focuses on the
idea that aliens regularly visited and encouraged the civilization
there. From what I know, the contracts are all being signed now and the
show is practically a go for shooting the end of this year into next, for
a fall release. You can call me thedefiantone!
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Cool, but whaaa???
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That's what it sounds like.
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maybe they can film it in front of a live studio audience in a "Wacky Sit-Com" format and say fuck a lot...that'd be rad.
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he says "Um no don't believe any of this bullshit."
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Just do Season 2 of Rome and get on with it. And renew the Wire for another season while you're at it too. Please. Pretty please.
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Many years ago a UK based comic,200AD,ran a strip vey similar to this idea.The story was based in Roman times and told the tale of a Nubian slave ,captured by aliens and trained as a gladiator.
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Since H.B.O. is doing an upcoming Vampire Drama maybe it is True?
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This will be quickly followed by a series about aliens who invade a small, seedy mining town in the Old West, and then a series where aliens buy a carnival and ride around on a ferris wheel. After that, a series about four female aliens who like to endlessly chat about their sex lives in metropolitan restaurants. That one will be called "Old Sets and the City."
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Oooh, yeah, an aincient rome series - we already have one of those, how can we make it new, exciting and original... i know, add aliens! PULEASE!
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retcon season 1 with a few flashbacks that show aliens manipualting all the events and bada bing!!!
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...or I get rid of HBO. I can see the "Soprano's," on Netflix. Who's with me?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azo8heDmNoQ
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And if you get that reference, congradulations on being an eighties kid.
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Sounds like a winning pitch to me!
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the stolen Philip K. Dick android.
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Hey, I saw the "Bring Back Deadwood" post and so I figured when in Rome....
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... pay for this shit, but not fund a Preacher series? This is garbage.
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batshit crazy is what this is. everyone knows the romans got pretty much all their ideas from the greeks. why attribute it to aliens?
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HBO needs to bring back 1st and Ten.
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Ever thing of that? Eh? And a Nubian was someone from Nubia. Damn word always makes me think "nubile".
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I thought the reason HBO got rid of Rome and Deadwood was to cut costs and concentrate on shows with cheap modern-day settings. If that is not the case why not just keep on doing Rome and Deadwood? Despite the costs, they have proven to be popular and well received. WHy risk so much on THIS batshit premise?
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and Deadwood. But Carnivale is better than Deadwood, especially after watching the recent Deadwood season finale.
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There is no way in hell this is true.
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I love Norton and want to fuck the shit out of the wife who is the voice of Bobby Hill but that show is about as funny as a miscarriage
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Utila trade reports this I won't believe it, but i trally hope it isn't true as it sounds bollocks. Along with Ball's Vampire show and Milch's new show, all they need is a 5th season of the wire and make a series out of either Preacher or the Walking Dead. A TV Zombie serial is waaay overue.
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It would certainly explain why aliens are so hung up on anal probes.
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its hilarious, and not because they say F*ck alot either...i guess you'd have to be in a relationship to get it so most of you net geeks wouldn't understand. (j/k) however, for those of us who have girlfriends and wives, its right on the money.
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By recycling costumes and sets?
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Thick Stargate angle, but hey...they probably figure if they're gonna break the bank producing a 100m series, they might as well reuse the sets for something else. You can do alot with the premise, but it needs to have some fresh angle to it. We don't need some aliens coming down and pulling the whole "Jaffa Kree!" shtick.
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Why not create a scifi series in the old west where the greys use Als girls as breed'n stock, or whatever. Just double up the use of sets so they can justify renewing DeadWood.
While there at how 'bout a scifi series set in depression era traveling carnival... -
Then how the fuck can Rome meets ET be an affordable alternative? Oh who am I kidding if it's on HBO Sunday night I'll watch it anyway.
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This sounds too much like an Eddie Izzard routine to me. Look for Caesar to be called "Mister Dog," and for funerals to involve twanging bodies into trees.
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what the subject said
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Aug 31, 2006 7:47:14 PM CDT
This is how studios churned out those old movie serials
by orbots commander
They'd use the pre-existing sets of their larger productions and make cheesy action cliff hanger serials. The Romans vs. The Flying Saucers? Sounds lame.
What's next HBO, aliens visit suburban New Jersey and The Bada-bing? -
Wow. Must say that it's a pretty interesting idea. Actually, any HBO/sci-fi combination sounds intriguing. With Deadwood, Rome, Sopranos, etc. dying or ending, they really could use a different genre like sci-fi (carnivale doesn't count). They've covered a lot of other stuff already like the old west, rome, the mafia, polygamism(sp?), cops, etc. and there aren't too many things they've yet to do. As things stand right now, The Wire is the only reason I still even have the damn channel.
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roman centurions with laser swords! julius caesar as a cyborg! with augustus as his clone! seriously, did HBO suddenly run out of decent ideas all of a sudden? this sounds like something a 6 year old would think up. maybe they should try and emulate BSG - i reckon Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is ripe for a gritty reboot.
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There has been evidence for tens of thousands years that we have been visited by non-human intelligences...a fact governments around the world have hidden from the masses. What these beings are...and where they are from, who knows. Now, back to the subject at hand...I do remember a series proposal for a James Marsters (Buffy/Angel/SmallVille)series which was to feature the actor playing one of thousands of a captured Roman Legion who were abducted by aliens and augmented to fight their wars for them during the anchient days of Earth. Later, in the future, the abducted centurions killed their alien captors and set course for Earth where they planned to take over the existing Earth forces...and re-establish the Roman Empire!!! Sounded like a great idea...but I have heard nothing of it since...That was about 7 months ago. This HBO production sounds like a rip-off of that series, if only regarding aliens interacting with, and influencing anchient Roman culture.
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I tend to think that an ancient Rome / zombie crossover would make a good standalone made for HBO movie - picture Night of the Living Dead, but there are no guns, only swords. If you try to do Roman legions + Aliens David Drake is going to sue and that will be very disruptive. Especially since judging by Metalwater's post a pitch based on Drake's work has already been making the rounds - that plot is almost exactly from a Drake novel - Ranks of Bronze, maybe?
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This sounds too much like the series proposal that I was eluding to...so it seems like someone involved with, or with access to development materials for that show, took it to HBO in some rivised version. In fact, I know that the series I refered to was going into the pilot stage of production...for a bow in syndication.
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I just did a Yahoo search on Ranks Of Bronze...turns out the both the HBO project and the syndicated series project have to be based on, or inspired by the book...Ranks Of Bronze!!! Thanks Fluffy.
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Who's witing this? Shirley McClaine? Bunch of dim wits!
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Carnivale died to make room for stuff like this.
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...is really gay. But we should all keep using the phrase anyway. I'm sure it will become funny at some point. It's GOT to. I mean, the repetition schtick seems to work for the Family Guy...
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But I don't think this is it. This feels a little inbred for my taste, like the multiple CSIs L&As. I'm disappointed that they never did the Red Mars Mini-Series that they had planned. Now that I would be interested in.
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"Height of the empire"? Aliens? Perhaps the mysterious Star Wars TV project? The prequels did end up on HBO.
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meh.
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Book One is complete (Seasons I/II),
now do Book Two-Three! The creator of the show was assured that he would be able to tell the whole story! GRRRRR! -
This reminds me of that. Those books were awesome....though here they've substituted ancient Rome for Troy. Done right, this might be interesting.... Whoa! What am I saying? Didn't mean to get optimistic in a talkbalk. Sorry all.
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I hope this is horseshit. If the second season of Rome is going to be the last and shorter than the first, at 10 eps, then why the hell make a new show about Rome with aliens?? Makes no fucking sense. Keep Rome for a couple more seasons if that is the case. They are cancelling Rome because it was too expensive to produce. But to go and make a show that seems like it will use more money is rediculous. I'm guessing the dumbasses think they can reuse the sets and stuff. I hope to god they just keep Rome and not do the Rome meets Aliens thmed show. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
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sorta - but like, in reverse.
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Fuck this new show and finish Carnivale. Way to branch out, HBO... Two shows out of your like 8 or 9 happen to be set in Ancient Rome? Lame.
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Bring back Carnivale. Finish the story lines!! I would resubscribe back to HBO just for this. HBO hasn't had anything remote interesting to me since then.
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Sep 01, 2006 12:02:40 AM CDT
I agree finish Carnivale. However, this could be okay
by herculesisapussy
HBO had better keep up the creativity and not become a depot for Dane Cook or Lucky Louie bullshit. That's just crap. On the face of it, this show sounds like it could be very interesting.
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But, I'm not going to eat it, step on it or watch it dry. Just like this show..
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I don't need them for my movies, and they've aborted two shows in the middle of the story.. Whether it's HBO's and/or Milch's fault.. Whatever. I can get this kind of bullshit treatment from FOX for free. HBO = Hearst. Deadwood = HBO customers. There. :P
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follow your orders, ensign.
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I've never seen an episode of the show. Hear it's really good if you give it a few episodes. Is it worth renting? I'm laid up in bed for a couple weeks with nothing to do. I've already finished the first season of Rome on dvd, which is one of the best box sets HBO has ever released btw, and I'm looking for something else to watch.
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Deadwood, the greatest television show this planet has ever seen is cancalled, Rome is cancelled after this season - all becuase of $$$$$$$$ - but theyre going to spend all this money on a show about aliens visiting Rome.
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Ill never bother investing in another HBO show.
Whats the point if theyre just gonna cancel them like everyone else and we never see the show reach its conclusion.
Carnivale second season was great killing Deadwood is unforgivable.
If youve cancelled HBO, please go here and add yoru name.
http://www.hbonomo.com/
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Let's look at the situation for HBO dramas. The 7th and last season of the Sopranos starts (in theory) in March. The 2nd and last season for Rome starts in January. Deadwood's 4th and last season (which will only be 4 episodes long) will air in the not too distant future. The Wire (set to last 5 seasons) is entering its 4th season on September 10th. That leaves Big Love as the sole HBO drama with an extended future (again in theory). Comedy wise HBO is similarly in trouble. Curb Your Enthusiasm is currently filming its 6th and final season. Thus leaving only Entourage, Lucky Louie, and Extras (which only airs 6 episodes a season to begin with). Thus HBO needs to create quite a bit of programming if they are to maintain the standard of quality they have set over the last decade or so. They better hurry up True Blood, John From Cincinnati, and Sex Life.
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And I'm assuming that having spent $100 million on TWELVE EPISODES, HBO is just trying to get more bang for their buck by reusing the sets. To those of you haven't watched ROME, get your ass down to Blockbuster.
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Viva unoriginality!
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In fact, I was very surprised to see it get a second season, considering how expensive it was. Besides, all of season 1 told a self-contained, satisfying story that was basically more like a 12 part miniseries than a regular show. That said, I am very happy they're bringing it back because there's still plenty more juice left in the story (even without aliens). As for DEADWOOD, I have heard forever that it was so great and I finally watched the first episode (which came with my DVD of ROME) and all I could think was "Meh...". I mean, if you want a show where the word fuck is uttered approximately 2,312 times a minute, then it's definitely for you. But otherwise, I'm not sold on it...
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The thought of HBO doing a sci-fi series makes me practically cum in my pnats but this idea sounds reee-tarded. Just make the Deadwood movies assholes. And the alan Ball vampire stuff. speaking of vampires. Anybody see Blade this week. Creepy vampire serial killers rule even if it was a "creature of the week" episode.
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literally
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It's the creator who gave up on it to focus on his new surfer show "Joe From Cincinnati."
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Some nice toads, lizards, flying cube or other wacky stuff would be great.
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I felt the exact same way when I had watched the first episode... but I highly recommend watching up to at least episode 5 before making a final decision... by then i was completely won over by Deadwood. Awesome show, sad to see it go.
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How about mafia-aliens in New Jersey! Or a family of aliens who run a funeral home/human-processing plant in LA, you could start every ep with an abduction which whites out to show the "taken" date. Or aliens in a prison divided by species and containing loads of anal-probing.
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Necrophilia and the City anyone? In all seriousness though, Zombies in Rome is a cool concept, whoever said that. I'm sick of zombies getting gunned down, I want some sword-on-zombie action!
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a Y The Last Man series, as well as a 100 Bullets or Fables series. If not HBO, Showtime or F/X. I'd love to see Y The Last Man made.
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When is that suppose to air? Sounds interesting.
What HBO needs to do is stop cancelling thier shows so quickly. All thier dramas are really good if you give them a half a season to a season to mature. For some reason they all take a few episodes to get rolling. Sopranos took me about 4 episode, Deadwood 3 or 4, Six Feet Under about 5. Rome I loved but you can definetly tell that the first 3 are not as good as the rest and Episode 8-12 are some of the best episodes HBO has ever aired. Carnivale I haven't watched but plan to shortly. This is the downfall of HBO. They can't have a series start out hot. All thier shows start out lukewarm at best but somehow mold into some great drama on tv. I'm guessing they start out slow since they have no reason to start out going 100mph since they dont have commercial sponsers to worry about. Well, they need to change the way they think because it's not really helping them and it's pissing thier fans off. Lets take Rome for example. The budget came out to about 70 million for the first season. This included scripts, sets, costumes, etc. However, 3 episodes into shooting they realized that they didn't know where they were going. As a result they shut down production for 3 months to rework scripts and such. That 3 month hiatus cost them 30 million dollars. Thats $30 million for just a delay. Luckily they managed to find something special. Watching them all over you can tell there was a stop and start, in terms of story progression. Rome really didn't hit it's stride until about episode 7 or 8. Episode 8 was the one of the best episodes of the season, along with 11 and 12. Now, after spending $100 million, most on sets and costumes, and 30 million for the delay, they decide to just do 10 more episodes and cut costs. WHAT THE FUCK!?!? The second season could only cost less than 40 million to produce, expensive I'm sure but if they do 3 or 4 seasons they would certainly make a pretty substantial profit, especially after the dvds are released.
You can also apply the "Rome Costs" formula to Deadwood. Historical, sets there, costumes there, they just have shitloads of actors to pay. And to be fair, HBO isn't cancelling Deadwood, it's creator is to try out "new things", which means he got bored.
That is the downfall of HBO. Purposful slow starts and then they wonder why they don't get ratings right away before the real meat of the stories kick in. -
where it's revealed Emperor Claudius was in fact an alien love child, thus explaining his defects
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Showtime was doing this show.
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He has just published his third book of Flannimals(called flannimals in the sea). Extras 2 was the real reason he was with Punch and judy....im mean richard and judy and to show off his emmy for exec producer. The office has now won six awards. What people in the UK will be stunned to hear is that in first episode of extras(this time set in the world of TV Situation comedy) the first guest in the series is CHEGGARS. Keith Chegwin. and Gervias said it was the best thing he and merchant have done. Even better than the stuff in the office. Will it better be good, ricky. Gervais is over rated. Gervais's comedy you watch with your hands over your face. in other words it is cringe-inducing. I think Gervais should give serious acting a go. Really I think he should. EXtras is a HBO BBC co-production. Extras returns to BBC 2 on the 14th of september. Bowie is also due to star.
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was the equivalent of your annual Christmas movie Turkey. Big, fat expensive. Liked by a minority of folks. defeathered, plucked, beaten and stuffed, grilled and flambeyd by everone else. Rome bombed. simple as that.
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FCC-fascititis. They make a show in the future and then the FCC go NUDITY, PROFANITY AND ON TV. This cannot be allowed and FCC Pull in HBO, slap a 150,000 dollar fine on them and are told to cut the bad lingo, the nudity etc. So the once great HBO withers a dies. ANd all because of the FCC. Bastards.
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I just watched all of Rome. It is fun television. I recommend it to anyone. Be warned though - it has one very bad habit that I think may have hurt it: it has two characters, Titus Pullo and Verenus who are not historical figures but who have ways of causing historical events happen. By the end I wanted to start a drinking game based on Titus Pullo making history. As long as you can handle that though the show is great.
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Caesar himself wrote of Titus and Verenus. While the show obviously extends and builds legends around them, they were in fact real people. Appreantly Titus Pollo and Verenus were two soldiers who did not get along very well. At one point when they were in the midst of battle, Pollo was in grave danger surrounded by enemies and fighting bravely. Verenus hacked his way to him and they fought their way out, to the cheer of the Roman Army, and became the best of comrades. Caesar wrote down this event in one of his writings. Cool huh?
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Its hard to find information about Titus & Vorenus on the net, so I can see why some would be confused as to their historicity. Their tale isn't something they teach you in high school. Most libraries have De Bello Gallico, written by Caesar, in some form.
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It's not like Milch is working on his new show for some other network.. His working on his new show for HBO! And HBO is letting him drop the ball on Deadwood?
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1) Learn to write. 2) HBO is not suffering from "FCC-fascititis"; it's suffering from an uncertain future regarding its original programming. 3) HBO is pay cable. Pay cable is outside the domain of the FCC. Therefore HBO is not in any danger of getting fined by the FCC. If pigs start flying and the FCC does manage to get control over pay cable, they will fine HBO a lot more than $150,000.
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I do not subscribe to HBO but have watched Sopranos, Deadwood, Curb you Enthusiasm, Carnival and Rome. I LOVE these shows. Finishing ROME tonight-I am hooked to it and am dreading seeing Ceaser killed. These series are just so far ahead of the game but are not a model for network TV. This is Adult stuff. One of the reasons they work so well besides Acting, the sets, the costumes, the writing, the action, the sex, etc is they dont pull their punches and are uncensored. The other reason they work so well is they END. The dont overstay their welcome season after season after season after season after season...go good, look at the shitfest that is ER or any soap. Nothing is special AFTER your used to it. Nothing. In love? Give it 5 years-still might be love but it aint the rush it was. I like the fact that their season come to a conclusion quickly so they dont have to resort to gimmics, stars leaving, bad writing, ect. Always leave em wanting more.
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I agree with all of uberman's analyses of HBO original programming.
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It was called "The Time Tunnel" and the aliens were silver - just like the Tin Man, only not as friendly and they were trying to alter our fine history - bastards!
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This doesn't sound anything like Time Tunnel....
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Actually he was a Roman centurian, Megily. The strip was called Black Hawk if I remember correctly.
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I wanted to find out some info on these guys during the first season of rome, and wikipedia seems to have all the answers. Are you shattering my reality by insinuating that THEY are indeed a work of fiction? Do tell..
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No, no, I was just stating that before Rome there was not much known to the general public of Titus & Vorenus. I stated that they appeared in De Bello Gallico by Caeser, but before Rome they were not generally known to the public.
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