tv Spartacus: War of the Damned (Final Season!)

[Rappy Veteran]

In a surprising move, Starz is pulling the plug on Spartacus after the upcoming third season.

The final chapter, to be titled Spartacus: War of the Damned, will air in January 2013.

?Starz always does the unexpected,? Sparty?s creator, Steven S. DeKnight, told IGN. ?This show has been challenged, to say the least, in many, many ways. We?ve faced many difficulties and tragedies on the show. My original plan was to attack the show in a five- to seven-season arc. Once we got into it and after Andy [Whitfield]?s passing and looking at the historical story of Spartacus, we came to the decision to basically end on a high note.

?We certainly could have continued for a few more seasons and stretched it out, but we really wanted to end high and not feel like we were treading water ? and really just condense the rest of the history into one amazing ten-episode, badass final season,? he continued. ?You know, the whole show was a huge risk from the start for Starz, and it was another huge risk when I decided to try to keep the show going after Andy?s passing. Any normal studio would have just cancelled the show at that point and not risk the financial downside of it not working. But Starz, thankfully, really stuck by the show, and they really wanted it to be told all the way to the end. They didn?t want to cheat the viewers and just suddenly pull the plug. So they gave us this opportunity to wrap up the story, and we?re certainly taking that opportunity and running with it. This is by far the biggest season we?ve ever attempted.?

War of the Damned will center on the final battle between Spartacus and Marcus Crassus. ?It is very much Crassus along with the aid of Caesar going after Spartacus,? DeKnight previously told TVLine. ?The scope of it multiplies many times as Crassus battles Spartacus across the country.?

http://tvline.com/2012/06/04/spartacus-cancelled-starz/

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Why do these dumbass networks cancel great shows? Granted, it was nowhere near the same without Whitfield, they could have kept it going.

[Rappy Veteran]

[thommcg]

Ahhhh, nuts :(

On the plus side they are at least aware in advance, no getting cut off on a cliffhanger.

[Singh400]

Good. 2nd season was nowhere near as good as the 1st. It's good that it has an end date early on. Allows the writers to finish it up properly.

[Rappy Veteran]

Good. 2nd season was nowhere near as good as the 1st. It's good that it has an end date early on. Allows the writers to finish it up properly.

lolwat?

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Really the show died with Andy Whitfield. They could have kept it going and kept a lot of viewers but I kept watching because of Krixus and Gannicus.

[spacer]

"Cancel" is the wrong word for Spartacus.

In an interview with the writers, they said they had discussions about what to do with the show and how long it should continue. After much debate, they decided to wrap up the show in one more season and end it on a high note. (instead of dragging it out and risk losing they show's quality and fans) In my opinion, more TV shows need to do that.

The word "cancel" was never used in the interview. And it was never publicly stated that funding was a huge deciding factor.

[Rappy Veteran]

Really the show died with Andy Whitfield. They could have kept it going and kept a lot of viewers but I kept watching because of Krixus and Gannicus.

I liked Andy, but I thought Liam did a good job and the series continued the high quality episode by episode

Just my 2 cents

[Rappy Veteran]

[ViperAFK]

For a second I thought this meant no third season after reading the title and was like NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Eh, I'd like there to be more seasons, but if they satisfyingly end the third season I'll be happy.

[ViperAFK]

Really the show died with Andy Whitfield.

I disagree. Andy was great, but Liam actually did a great job in the role this season. Gods of the Arena and Vengeance were the best seasons overall IMO.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Phew, all I saw was "Starz Cancels Spartacus....." and I started crying, thought they weren't gonna show season 3.

Ah well at least we will get an end and not just a cliffhanger.

[George P Global Moderator]

Could this mean s3 will have more episodes? s2 was shorter than s1 etc.

[still1]

why is this called Season 3? Isn't it Season 4. Yeah i know Gods of the Arena was a prequel mini part series.

S1: Blood and Sand

S2: Gods of the Arena

S3: Vengeance

S4: War of the Damned

[spacer]

Could this mean s3 will have more episodes? s2 was shorter than s1 etc.

Season 3 is going to have 10 episodes.

why is this called Season 3? Isn't it Season 4. Yeah i know Gods of the Arena was a prequel mini part series.

S1: Blood and Sand

S2: Gods of the Arena

S3: Vengeance

S4: War of the Damned

Um, you answered your own question. "prequel mini-series"

[still1]

Um, you answered your own question. "prequel mini-series"

well, i know that but its weird they didn't call it a season since its aired on 2011.

its sad that they wrapping this up.. Cant wait for War of the Damned

[mps69]

To be honest I think that's a sensible idea, yeah I know it sounds controversial but I think if it goes on much longer it might feel like flocking a dead horse.

Plus the formula could become very stagnant, the slaves rise up and release more slaves, battle the empire, and the empire chase them down until a climatic battle at the end of the series.

At the end of the day we all know the roman empire is defeated, and collapse.

[DJD]

Hate to say it I told you so, but I knew this was going to happen as soon as news hit the internet that they had cast the actor that's going to play Crassus.

Love this show and hate to see it go, but at least it was planned so they are able to give it a proper ending!

[Rappy Veteran]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X33kocASNCE

[MindTrickz]

Good. Season two was utter rubbish. The show essentially died with Andy.

[The_Observer]

so never watched it, would people recommend this show then?

[excalpius]

Why do these dumbass networks cancel great shows?

Because to you, the viewer, the commercials are the necessary evil to enjoy your favorite show.

But to the network, the show is the very expensive necessary evil in order to get you to watch the commercials that they make money on.

So the networks will ALWAYS cancel more expensive shows in exchange for cheap-to-make reality show garbage whenever the ratings slip to a point where that's the more profitable avenue.

Sad, but true.

[MindTrickz]

so never watched it, would people recommend this show then?

Season 1 and the prequal season that came after season 1 are worth watching. They truly are. But that is about it. The 2nd season is not worth watching.

[Rappy Veteran]

so never watched it, would people recommend this show then?

yeah the show is good fun (Y)