The Tudors

The strength of the show is in the nuanced portrayals of important characters.  Thomas More shows the razor thin line between the thoughtful, principled man of conscience, and the cold ideological executioner.  Catherine of Aragon is all suffering dignity, until those rare moments she shows a sharp cunning.  It is the subtlety of some of these characters that draws me to the show.

Henry VIII is all ego, rage, and frustrated sexuality, but after antiheroes like Tony Soprano and Al Swearengen, he's rather predictable and just a bit uninteresting.  But like a lot of cable television series, it is the season one finale that really sucks me into the show.