stephaniedraven.com » Television

The NYT on the new Spartacus series

Stephanie Draven — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:42:53 +0000

The New York times has an interesting story on the upcoming Starz Television Show, Spartacus. They seem to imply that it's going to be all sex and gore. Maybe that's not a bad thing. I'm sure there are other lessons that the writers could have taken from HBO's Rome, but this is what they zeroed in on:

The show’s creators were also fans of “Rome,” and they say they learned two important lessons from that series. One was not to spend a fortune on building sets. (“Spartacus” relies instead on green-screen technology and C.G.I.) And the other was that their story line needed, like that of “Rome” to be character driven.

Spartacus…the series?

Stephanie Draven — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:11:44 +0000

HBO's Rome was some fantastic television, and Showtime is doing great with the Tudors, so why not. As long as it doesn't try to remake Kubrick's film--because seriously, the original Spartacus does not need to be remade--it could be pretty great. Here's the trailer for it. As an author of myth-inspired and historical fiction, I cheer and say bring on more of the Sword & Sandal epics!

I’m a Supernatural Fan Girl

Stephanie Draven — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:39:50 +0000

At first, the CW's hit television show, Supernatural, didn't sound like something I'd like. I'm not big on episodic monster-killing dungeon crawls and a story about two brothers running from the law in a muscle car sounded like a throwback to the Dukes of Hazard. But upon the wildly enthusiastic recommendations of my friends and family, I rented the first season I'd missed and popped in the disk. Now, one thing Supernatural knows how to do is grab viewers with a stunning premise. A mother walking into her baby's room to find a dark stranger standing over the crib...it's iconic. The very first few minutes of that very first episode were so gripping that I was hooked. Sure, that first season was a little rocky. It was hard to swallow the idea that our heroes lived off of stolen credit cards and fake IDs, but the whole thing went down a lot smoother when I realized...

Jonathan Jackson: The Fangirl Squeals, the Writer Cringes

Stephanie Draven — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:10:50 +0000

Okay, look. I'm not proud. When my sister and I were kids, we spent a summer with my grandmother, who got us hooked on ABC's General Hospital. As an author, I freely admit that soap operas are often smutty, trite, poorly written, and mind-boggling in their stupidity. However, I've been watching this show longer than I've been married and probably know some of the characters better than I know my husband. The residents of the fictional city of Port Charles are like those high school friends on Facebook that I never see in person anymore, but still manage to keep up-to-date with...

Is Flashforward Going to be the New Lost?

Stephanie Draven — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:35:47 +0000

Is ABC's Flashforward going to be the new Lost? Everyone seems to be asking this question, but they mean it in the good way. Yet, when I ask this question, it is with great trepidation...

New Movie based on HBO’s Rome?

Stephanie Draven — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:49:44 +0000

OMG, how did I miss this rumor? Apparently, Ray Stevenson (aka Pullo from HBO's Rome) has confirmed that a movie is in the works to bring the awesome show to the big screen. Oh, writers of Rome, I will overlook the travesty you made of Cleopatra. I will pretend you did not get many things wrong about Egypt. And I will even forgive you for presenting the Battle of Actium as a plume of smoke in the background of Mark Antony's rowboat. Come back to me, my love. I have missed you so...

Kevin McKidd to Play a Greek God

Stephanie Draven — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:43:08 +0000

Oh swoon! You know that HBO's Rome was my very favorite series evah! And I never doubted for a minute that a guy like Kevin McKidd was a minor sex god of some sort, but as it turns out, he's switching from the Latin team to the Hellenes. He's signed on to play Poseidon in the forthcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians movie, and this gives me even bigger incentive to be excited about this movie. It's a kid's film, but I assure you, some part of me will only be going to see Kevin McKidd's big shiny trident...

Greek Mythology in HBO’s True Blood

Stephanie Draven — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:32:03 +0000

When I heard that Clash of the Titans was going to be remade, I said that I like to think that this is going to be a good year for Greek Myth inspired fiction. Now that HBO's True Blood is getting in on the act, I'm even more hopeful.