Should Starz Find a New Spartacus?

Bad things happen to good shows all too often.  In fact, the deck is almost stacked against genuinely well-written, shot and acted shows just starting out. 

You've got networks flinching at concepts and storylines that might make advertisers squeamish (FOX' Virtuality and NBC's Kings) or alienate key demos (New CW series Nikita rates well - with the wrong demo).  And even if a show has the potential to hit all its marks, so many new shows launch in the jam-packed last two weeks of September, it's easy to miss a diamond in the rough (Watch Lone Star on FOX tonight).

This is where cable is a godsend.  Starz provided plenty of non-broadcast network-restricted room for showrunner and writer Steven S. DeKnight to let his brilliant, twisted storytelling unfold in an hour long televised orgy of bacchanal sex scenes, expletive laden Roman mythology and stylized arterial spray.  And surprise, surprise, Spartacus: Blood and Sand proved to be a hit as one of the net's early forays into original programming. 

Unfortunately, it's not just ratings and advertisers that can lead to a show's demise.  It's easy to forget that the actors who play these larger-than-life characters, like Spartacus' Andy Whitfield, the seemingly indestructible titular Thracian warrior, are but mere mortals, susceptible to the same life-threatening illnesses we all are. 

We can bemoan the lesser episodes of our favorite shows or debate over whether a series has gone on too long but when news that Michael C. Hall and Andy Whitfield, actors so closely associated with their respective shows that they probably get referred to by their characters' name more than their own, are diagnosed with cancer, it sort of snaps us out of our obsessive analysis of plot minutiae and forces us to look at the big picture. 

What's Dexter without Michael C. Hall?  Hopefully, we'll never have to think about that but in the case of Spartacus, sadly, the need for Andy Whitfield to treat his Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma has taken precedence over continuing with the series.

It seemed Whitfield's health had improved while the show was on hiatus.  With his cancer in remission, he and the rest of the cast were in good spirits at the Spartacus Comic-Con panel this past July and seemed optimistic about the upcoming season. 

Then Whitfield's health took a turn for the worse and now Starz is faced with a decision no network ever wants to make - cancel a hit show after just one season or take a chance on recasting the lead and going ahead with a series that may fail to return to its former glory after such a long break and a new star. 

Of course no one wants a Spartacus: Blood and Sand without Andy Whitfield.  The cast, crew and fans have made that clear in recent interviews and on assorted message boards and Facebook pages. 

And if you watched the "Gladiator Boot Camp" feature on the season one DVD release, you've got to applaud the Brit, who underwent a grueling training process to prepare for the role.  To be sure, it's going to take a very tenacious and motivated man to fill Andy Whitfield's shoes.  But the reality is, that while he is the centerpiece of the series, waiting for his health to improve is not an option for the show's staff, which will inevitably need to move on to other projects.

So the network finds itself at a crossroads.  Recast or cancel.  Andy Whitfield, class act that he is, has given his blessing to DeKnight and Starz continuing on with the series and a new lead.  But ultimately, it's a business decision for the network and one that in my opinion is clear: On with the show.

There's a lot of talk of this being the "golden age" of television and I think most of that "gold" is coming from original cable programming.  AMC and FX lead the pack but other players are emerging, like Starz, TNT and USA. 

Starz had a potential breakout hit in Party Down but the show didn't catch fire after the first season and the departure of Jane Lynch sealed its fate.  Starz' other recent attempt an original series, Crash, did just that and the mini-series Pillars of the Earth had a pretty quiet run this summer. 

With Torchwood: The New World and Camelot slated for next year, the network is definitely taking a genre bend, which Spartacus proved there's an audience for. 

Not to take anything away from Andy Whitfield's fantastic portrayal of the gritty Thracian gladiator, but the show's appeal transcends its great leading man.  For a historically rooted fantasy, Spartacus fires on all cylinders and has made a noticeable impression on viewers as far as the kind of programming Starz can deliver.  Add to that fact recent talk of bringing back Lucy Lawless in the role of Lucretia and you can see there's options for continuing with this series, in several different directions if not the orignal course.

With the prequel, Gods of the Arena set to roll out in January, Starz may opt to gauge it's performance as well as interest in the just-released season one DVD and Blu-ray, but with no information on deals and contracts with the network we really don't know. 

As the network and those involved with the show's production attempt to sort it all out, we'll have to hold tight with best wishes for both Andy Whitfield and the show he helped make a hit.

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