Syfy has often filled out its programming slate by acquiring domestic broadcast rights to Canadian and British produced shows such as Bitten, Lost Girl, and Continuum. Spartacus originally aired in “uncut” form of the pay network Starz. Now all three seasons and the six part prequel will debut on basic cable June 26th on Syfy.
The biggest issue with this series compared to the other shows Syfy has similarly acquired is that Spartacus is most definitely a hard R rating with many episodes featuring substantial full frontal nudity on both men and women and extreme and gory violence. In some cases important story developments occurred while characters were very nude and even having sex. How much of these episodes will actually be left after all of the nudity gets “cut”. There must be some sort of plan for filling in potential story and logic gaps due to removing these scenes completely or covering the provocative bits. Will they just be able to digitally pull the blood out of the episodes because it was all digital to start with?
At any rate it will be interesting to see how the network handles such an edgy show.