'Spartacus: War of the Damned' stars and creator on InsideTV Podcast

Image Credit: Matt Klitscher/Starz[/caption]

Julius Caesar will be introduced tonight on Spartacus: War of the Damned, but before that happens, we decided to get the men behind both characters, Todd Lasance as Caesar and Liam McIntyre as Spartacus, in a room together and see if we could sort this all out peacefully. No such luck! That means the Rome vs. Rebellion battle will continue at 9pm on Starz as planned. But we did have a delightful chat with both men as well as Spartacus creator Steven S. DeKnight on the newest edition of the InsideTV Podcast as the three men talked about the decision to end the swords and sandals drama as well as what we can expect in the final season. (Did someone say…pirates?) They also promise a finale that will blow every other bonkers Spartacus finale away, and talk about what’s it like to film all those crazy sex scenes. (Turns out they’re not so sexy when 20 crew dudes are watching your every move.)

Of course, there’s also been a lot of discussion about violence in entertainment lately in the wake of the Newtown tragedy, and with Spartacus being the most violent show on television, I asked DeKnight for his take on the issue. He says the culprit is not entertainment, but rather the NRA. “The NRA has strong–armed Congress to make sure no research is ever done that could result in gun control,” says DeKnight. “Look at other countries. Look at Australia. They have the same TV, movies, video games. Look at the U.K., look at Japan. What’s the difference in all those countries is gun control. It’s that simple. I don’t think you have to be a genius to figure that out. And that’s not just me defending my profession. I think the moment you start saying you’ve got to curb art so someone doesn’t pick up a gun and shoot somebody, we’ve got a serious problem. I mean, call me crazy — I think the real answer is make sure somebody can’t pick up a gun.”

To hear the rest of DeKnight, McIntyre and Lasance’s take on TV violence as well as all things Spartacus, just click on the audio player icon below. Or, since we’re on iTunes, you can subscribe for free and take the podcast with you. No iTunes? No problem. You can also download the entire podcast right here. And to send a question to the InsideTV Podcast team, follow us on Twitter @InsideTVPodcast.