Tudors, The

New York PostLinda Stasi

Showtime's glorious, gorgeous "The Tudors" is the best series since "The Sopranos." Period.

Christian Science MonitorGloria Goodale

Now that lusty and incredibly bloodthirsty historical dramas have proven their power on premium cable (think HBO's "Rome"), Showtime is jumping in the act with a portrait of one of history's most notorious womanizers and political schemers.

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

A highly entertaining and addictive costume drama.

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

The series, a feast for the eyes, boasts stellar performances and a historically authentic aura but only occasional flashes of the kind of action and suspense you might expect from such a period piece.

LA WeeklyRobert Abele

With everyone's motivations in this handsomely mounted but adrenaline-fueled series so on-the-surface, Dormer's enigmatic, time-halting loveliness [as Anne Boleyn] is a boon for The Tudors, and damn near worth losing your head over.

People WeeklyTom Gliatto

The show is a lusty soap opera that aspires to the pulsating, cutting-edge glamour of Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth. It's a little ham-fisted for that. [2 Apr 2007, p.37]

USA TodayRobert Bianco

Despite some passing references to Henry's fondness for "humanism" and new, middle-class men, no one is likely to mistake The Tudors for a treatise on the socioeconomic pressures that reshaped England during Henry's reign. Still, the show does a fine job of showing the interplay of passions and politics that shaped so many of his decisions.

Detroit Free PressMike Duffy

Although it's not quite as much smart, trashy fun as "Rome," it is still an engaging romp that moves along at a stylish pace.

San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman

With all the intrigue of a Shakespearean drama and all the coiled intensity of youthful power-brokering and rampant sexuality, it's hard to not like this version of Henry VIII.

TV GuideMatt Roush

Less lurid than HBO's Rome, yet still quite the pageant of pomp and friskiness, it's a throwback to the old-fashioned miniseries of yore, spiced with pay-cable frankness.

Washington PostTom Shales

Do we ever feel as if we're really there, in Henry's court, half a millennium ago? Perhaps not, but a splendid cast and sumptuous production details make "The Tudors" a rollicking and resplendent show, if never a deeply affecting one.

Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith

Good fun, and not as bastardized as its advertising campaign suggests.

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

Even though "The Tudors" adds another jewel to the crown Showtime has been forging of late, this particular jewel isn't all that dazzling.

Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman

In fact, "The Tudors" suffers from being merely capable on most fronts, a decent diversion. The direction is effective but artistically flat, and so are several scripts.

VarietyBrian Lowry

"The Tudors" is not the great series that it might have been, but it's certainly a watchable and diverting one.

San Jose Mercury NewsCharlie McCollum

There's not a lot of depth to the proceedings, and the series is at its weakest when it tries to make some Important Point. But it's a good deal of fun watching Meyers and the rest of the ensemble smartly bringing to life the deceit and internal politics of this royal chess match. "The Tudors" is a spicy soap opera, decked out in really fancy trappings.

SalonHeather Havrilesky

"The Tudors" takes all of the intrigue and power struggles and tomfoolery of the House of Tudor and gives it six-pack abs and a rock-star swagger

Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker

Ultimately, this series diminishes the king.

The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley

Enjoyable but not exhilarating, engaging but not hypnotic.

TimeJames Poniewozik

As a glorified romance novel, it's perfectly fine, but don't expect Shakespeare.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

Written by Michael Hirst , who also wrote about Henry's daughter in Cate Blanchett's "Elizabeth," the series goes only rock-opera deep, moving full-steam ahead without much accounting for character motivation.

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

Still, for all its ferocious ambition to be more than just another heavily corseted, respectful historical drama, "The Tudors" falls flat in more than one arena.

NewsdayDiane Werts

"The Tudors" could actually use a touch of the over-the-top wildness that undermined the substance of HBO's "Rome." If we could blend the two together somehow, we might have a kickily effective history mash-up.

Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray

I don't want to beat up on Meyers here. He does justice to Hirst's Henry, if not entirely to history's, and being young and good-looking is hardly a crime. But like Tony Soprano, Henry VIII brings more to the table than charisma: Corrupted by absolute power, he's a bit of a monster.

Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd

Though it starts out with a fair bit of energy, in spite of regular paroxysms of royal lust and pique, it becomes less engaging as it goes on and grows finally rather dull.

SlateTroy Patterson

One hesitates to say that [Rhys Meyers] phones his performance in. It's more like he dictates it to an assistant who then submits it via fax. You too might lack an appropriate sense of conviction if delivered this script.

Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland

It's unfair to lay every fault on the actors when the dialogue is so insubstantial, verging on sophomoric and mawkish in a few exchanges