With much hoopla and some mixed reviews, Starz debuted their new original series, Spartacus, over the weekend. Did many watch? Will it survive?

The first season of the series, titled Spartacus: Blood and Sand, follows the legendary Roman gladiator with newcomer Andy Whitfield in the title role. The gritty series features the talents of Lucy Lawless, John Hannah, Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Viva Bianca, Craig Parker, Jai Courtney, Erin Cummings, Nick E. Tarabay, and Antonio Te Maioho.

According to THR, the series premiere of Spartacus drew 553,000 viewers on Starz and another 460,000 on Encore.

Is Spartacus worth watching? Yes! Are you kidding? Nah, not my thing. View Results  Loading ...

While those figures aren’t very big, they do represent Starz’s best performance in the pay-per-view channel’s short history of producing original series.

Starz estimates that viewership for the first episode, once re-showings and DVR viewing are added in, will surpass two million total viewers. It’s unknown if that number includes official online viewing via outlets like Netflix. The real test, of course, will be to see if viewership grows or falls in the coming weeks.

The series has already been renewed for a second season of 13 episodes so there’s no doubt that it’ll be back for season two.

But, what do you think? Is it worth watching or is the show finished in your house? Cancel or keep it?

Image courtesy Starz.