The Tudors just got picked up for a third season slated to air in 2009. Production will begin June 16th in Dublin, Ireland and Jonathan Rhys Meyers will star once again as Henry VIII. Season three will follow Henry as he weds Jane Seymour and then Anne of Cleves. This really doesn't come as a surprise to me. The show, when it premiered in April 2006, garnered both a large audience and critical acclaim. In fact, the series and Rhys Meyers earned Golden Globe nominations. "The Tudors is now a fixture for us at Showtime and we're on our way to completing the entire saga of all six wives of Henry VIII," says President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt. He goes on, "We are enormously proud of this show, the extraordinary cast, and the production team that recreates the grandeur of the Renaissance year in and year out. There is nothing like this anywhere on American television."
I only have one question, Is season three the season they will make Rhys Meyers wear a fat suit? I love the JRM but come on, he doesn't look one bit like the real-life portly king that changed the political and spiritual landscape of England.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-22-2008 @ 8:50PM
Midnight13 said...
Everyone knows that Henry the VIII got fat, and I don't think Showtime can do the whole series and not address that at some point, yet I think Showtime is more intrested in showing the decadence of his lifestyle then worrying so much about certain historical accuracies that might hinder that portrayal.
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4-22-2008 @ 8:51PM
Mj said...
Henry actually didn't get fat until he was older. In his youth, and early manhood, he was fit, and exercised a lot. During his marriage to Anne, he developed a leg ulcer, which made it hard for him to ride a horse, or play tennis. It healed for awhile, but then came back. After Jane died, he started eating more, but during his marriage to Catherine Howard, he really porked up. It has always been a theory of mine that he was a diabetic.
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4-22-2008 @ 10:45PM
Kristin Sample said...
I thought he got fat during his marriage to Anne Boleyn. That's why I'm waiting for the fat suit.
7-18-2008 @ 3:44AM
Jas said...
By the time he married Anne of Cleves he was well over 300lbs. He was so massive when he died, that his body split and started pouring blood while in the horse drawn herse. The long foreseen proficy came true and his blood was liked up by dogs! "May the dogs one day drink the blood of this king who has shed so much innocent blood!" Man, Hollywood couldn't even come up with a better story.
4-22-2008 @ 10:33PM
Jim said...
I love the show myself... but please don't take anything shown in "The Tudors" as actual HISTORY. The entire timeline of this show is so far out of whack that nothing really makes any sense. Henry had two sisters, not one. He and Katherine were only 7 years apart (not 15 or 20 as implied by the show). Henry was 42 when he and Anne were married (does ANYONE think that JRM looks 42?). There's also no evidence that Thomas Tallis was gay, but that didn't stop the producers from giving him a "gay subplot".
Auuugh. As I say, I like the show. But I think of it more like "Melrose Place meets Renaissance Faire" than an actual history lesson.
PS - as others said, Henry VIII was, in fact, trim and handsome as a youth. In 1536 (at age 45) he was thrown from a horse and badly injured his leg. He gained a fair amount of weight during his recuperation, but really began to pack it on a few years later.
PPS - Just as HBO's "Rome" portrayed the world's most famous bald man - Julius Caesar - as having a head full of hair, now Showtime portrays the world's most famous redhead as a brunette!
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4-22-2008 @ 11:30PM
Kristin Sample said...
Great comments...
No, JRM doesn't look anywhere near his early forties. Did you catch the facial hair to make him look older?
I loved Rome too! I miss it still. The Tudors is a mediocre substitute for Rome.
And as for the redhead stuff, a few commenters on one of my reviews brought that up. Someone even said that the actor who played Buckingham should have been Henry. I think that's a good idea.
4-23-2008 @ 12:42AM
C C said...
So far, I've enjoyed the second season more than the first. This season feels more grounded, more believeable.
Last year's business with Henry's "sister", that is, the decision to fuse the two sisters into one, and then kill her off, drove me nuts. There's not going to be a Mary, Queen of Scots or a Lady Jane Grey in this particular Tudors universe-how silly. Fortunately, they've moved past that, and I liked how they had Anne showing her subjects the Tynsdale bible and inviting them to read it.
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4-23-2008 @ 8:49AM
Lizzy said...
I have seen the two seasons of The Tudors, I still like the first season best. I can say I was completely hooked by the first episode. Anyone agree that?
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4-23-2008 @ 2:19PM
William Whitaker said...
I'm sick of every critic complaining that Jonathan Rhys Meyers looks nothing like the fat old King Henry VIII. If you actually watched the show and knew a little bit of your history, you'd know that Henry VIII was actually in great shape and quite the athlete until he was hurt in a tournament in 1536. He was injuried very badly and his health was a great concern. The time he spent recovering and the recovery thereafter was what caused him to become obese. The current season of The Tudors is taking place in the year 1533. Therefore, although probably not nearly as attractive as JRM, King Henry VIII would most likely be comparable to him buildwise. I'll give you the fact that JRM is only 30 years old but it's not that far of a stretch from the 40 some odd years old that King Henry VIII was at this point in his life. We've seen much worse portrayals agewise on TV.
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4-24-2008 @ 5:43PM
Cold Chilli said...
I would love it if Jane Seymour had a part in the Tutors. Maybe as Jane's Aunt Jane :)
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4-28-2008 @ 1:39AM
Mab said...
I love the show the was it is. and it is soooo much better that Another Boleyn Girl. I have never seen any movie or tv show which would be 100% accurate. Anne Boleyn in Tudors has a blue eyes, however the real Anne had a famous deep brow eyes, female head dressings are wrong and etc. But who cares. For me it is more important to be able to relate to events in the show emotionally. If you want a history lesson, read the book, but I promiss that you wont find a 100% accuracy there either. I wish they continued the show through Elezabeth I, also showing the reign of Bloody Mary which had its own interesting moments.
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