"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."

Haven't we all wondered if we had perhaps been switched at birth when we disagreed with our parents? Now how about if it turns out that the hospital actually did switch babies, purely by accident? And the families don't find out until the children are teenagers. Bay Kennish (played by Vanessa Marano from Without a Trace and the Gilmore Girls) has a high school project that includes learning about blood types and she inadvertently finds out her parents blood types do no match hers, showing she absolutely cannot be related to either of them. The family has their DNA tested and confirms the results Bay has come up with in school. Finding that the hospital made a huge error by mixing up the babies, they find the other child and discover how different her life is. Lea Thompson (Back to the Future Trilogy) is Bay's stay at home mom Kathryn and her father, John is played by D.W. Moffett (Friday Night Lights). Bay's new found sister is Daphne (Katie Leclerc from Veronica Mars) who unfortunately suffered deafness due to a case of meningitis as a young child. Daphne, her mother, and grandmother have a hard life and soon the Kennishes invite them to live in their guest house. Deaf actress Marlee Matlin also stars as friend of Daphne's mom, Regina.

Fiercely reminiscent of Lord of the Rings and at least as complicated, HBO's "Game of Thrones'" chronicles the genuinely epic story of seven noble families' struggles over control of Westeros, their mythical homeland. Observing all the properly epic conventions, and developing truly epic heroes and villains, "The Game of Thrones" was adapted for television from George Martin's fantasy novel, Song of Ice and Fire. The ten-episode series weaves together seventeen major characters' political and sexual schemes, mixing-in plenty of knightly sword-play and lots of nightly trysts. Mark Addy, Peter Dinklage, Iain Glen, Jennifer Ehle, Lena Headey, and Sean Bean lead a powerful cast. Shot entirely on location in Ireland, "Game of the Thrones" is as beautiful as it is complex and treacherous, and the landscape lends itself to The Game's mystic and horrible undertones. While the Lannister and Stark families challenge the Baratheon family's rule, "an ancient evil awakes," and only a band of renegade knights errant stands between Westeros and "the horrors beyond the realms of men." Somehow, in "Game of Thrones'" far away medieval realm, civil war and imminent apocalypse look a lot more noble, sexy, and glamorous than they appear in the post-modern world.

Two half brothers (same father) begin their relationship by hating each other but bond and become best friends through teamwork and learning the truth about their father. Lucas Scott is played by Chad Michael Murray (House of Wax, Home of the Brave) who is recruited onto the basketball team by Coach Durham (played by Barry Corbin from Urban Cowboy & Monte Walsh). Lucas proves to be a talented player and starts out as a rival of his own half brother, Nathan Scott (James Lafferty from A Season on the Brink & Get Real). But soon the brothers learn to care for and respect each other while finding out their father Dan Scott (Paul Johansson from The Drew Carey Show & The District) is the natural father of Lucas yet he never claimed to be. As in real life, the characters on One Tree Hill have their ups and downs relationship wise and when they make mistakes they must pay for them somehow. Each season brings up more interesting reflections on family and life in high school, college, and ultimately after they have become adults proving we all need time to reflect on what we want in our lives.

In its first review of "Dexter TV show", the New York Times summarized, "[Dexter Morgan] kills people and cuts them up. But they deserve it. Besides, he's neat." When a serial killer leaves a trail of tidy corpses in service of justice, audiences cannot get enough; he liberates everybody's inner vigilante. Dexter, played pitch-perfect and spot-on by television veteran Michael C. Hall (late of "Six Feet Under"), is a smart and smart-mouthed, self-aware crime scene investigator who moonlights as a blood-thirsty avenger. Dexter is your average psychopath-next-door, comparable with Macbeth or Hannibal Lecter, but with charm and good jokes. As critics and viewers have stressed since the show's very first episode, Dexter kills only people who deserve to die"”depraved pedophiles, drunk drivers with neither conscience nor remorse, and other reprehensible characters who slip through the cracks in the justice system. The show's producers John Goldwyn and Sara Colleton assert, "Dexter becomes a metaphor for people closeted by their secrets." They exaggerate their character's allegorical powers"¦but only a little.

That may well be the title to a dream sequence by some brilliant but unqualified attorney "want to be's" who can only imagine how they could accomplish what Mike Ross has done. He bluffed his way in by convincing Harvey Specter, one of the finest lawyers in Manhattan to hire him in spite of the fact he has no law degree. Although Ross is brilliant and extremely personable he could not afford the schooling and his choices in friends and recreational drugs did not help his situation. However he can pass the bar without attending any law school simply because he has an eidetic memory. Now clean and dedicated to becoming a first rate attorney, Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams from FlashForward, Raising the Bar) must prove himself to the man who put his trust in and hired him, Harvey Specter (played by Gabriel Macht from Love and Other Drugs, Middle Men). Mike Ross must convince the other attorneys he graduated from the Harvard Law school because that's the only place they hire new recruits from. And he is a fast learner who's wit and conviction works well in the court room.