"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."

Flashpoint is a Canadian TV drama series that debuted on July 11th 2008 and since then has gripped TV enthusiasts worldwide. The show created by Mark Ellis showcases an elite tactical unit called SRU (Strategic Response Unit) which are presented with tasks to resolve extreme issues that standard law enforcement officers are not capable of handling.

"Our Boys" is a ten-episode drama miniseries based on real-life events that occurred in Israel in 2014. The series was co-produced by HBO and Keshet Studios, and it premiered on August 12, 2019. The show tells the story of the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teenagers by Hamas militants in the West Bank and the subsequent revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists. The events led to a violent escalation in the region, including a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas.

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.

"The Newsroom" is an American television series created by Aaron Sorkin. It aired on HBO from 2012 to 2014 and follows the behind-the-scenes workings of a fictional cable news network, ACN.

"Atlanta" is a critically acclaimed American television series created by Donald Glover that premiered on FX in September 2016. It follows the life of Earnest "Earn" Marks, a college dropout who tries to manage his cousin Alfred's rap career while navigating the Atlanta music scene. The show tackles various themes such as poverty, race, family, and mental health.