I’ve been watching EMPIRE on ABC these past few weeks. (Oh, and ROME has a dwarf in a recurring role as well, though he hasn’t had enough lines for me to tell whether he would make a good Tyrion or not). If you are not watching ROME, you’re missing the best drama on TV since… well, since DEADWOOD went off the air. Both pairings include fictional characters, but the former convinces, and the latter was pure Hollywood and utterly bogus.
Contrast the relationship of ROME’s Octavian and Titus Pullo with that of EMPIRE’s Octavian and Tyrranus to understand that it is not the idea that makes a story so much as it is the handling of the idea. EMPIRE had modern American actors running around in togas. ROME actually feels as if it is set in the Late Republic the look, the feel, the attitudes, everything rings true.
With EMPIRE, the episodes couldn’t end too soon for me. The moment one episode of ROME ends I am ready for the next one to begin. Same period, same story, many of the same characters, yet the ABC show was as dull as it was stupid, and the HBO show is rich, layered, authentic, sexy, and engrossing. ROME is just as good as I had hoped it would be, and a wonderful contrast to the summer’s wrectched and embarassing EMPIRE.
