Starz’s “Spartacus” to End After Season Three

Sad news to report for “Spartacus” fans: the show will be ending its run after its third season.

“Spartacus” showrunner Steven S. DeKnight spoke to The Hollywood Reporter today and confirmed that producers want to send the show out at the top of its game:

“It’s a bit unheard of to end a show when it’s doing better than ever…How long do you run a show? Do you run it until you can squeeze every last bit of revenue out of it, or do you end it on a high note? That was part of the decision to wrap up the show.”

That sounds like very noble thing for producers to do, especially in an industry known for extending shows as much as possible.  Yet, at the same time, I’m a bit saddened, especially since the show is doing so damn well…Cut it at season five, not right at the TOP of the roller coaster!

“Spartacus” was Starz’s first original scripted drama developed in-house, bringing in an average of more than 6 million viewers every week.  More amazingly, the show also survived through the loss of original lead actor Andy Whitfield, who died of cancer in September of last year. He was replaced by Liam McIntyre.

The third and final season of “Spartacus: War of the Damned,” will start airing the first of its final 10 episodes in January 2013.