Showtime Gives The Tudors the Hollywood Treatment

The most popular image of King Henry the VIII is one of the rotund monarch surrounded by a table full of food. He is draped in the finest material and animal furs. There is nothing of the young king who excelled at jousting and hunting. It is the young King Henry that we see in Showtime's new drama The Tudors, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the King.

Set in the Renaissance, the show features a young King Henry VII in the early years of his reign. Royal intrigue, romance and sexual content have led some online critics to label the show as a period style "Young and the Restless." The show features language and heavy nudity. As it is not a theatrical release, it is not rated, but the material is for adults. The show has also been criticized for taking liberties with historical facts. The actors cast do not bear a physical resemblance to their characters, and that has some history buffs up in arms. The casting of Golden Globe Winner Jonathon Rhys Meyers is a particular sore spot with many critics if the show.

Rhys Meyers portrays a King Henry that most audiences are unfamiliar with. Although he bears no resemblance to the tall, red-haired king, Rhys Meyers performs admirably in the role. His King Henry is startlingly human, but eerily menacing. For the first time, viewers are given a glimpse at the man who married six women, and was so eager to marry that he broke with the Roman Catholic Church and took the whole of England with him. In the first three episodes of the series is shown with multiple mistresses while his wife watches helplessly.

Many see "The Tudors" as Showtime's attempt to mimic HBO's successful series "Elizabeth I" and "Rome." Some fans of both shows have publicly mocked the series on Internet message boards, but the critics and other fans have been quick to embrace the show and it's stars. In addition to Rhys Meyers, the series stars Natalie Dormer as the ill-fated Anne Boleyn, Sam Neill as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Jeremy Northam as Sir Thomas More and Gabrielle Anwar as Princess Margaret.

The first two episodes of the ten episode series are available to DirecTV subscribers and are also available for free viewing on the official website and on Amazon.com's Internet Movie Database. The series is also available to rent immediately after the original air date at Netflix.