"Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" - different gladiator, same sex and violence. Starz' deliciously decadent"”salacious, violent, often flat-out brutal"”"Spartacus: Blood and Sand" recently went on extended hiatus, leaving its legions of loyal fans "jonesing" for their weekly doses of decapitation and bare breasts. The Spartacus team satisfied fans' craving with "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena," a six-episode prequel to the continuing saga of Batiatus and Associates. Starting with a flashback montage of "Blood and Sand's" greatest hits, more precisely Batiatus's life flashing before his eyes in the moment before his death, "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" shows Batiatus's rise to prominence and power with the assistance and support of his all-pro gladiator Gannicus. Because these stories represent "a more ruthless time"¦where honor was just finding its way into the arena," the writers and producers feel free to elaborate and experiment with their already-established characters, and they feel similar artistic license with super-slow-motion gore and fun-fantasy sex. They clearly are perfecting their craft. One particularly insightful viewer concluded his review of "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" with a sage observation: "I think that's one of the smart decisions putting it on a Friday night since it's an ideal end of the work week thing to watch."

Mad Men, Magic City and The Playboy have landmarked the "fashion" for television series depicting midst of the 20th century in some romanticized and embellished way which is not surprising (it's hard to believe that series showcasing the real 50-60th life could gain some success). Vegas looks exactly like next one in row of abovementioned TV shows, telling a story about a very typical Sheriff, Ralph Lamb, confronting the evil personalized in a typical Italian mobster Vincent Savino. The character of Sheriff Ralph Lamb was copied from real life person, a Sheriff of Clark County whose name was Ralph Lamb, and who served in 1961"“1979. Vincent Savino impersonate crime boss Marcello Giuseppe Caifano, a real-life mobster too, a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit criminal organization, who moved to the city of inspiring opportunities (Las Vegas). He was made overseer of mob-controlled casinos in Las Vegas and has got a "Don" chair of Las Vegas by trading off his wife, a " supersexy blonde hottie" Darlene, to the Godfather of the Chicago Mafia. As the price was paid, Vincent Savino / Marcello Caifano was faced the necessity to take total control over the city, and Ralph Lamb was the last standing on his way.

It's one thing to be a member of a large traditional "cop" family but when one joins up with the Internal Affairs division of their Chicago Police Department things can become a bit unstable. Rachael Carpani (seen on TV's The Glades & True Blue) is Abby Kowalski, who moved over to IAD when a job offer to move upward in the department came about. She has designs on eventually becoming a detective. Her father is Don Kowalski (Treat Williams from 127 Hours, A Little Bit of Heaven) a sergeant with CPD who absolutely hates the idea of his little girl joining the IAD. Kathy Baker (Last Chance Harvey, Boston Public) is Sheila Kowalski, wife of Don and mother to Abby, Richie, Steve, and Donnie Kowalski. Abby Kowalski and her family squabble over the fact she has joined the IAD, seeing her as a spy and turncoat. This makes family gatherings difficult and the usual football games become a battlefield in their yard. But Abby is a dedicated police officer and still chooses to solve crimes whenever possible. This show is fast paced and has some good writing to keep it moving each week.

Needing to get a job recently divorced Danielle Santino decided to become a therapist and work with a pro football team in Long Island. In reality it was Dr. Donna Dannenfelser and she worked initially with the New York Jets, starting a new trend in therapy involving her "tough love" approach to caring for those asking for her help. Soon she found that besides athletes, politicians, musicians, and other celebrity types began requesting her style of therapy for its effectiveness and benefits. It also gave the doctor problems when she needed to balance her job as parent with the new career of therapist. Originally titled Dr. Donna, Necessary Roughness became reality and is proving to be valuable for the many who have tried it. Callie Thorne (Rescue Me, Homicide: Life on the Streets) is Dr. Dani Santino, Marc Blucas (Knight & Day, Inglorious Bastards) is Matthew Donnally romantic interest of Dr. Santino and athletic trainer, Scott Cohen (Jacob's Ladder, The 10th Kingdom) is Nico Careles, former Navy SEAL who works closely with Dr. Santino as her "fixer". Crisp writing and quality casting make this an endearing program to watch.

One of two intense medical dramas NBC introduced in the fall of 2009, "Mercy" had all the advantages its one-named rival "Trauma" did not. First, it had talent behind the scenes. Liz Heldens from "Friday Night Lights" created the show and led the writers, proving once again that the best way to dramatize the real world is to show it realistically"”ugliness and all. Second, it had attitude and guts to stay true to its revolutionary premise, the well-informed notion "that nurses remain [not only] more generous caregivers, but that they are more intuitively apt, smarter, more committed and as technically able as their [physician] superiors, with none of the accompanying arrogance." In a winner-take-all ER smackdown, you always would go all-in with the Mercy Hospital nurses. The main character, nurse Veronica Flanagan Callahan, has just returned from a tour in Iraq, where she clearly learned more in each day than the pompous, presumptuous doctors learned in all five years of medical school. Of course, Veronica gets neither the respect nor the reward she deserves, but "Mercy" dangles the possibility of true love as just recompense for Veronica's skill and compassion. Taylor Schilling plays Veronica with exactly the right balance of toughness and vulnerability, skillfully juxtaposing her consummate skill as a nurse with her intrepid ingenuousness in matters of the heart. If only "Mercy" had survived into a second season, all the tangled threads in the story might have come to their proper denouement. If only.

"Wu-Tang: An American Saga" is a television drama series that premiered on Hulu in 2019. The show is based on the true story of the formation of the Wu-Tang Clan, a group of rappers who rose to fame in the 1990s. It explores the lives of the nine members of the group and how they came together to create a new sound in hip-hop.