Starz enters action TV arena with steamy "Spartacus"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It has violence, sandals, arguably the most graphic sex ever seen on U.S. television, and a second season already scheduled before its first episode even airs.

"Spartacus:Blood and Sand" arrives on Starz on Friday (Jan 22) in what the premium cable channel calls the most ambitious project it has ever undertaken in its drive to ramp up original programming alongside its feature movie staples.

The action-adventure series about an ancient Roman gladiator who leads a slave rebellion is billed as a story of intrigue, corruption, treachery and sensual pleasures, with "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi among the executive producer credits.

Shot in the style of a graphic novel using computer-generated imagery, it also features full-frontal nudity in what producers call a reflection of the carnality of the mighty Roman empire.

"Back in Roman times, there was a very different attitude to sex and less taboos," said head writer Steven S. DeKnight.

"It is beautifully shot. It is steamy, but it is not pornographic. The sex is always about power, love or loss. It is not sex for sex's sake," DeKnight said.

The buzzed-about 13-episode series, starring Australian newcomer Andy Whitfield as warrior hero Spartacus, is also dripping with blood.

"Sex and violence go together like peanut butter and chocolate," said DeKnight. "Blood and death was part of being Roman."

Trailers for the series were shown in U.S. movie theaters in December and days later Starz ordered a second 13-episode season. DeKnight told TV reporters over the weekend that he hoped the series would run for "five, six, seven years."

"Spartacus" is the centerpiece of Starz's winter offerings as the cable channel builds up its original programming slate under newly-appointed chief executive Chris Albrecht, formerly of HBO.

In his years with HBO, Albrecht gave the final go-ahead to Emmy-winning shows such as "Sex and the City", "The Sopranos" and "Entourage" that established HBO as a major creative force in U.S. television drama.

In April, Starz premieres a new dark comedy series "Gravity", about characters in a suicide support group, and the second season of "Party Down" about a handful of struggling dreamers working for a California catering company.

"These are three shows that are distinct from each other and distinct from shows on other networks," Albrecht said. "It is a rewarding opportunity for us to get to see what is working."

Starz is a unit of Liberty Media Corp.

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