TVSquad

Director Barry Sonnenfeld's (Men in Black, Get Shorty) is helming Kingdom, a new pilot for CBS that takes place in medieval times. The series will focus on four friends, one of which learns he's the heir to the throne. However, he'd rather get drunk and chase damsels than act like a king.

Sonnenfeld is also executive producing Pushing Daisies, a pilot for ABC from Bryan Fuller (Heroes) about a man who can bring people to life by touching them. Sonnenfeld was also a producer for the short-lived, live-action version of The Tick. Pushing Daisies also stars Chi McBride, Kristin Chenoweth and Lee Pace.

I have often said that all television falls into two categories, good and bad. However, I have recently discovered that television can also be categorized as classic and non-classic. But there's a catch.

When I was growing up, there wasn't a lot of good TV due to the fact that there were only three networks (four if you count PBS, which I certainly didn't). Consequently, local affiliates had no choice but to fill their daytime schedules with reruns of popular sitcoms like The Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island and The Monkees. These shows and shows like them have become classics almost by default. Bottom line: when an entire generation can sing the theme song of a show, it's a classic.

So, it turns out Henry VIII isn't just that portly guy at the Renaissance Faire with a gigantic turkey leg greasing up his maw. He was an athletic would-be humanist with an over-the-top appetite for sex and a body hard enough to qualify him for gay porn, or at least, that's how Showtime's The Tudors, the latest in bodice-ripping historical dramas, portrays him.

Holy history porn. If you dig Rome, and Deadwood does it for your fictive nonfiction-loving self, then Showtime's The Tudors may be right up your alley. It's a journey through Henry VIII's kingship and many, many marriages with more tits, ass, intrigue and bloody violence than you can shake a royal stick at.

Showtime is offering a VIP preview of The Tudors' first two episodes online. (The password is "king.") The series, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, premieres on Sunday, April 1st at 10PM. The series focuses primarily on the king's affair with Anne Boleyn, his obsession with producing a male heir and the political intrigue of the court. And, did I mention that it's essentially softcore for the Anglophile set?

[Via Pop Candy]