I'm suprised that no one has started a thread for this. I was expecting to come into work on Monday and find that there was a discussion well underway since this show kicked off Friday evening. Anyhoo....so here are my initial thoughts...

They are trying *way* too hard to be 300 the series. And I'm not talking about the soldiers who go off to war wearing basically just their underwear and a few bits of armor. Instead, I'm refering to the huge amounts of...well fake blood. And by fake, I'm not speaking of corn surup, but instead the "animated" blood. Was it me or did it just not look like computer blood, but looked like animated, comic book blood (think 300 credits, not movie proper).

Along this same line, the backgrounds looked *very* computer...and not in the slick or fantastical sort of way, but instead of "lets up a blue screen up and save on set design." Maybe it will look better in the next episodes.

As per all the flesh that is on screen...it was graphic to the point of being...well overly graphic. The main character & his wife have sex twice on screen. Pretty much everything is seen minus him actually inside of her (or him erect for that matter). And then there was full frontal female nudity, and *plenty* of boobs...as in like everyone. The prospect of seeing Xena's nudity kinda freaks me out. It seemed more like soft-core porn...as in the story was just sort of in the way, and the flesh was put there to drag the viewer along. I am a *BIG* fan of Rome, and that show was graphic, but ultimately it was the story that pulled the viewer along...not the sex/flesh. Rome didn't shy away from anything sexual, but it certainly wasn't the focus.

So ultimately I think that the show has potential to be good if it can find its own footing. If it can stop being 300, Rome, and Gladiator...it may be good.

~Jeordam