Although the new Starz series, "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," may involve a lot of guys and gals running around and committing all sorts of swordplay, you should in no way take the fact that it's executive produced by Robert G. Tapert to indicate that it will in any way resemble earlier Tapert productions like, say, "Hercules" or "Xena." I mean, heck, if the warrior princess herself doesn't see any similarities, then anything you think you've spotted is strictly a case of looking too hard to find something that isn't there.

"It's totally different to me," said Lucy Lawless, who plays Lucretia on the show. "Completely different, tonally. The fighting, the technology, everything has changed so much. I don't recognize the fights at all. The way they do them is foreign to me."

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