Steamy "Tudors" Bring The Sexy Back

APRIL 1, 2007: Enormously talented Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as bare-chested and oversexed Henry VIII in the $38 million historical soap opera "The Tudors" premiering tonight on Showtime as the priciest show in the pay network's 30-year history.



When the production studio decided to turn an English dynasty into a TV soap opera, the plan was to take "The Tudors" to CBS.


When the Eye network passed on the project saying the would never do a historical drama and they were not planning on starting now, Showtime emerged as a much more appropriate platform.



But will the period drama set in the polite precincts of the British empire and replete with naked frolicking and dramatic violence eclipse "Rome"?



"The Tudors," debuts tonight at 10 p.m., and features Meyers as a hunky Henry VIII facing revolts, falling in love and fighting wars.



In the show, the king mourns the death of his uncle, declares war on France and jumps into bed with two squealing ladies - all in the opening 15 minutes.



And as the images suggest, there's plenty of sizzle in this lavish 10-part drama, a feast for one's eyes.

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