The iconic 1960 movie with Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis was (and still is) standard TV fare around Easter time every year. It's the movie that "taught me" about Spartacus.
So, when HBO decided to create a series called Spartacus, based on the "back-story" of the slave/gladiator before he earned his freedom, I thought they had big shoes to fill.
It was a gritty tale (that's HBO-speak for 18+ rated) that was well produced and very popular. So popular, it was renewed for a second season. When season 2 began, I wondered why we weren't seeing the forward progression of Spartacus as a free man. Instead, season 2 was a prequel to season 1 - introducing all the gladiator characters that were already part of the "gladiator school" before Spartacus' arrival.
Today, I got the answer to that question... the actor who played Spartacus in season 1 died Sunday of cancer. Apparently, he was suffering from that dreaded disease even while he was filming the first season's episodes.
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