If you just happen to be stumbling upon one of the two 2011 "Borgia" series, as I did recently, you may find it interesting to view each of them---if you like one, you probably will want to check out the other. The other reviews herein are pretty helpful in hashing out the differences. My take: the Showtime version has a more believable lead in Jeremy Irons---- with all due respect, John Darman's American accent in the middle of all those European types, in the Canal version, is pretty distracting. Of course, in that version you also have brothers Juan and Cesare with two different accents. Ah, well....I'm nitpicking. Overall, as sumptuous and entertaining as Showtime's 'The Borgias' is, 'Borgia' does concentrate more on story. But either one will drive home an inescapable truth: the realistic expose of life behind Vatican walls. The most powerful organizations of Christendom---despite their pious showiness---- have been mired in greed, immorality, power-play, and paganism ever since they broke away from the simple truths of the first-century followers of Christ.....interestingly, just as was prophesied in the Scriptures. That foretold apostasy itself makes a fascinating subject for documentary. Filmmakers? What are you waiting for?

I wasted my money and want to warn others not to do the same by putting my honest review up here for an absolutely awful show, instead of what I believe are either paid reviews or biased reviews by those involved in producing the show.This was the all time worst show I have ever watched.I bought it because on IMDb it had a 7.9 star rating. But it was awful and a complete waste of money! I don't know who is rating this show highly, maybe the partially comatose actors or the film makers or producers. But don't be fooled and save your money - this show is simply unwatchable.To summarize, the acting was terribly WOODEN across the board, the dialogue was awful, the characters had no development and portrayed no emotions at all, the plots made no sense, and there was not a single redeeming quality about the show.More Details: The main actor, John Doman, who plays Rodrigo Borgia / Pope Alexander VI is the most wooden and awful performance I have ever seen. He is absolutely awful. His American accent in the middle of everyone else being European is also jarring. But if his acting were decent, it could be overlooked. But his acting was not only not decent, it was completely wooden acting.The dialogue was also bad and boring. There was no character to the characters. There was no build up to the plot. The other actors were also boring and shallow. There were no emotions portrayed and no drama at all. Just lots of wooden acting. The plots made little sense the way they were portrayed with no connection from one event to another. Even the camera work was amateur.I wanted to like this show, I really did, because period shows are my favorite and there are too few of them out there because they are expensive to produce. I tried so very hard to like this show, watched another episode and yet another just to see if it got any better. But it never got better and only got worse. The same wooden acting, bad dialogue, plot that made no sense, no character development, terrible filming one episode after another.Another reviewer said this show looked like a high school play rehearsal. It was worse than that!

A lot of people criticize John Doman's American accent. After the first episode, you get used to it, and actually Doman is perfect for the part of a scheming, unpredictable pope: what better than an American to play the wheeler-dealer? I love Doman's bold portrayal, and his subtle facial expressions invest Rodrigo with a latent power, explosive and surprising when it surfaces.Also, the sets, costumes, cinematography are all magnificent! I had to pause the video sometimes just to take in some of the gorgeous shots of the Castel St Angelo or the Coliseo at sunset.The reason this series works is that it is appropriately GRIM, and spares no expense to make things look realistic, and the writing moves things along and is clever. The actors are all superb. Juan is as detestable as he is charming; Mark Ryder Cesare shows his pain, want, ambition, pride and recklessness well. When his eyes got big after Alexander promoted Juan to captain of the Palace Guard, I knew this was a quality production. Lucrezia, Giulia, Vannozza are all amazing. Cardinals Sforza, Farnese and della Rovere are standouts.Give this series a chance if you like historical dramas. It is unflinching, shocking, funny, grim, suspenseful, and a really great escape. Thanks to Doman, Ryder et al. for providing such great entertainment!

Honestly, I'm looking forward to a Season 3. Like many others wrote, Doman's American accent really stuck out and seemed out of place. But I watched the The Borgia with Irons (I adore Irons and watch everything he is in) as he delivers lines as I should expect, but Irons portrayal seems so small in comparison to Doman and I think the right choice was to make Rodrigo Borgia a larger than life figure. He just seems so raw and rash and loud and the events just made me feel Doman was a better choice. All the actors get better as the series goes forward. I think by concentrating less on certain actors abilities, you just begin to feel your way through this series and the circumstances that befall the characters. They appear to be the "outsiders" fighting for and defending their place in the world, ruthlessly.The Borgias with Irons wasn't bad, but I found myself slightly bored with it. It was well dressed and the actors and characters were flawless, but maybe that was the problem for me. They didn't seem "outside." they seemed too much the same as what was around them, but made to look worse.