Jonathan Rhys -Meyers Joins Showtime Series

About 98 emails to go through, not to mention a ton of catching up and then the new "Battlestar: Galactica" to enjoy. Here's the first thing that caught my eye. A few days after winning a Golden Globe, not to mention the lead role in the best Woody Allen movie in years, not to mention a major part in the upcoming "Mission" Impossible III," devilishly handsome Rhys-Meyers signs on to play the young Henry VIII (no fat suit for him) in "The Tudors," a series launching with ten episodes in early 2007 on Showtime. With cable making shows with much shorter runs (just ten episodes per season, eg), we should see a lot more stars on the rise doing both at the same time. Michael Hirst -- who wrote the screenplay for the very entertaining "Elizabeth" starring Cate Blanchett -- created it. And "Desperate Housewives" director Charles McDougall will helm the first two episodes.