Starz Turns 30: ‘Outlander,’ ‘Spartacus’ & More Standout Series From Its Run So Far

“More movies! Less money!” With those demands — chanted by actors in TV promos — Starz launched on February 1, 1994, as the first new premium-pay TV channel in more than a decade and a competitor for HBO and Showtime. The appeal, as spokesperson Christopher Reeve explained in those same promos, was a bundle with the sibling channel Encore for $4.95 per month, offering subscribers access to 180 titles per month — including first-run theatrical releases, cinematic classics, and film-festival faves. “Starz is a movie lover’s dream,” Reeve declared.

Thirty years later, Starz is a television lover’s dream, having followed its premium competitors into the realm of original programming. Starz hasn’t matched HBO and Showtime’s critical or commercial success, perhaps — it has only a fraction of HBO’s subscribers and far fewer Emmy nominations, for instance — but the channel’s commitment to bold storytelling is evident in its beloved original series. Here are some pick hits from Starz’s slate so far.

American Gods

An ex-con (Ricky Whittle) gets conned into a war between deities old and new in this adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, with Ian McShane, Gillian Anderson, Dominique Jackson, and Demore Barnes among the actors playing gods in what Whittle called the “best ensemble [he’d] ever seen on television.”

Black Sails

The Golden Age of Television met the Golden Age of Piracy in this period drama set in the 18th-century pirate haven of New Providence. Toby Stephens, Luke Arnold, and Tom Hopper all played characters familiar to any Treasure Island fan, and plenty of swordplay, swashbuckling, and sea shootouts ensue.

Blindspotting

Created by Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, this series continues the story of the duo’s critically-acclaimed 2018 movie of the same name. Social commentary and comedy come together with imaginative flair as Jasmine Cephas Jones’ character copes with the sudden incarceration of husband Miles (Casal).

The Chair

In this reality series in the vein of Project Greenlight, two first-time filmmakers brought the same script to screen with vastly different results, with Zachary Quinto on board as mentor. One film was an indie-style rom-com, the other a gross-out comedy. (“No one involved with it should ever be allowed to work in the moves again,” The New York Times said about the latter.)

Counterpart

J.K. Simmons pulled double duty for this sci-fi thriller, playing two versions of the same character. One Howard Silk is a low-level U.N. employee initially unaware that his reality is at war with another. His counterpart is a ruthless spy from that alternate dimension, a man who’s “definitely, initially, utterly disdainful of this other version of himself,” as Simmons told TV Insider.

Gaslit

Julia Roberts and Sean Penn marked their first regular roles in a linear TV show with this political thriller — which tracks the Watergate scandal through the perspective of whistleblower Martha Mitchell (Roberts), wife of U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell (Penn), and gives the influential figure her due credit.

Heels

Stephen Amell suffered a back injury during the filming of this wrestling drama, but his pain is viewers’ gain: The two-season drama told a compelling story of two brothers (Amell and costar Alexander Ludwig) whose sibling rivalry extended to the ring as they competed for their late father’s legacy.

The Missing

Starz partnered with the BBC for this gripping mystery series, starring Tchéky Karyo as a French detective investing a different missing-child case in each of the two seasons. Frances O’Connor and James Nesbitt play the devastated parents in Season 1, and Keeley Hawes and David Morrissey did so for Season 2.

Outlander

Diana Gabaldon’s hit book series inspired a hit Starz series of the same name, starring Caitríona Balfe as a World War II nurse — who is mysteriously sent back two centuries — and Sam Heughan as the Highland warrior for whom she falls. The show is ending with Season 8, but Starz has already ordered a prequel series.

P-Valley

Pulitzer-winning playwright Katori Hall turned her play P—y Valley into this drama series, with Nicco Annon reprising the part of Uncle Clifford, the nonbinary owner of a struggling Mississippi strip club. TV Insider rated P-Valley the eighth sexiest TV show of all time, with the aforementioned Outlander topping the ranking.

Party Down

Cancellation couldn’t keep these cater-waiters down: Starz brought back Party Down for a third season last year after giving the show the boot in 2010. Among the comedy MVPs on the call sheet are Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Megan Mullally, and more than a few Veronica Mars alums, including Ken Marino.

Power

Power indeed. Courtney A. Kemp’s crime drama — which follows a drug distributor (Omari Hardwick) managing businesses both legitimate and illegitimate — launched a TV universe with three spinoffs currently on Starz’ lineup. Plus, 50 Cent served as EP of Power and its offshoots during his years-long Starz partnership.

Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult

This documentary series — a companion piece, of sorts, to HBO’s The Vow — delves further into the sex-slavery subset of the NXIVM cult. And ex-member India Oxenberg, daughter of Dynasty star Catherine Oxenberg and a question mark of The Vow, finally gets to tell her side of the story.

Spartacus

Imagine 300 or Gladiator with way more copulation and decapitation, and you have Spartacus, a historical epic that told its tale over three chapters and one prequel season. Starz will soon air another installment, a 10-episode story subtitled House of Ashur, and there’s even more Spartacus content to check out until then.

Vida

Before breaking out in the Scream franchise, Melissa Barrera joined Mishel Prada in this GLAAD Media Award-winning drama about two distanced sisters brought back together by the death of their mother. Barrera told TV Insider the characters’ emotional journeys were challenging but “also … effortless because the writing is so good.”