Spartacus

Classics clubs are agog as sword-and-sandal epics replace vampires as the trend du jour

The team of Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert that ruled first-run syndication a decade ago (Hercules, Xena) is trying to make a great big comeback. On November 1, they’ll premiere their attempt to bring back first-run syndicated series, Legend of the Seeker, a cleaned up version of Terry Goodkind’s “Sword of Truth” books. It’s the subject of a big New York Times article that allows the phrase “sweaty, half-naked hunk” to appear in the first paragraph of a Times piece. And they’re also working on a series for the Starz cable service “and its suite of channels” (kind of the cable equivalent of first-run syndication), a TV version of Spartacus. No word on what the subtitle will be, but you know that a Raimi/Tapert series has to have a cool subtitle like “The Legendary Journeys” or “Warrior Princess.” I suggest “Spartacus: Non-American Gladiator.”