Staying with pseudo-historical shows, Ancient Rome has become synonymous with blood, circuses and sex, thanks in large part to depictions of sexual depravity you have to be a politician to get away with in this day and age. The aptly named Rome only ran for two seasons between 2005-07, but that was more than long enough to incense the history buffs and excite your average viewer. HBO, who produced the show in conjunction with the BBC and Rai Fiction in Italy, have arguably had more influence than any other TV network in pushing the boundaries of what can and should be broadcast, and they took it to another level with this notoriously expensive effort. Rather surprisingly, it was the BBC that grand old institution of integrity and propriety that opted to re-edit the shows first three episodes into two in a move director Michael Apted called out as a blatant attempt to boost ratings by amplifying the sexual content and violence. Meanwhile, in the shows motherland of Italy some of the more explicit moments were cut out and replaced with alternative scenes specially filmed for the faint of heart, which gives you some idea of the controversy that surrounded Rome. If you like your TV shows safe and sanitised, youre better of watching something else. When in Rome you can fill in the blanks yourselves.
I watch movies and I watch sport. I also watch movies about sport, and if there were a sport about movies I'd watch that too. The internet was the closest thing I could find.
Staying with pseudo-historical shows, Ancient Rome has become synonymous with blood, circuses and sex, thanks in large part to depictions of sexual depravity you have to be a politician to get away with in this day and age. The aptly named Rome only ran for two seasons between 2005-07, but that was more than long enough to incense the history buffs and excite your average viewer. HBO, who produced the show in conjunction with the BBC and Rai Fiction in Italy, have arguably had more influence than any other TV network in pushing the boundaries of what can and should be broadcast, and they took it to another level with this notoriously expensive effort. Rather surprisingly, it was the BBC that grand old institution of integrity and propriety that opted to re-edit the shows first three episodes into two in a move director Michael Apted called out as a blatant attempt to boost ratings by amplifying the sexual content and violence. Meanwhile, in the shows motherland of Italy some of the more explicit moments were cut out and replaced with alternative scenes specially filmed for the faint of heart, which gives you some idea of the controversy that surrounded Rome. If you like your TV shows safe and sanitised, youre better of watching something else. When in Rome you can fill in the blanks yourselves.