Huh--Carnivale and Deadwood are my two favorite HBO shows. Let's make it a plan never to watch tv together then. :p

I thought it was pretty decent. It doesnt seem to have many standout characters as of yet. But hey you can only do so much with them when you are trying to introduce 15 diffrent people in an hour. It was plenty good enough to keep me watching for atleast a few more weeks.

I think it has a lot of potential, and if it doesn't at least they have the nudity. I am also a fan of the two soldiers, and will continue watching.

Ditto.

I love ancient history and after the atrocious Empire it's good to see something with class and substance - gravitas, if you will.

Now...let's keep Keifer Sutherland out of this... :)

Good spot. I was proud recognizing Caesar from Patriot Games, Pompey from Layer Cake, and Octavian from Master & Commander.

And Rick Warden (LT Harry Welsh) from Band of Brothers plays Pompey's son. Though he didnt show up in the first ep.

OK...in the Roman Epic scale with I Claudius being a 10 and the dubbed B-grade Italian Sword and Sandal epics being a 1 where do you rank this show?


I say a strong 6 for the premire, with potential to hit the top spot if done right.


BTW, does anyone know if this is the time period the show plans on sticking with for the entire run, or like I claudius, are we going to see 100+ years by the time were done? Having Augustus as a child for the series entire run would be strange.

It was pretty good; lukewarm as some others said, but I heard it doesn't really get going until the 4th episode.

Hmmmm. So I guess we shouldn't post a reaction at all until the 5th or 6th episode? The hard reality of television, especially when we have 9,205 different channels to choose from is that a new show should pretty well grab you in quick or you run a real risk of losing that potential audience for good.

For the same reason I felt underwhelmed (and am apparently being criticized for not giving it enough time) how could you say "sign me up" after just one hour? Shouldn't that reservation of judgement go both ways, or does it just apply to those that don't like it immediately?

I do think it has a lot of potential, but for a series premiere...-yawn-. I'm sure it will get better, which is why I am giving it a couple more viewings.

Downloading it now to check out. I miss my HBO. :(

I liked it a lot.

Certainly worlds better then ABC's craptacular Empire.

Looking forward to the future episodes.

I agree with one of the previous comments: when the new Fall season starts, a show has to grab the viewer with something at the very beginning or risk losing them to something else. There's always something else in September and October.

The pilot didn't do much for me either.

"The show has to grab you right away," this is a deadly formula for episodic television and most film in general. I personally feel this is the attitude that keeps Michael Bay rich.

I really enjoyed the premiere. I found it pretty compelling, and am starting to get to know the characters. Thank god HBO isn't as ruled by ratings as Networks, and can let a show find its audience. If everybody thinks this show is awesome by the 5th episode, then everyone who found it boring is going to go back and try to rewatch the first 4. Then the DVD sales will be huge, etc.

HBO is the only place I can watch shows that aren't totally catering to the 18-25 demographic.

As far as a new show "grabbing" you, I was instantly impressed with <i>The Sopranos</i>, <i>Six Feet Under</i>, and <i>Deadwood</i>. While I don't expect every show to be as immediately likable as those, it doesn't hurt, since I watch so little TV that I'll drop a show on a moment's notice. My wife was quite taken with <i>Rome</i>, so I'll be watching it with her for at least a few more episodes.

That's what I've read as well. So long as you stick with it past the first 3 episodes, viewers will be rewarded.

I enjoyed it quite a bit and plan on rewatching the premiere. Having learned about Rome via Art History and Military History classes in college my interest was quite satisfied, by the forthcoming political intrigue, the depiction of the culture, and the production design (all that white marble was indeed painted).

Did anyone else make a correlation between the girl's pose on the bed (can't recall her name; the one that divorced her husband to marry Pompey) and this famous statue of Romulus and Remus:

http://library.ucsc.edu/slides/decou....474.0929r.jpg

It was odd seeing everyone call him by his birth name, I did not think anyone used his real since he was 3 or so.

By the way, we have a new TV series genra, created this summer.

The 'Octavious in Peril' epic!

Yep. :up:

Actually he did not receive the name (title) Augustus until after the battle of Actium, when he was in his 30's.

I was referring to "Little Boots", Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Or was that not the kid on the horse?

Octavian and Caligula were different people. Caligula was born more than 60 years after the events of the show last night.

Unlike Empire, Rome gets the guy's name right: Octavian, not Octavius.