Friday, April 03, 2009

Numbers crunching


I always thought that the change in title of the play The Madness of George III, to The Madness of King George when it became a film--because of marketing fears that U.S. audiences wouldn't know what to make of the "George III"--was a movie urban legend. Now I'm not so sure. Across the bottom of the front page of today's New York Times is a banner ad for the third season of Showtime's The Tudors, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as "King Henry 8." I think a reasonably educated adult, even one who watches Showtime, would recognize King Henry VIII, or King Henry the Eighth--and if you don't, chances are The Tudors isn't your cup of mead anyway. (We love every salacious minute.) I resent being played down to--King Henry ate what?

2 comments:

Brooks of Sheffield said...

Hey, when does Rhys Meters get all fat and Charles Laughton like?

Robert Cashill said...

He's gained a pound or two each season. Well, there are four more wives to go...