The Tudors

Okay, apparently Natalie Dormer's face always has this smirk on it since here she is not even in costume and not even on the set, and there's the smirk!

Except for the strange, apparently permanent smirk of Ms. Dormer, I love this show. There's just something about this story that never gets old. I remember first hearing about Henry VIII and all his wives when I was a child and always found the whole thing fascinating. I think it was in the 1970s when there was a PBS miniseries that covered all the wives, and I loved that show, too. I also enjoyed the movie, Anne of the Thousand Days, starring Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold. I've lost track of how many times I watched it.

I think the reason the story is so intriguing is because it's so unbelievable, but yet it is true. Henry turned his whole kingdom upside down and started his own church in order to get his way because he so wanted Anne Boleyn, and then a short time later he is so over her that he has her executed! He wasn't quite that evil to Catherine, so I wonder why, since he now had his own church, he couldn't have just gotten a divorce from Anne as he did with Catherine in order to marry Jane. His motivations and actions are so difficult to understand.

In The Tudors, they are playing it like Henry believed that Anne was unfaithful, but in the other versions of the story, he was aware that it was a setup and either orchestrated it or went along with it because he wanted to be rid of her. I'll always wonder how it truly was in real life.

I can't remember the stories of all the other wives. I remember what happens to Jane Seymour, and I'm pretty sure at least one more wife gets executed, but most of the details are fuzzy now, so I hope Showtime keeps this series on the air long enough to cover not only all of Henry's reign, but Edward's, Mary's and Elizabeth's, too.

I love all the historical costumes on this show, as I do with most historical TV shows and movies. And the actors are good. It fills the hole left by Rome, but of course I wish I still had Rome, too.