A brief history of blood libels, courtesy of Wikipedia:

• In England in 1144, the Jews of Norwich were accused of ritual murder after a boy was found dead with stab wounds in the woods. This was followed by similar accusations elsewhere, leading to massacres in London and York. In 1190, “the Norwich Jews were butchered in their homes.”

• In France in 1171, a similar accusation against the Jewish community of Bloise led to the massacre by fire of some 40 Jews.

• In Germany, a boy’s body was found in the Lauter river. Based on “miraculous” evidence that “proved” the Jews had hung the boy by the feet and had opened every artery in his body to obtain the blood, the Jews were executed.

• In Russia in 1820, a Jew in Zverki is accused of kidnapping a six year old boy, draining his blood for nine days and dumping his body. In 1997, “Belorussian state TV showed a film alleging the story is true.”

This is the gist of the blood libel: the belief that Jews kidnap children to drain them of their blood. It didn’t die with the Nazis. It is still in currency today. You have only to turn on Syrian or Egyptian television to see. But American TV? (Spoilers Ahead)

The Feb. 3 episode of “Grimm” began with the body of a teen being found in a river, the corpse drained of three-fourths of its blood. The culprit? A “Geier” named Dr. Levine, who has been kidnapping street kids to kill them for their organs and blood.

Does the name “Geier” sound familiar? Sometime toward the end of the 18th century, Central European governments required Jews to adopt surnames. So at a time when Jews were restricted to marginal occupations, some Jewish money-lenders and merchants were made to take the pejorative name Geier, or vulture: a term used then, as now, to reference avarice or greed.

And what does “Geier” mean in the “Grimm” world?

Here, via Wikipedia’s “Creatures of Grimm”: “Geier are vulture-like creatures. Highly sadistic almost on a satanic level, infamous  for harvesting human organs and blood, [they are] the most vile creatures of all.”

And, in case we don’t get the connection between blood and money, here’s this bit of dialogue from the episode to hammer it home:

Capt. Renard: “Well, whichever way you look at it, it’s cannibalism.”

Sgt. Wu: “Uh, I think it’s pronounced ‘capitalism’.”

Good one, Sgt. Wu. You go get those vulture capitalists. I’m sure you and the National Socialists will be great friends. But why rely on words when pictures will do?

Behold: a screenshot from “Grimm” of a cannibalistic “Geier,” left, beside an anti-Semitic cartoon of a cannibalistic Jew, right:

A “Grimm” drawing of birdlike Geiers tormenting a man, left, next to a detail of birdlike demons tormenting the damned, right. Note the clawed hands and feet in both images, and the claw-like hands in the cartoon above.

Medieval illuminations portraying both Jews and demons as rapacious and bird-like, left. Often Jews were depicted as demons, and demons as Jews, right.

And once again Grimm’s “vulture,” left, beside the Nazi’s Jew, right.

So: am I saying that the “Grimm” writers, rather than coming up with a fresh and unique twist on one of the Grimm Fairy Tales, instead recycled the most vile antisemitic tropes to come out of Europe?

Yes.

1) Based on the choice of the name “Geier,” a pejorative label of a name bestowed upon Jews in Europe, and the pointed reference to vile profit from others’ pain.

2) Based on how closely the appearance of Grimm’s mythical Geier hews to portrayals of demonic Jews in Medieval paintings, as well as to modern anti-Semitic caricatures of Jews.

3) Based on how closely the plot of the story parallels that of the blood libels, including the medieval blood libel of blood-draining, and the modern blood libel of Jewish surgeons as organ thieves (as seen in the anti-Semitic, anti-American Turkish film, “Valley of the Wolves: Iraq”)

4) And based on how, for no other reason, the doctor-who-is-a-Geier still bears the thrice-mentioned, explicitly Jewish name of Levine, in spite of a Latina (Valerie Cruz) being cast in the role.

Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes.

No matter how the writers will insist — up, down and sideways — that some of their best friends are Jewish. No matter how they or their employers insist that their skin color or heritage or gender or sexual preference or height or weight or allergies makes it impossible for them to have created an anti-Semitic display.

And no matter how they are shocked, shocked to learn that mean racist people, for at least nine hundred years, have used “vulture” as an epithet for “Jew.”

- Anonymous

“The decision to end the show now, or ever, is a painful one, as it risks putting asunder hundreds of close friendships that have developed over the last eight years,” said executive producers David Shore, Katie Jacobs and Hugh Laurie, “but also because the show itself has been a source of great pride to everyone involved.

The producers have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature;  he should never be the last one to leave the party.  How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air.”

Now’s as good a time as any for a post-mortem on one of the quirkiest, most interesting character shows of the last decade. “House’s” focus on a thoroughly unlikeable character was risky, and it paid off; the creators’ decision to make him a thoroughgoing atheist constantly at conflict with others subtly made the case for the bankruptcy of his ideology.  Or, at the very least, it offered philosophical contrast.

Most famously, “House” featured a very pro-life episode in 2007, “Fetal Position,” in which an unborn child reached out of the womb and touched House’s hand, mirroring the famous photograph. That was mirrored by a pro-choice episode that same season that made the case for abortion for a religious rape victim. That was House’s style.

When I interviewed Shore for my latest book, Primetime Propaganda, here’s what he told me about the abortion episodes: “As you can imagine, we’re in Hollywood, we’ve got our share of rabid left wing Democrats here. And … our writing staff has the makeup you’d basically expect of a Hollywood writing staff, and I remember when we were doing ‘Fetal Position,’ there is that image of that little finger of the fetus clasping Dr. House’s hand. And it was a powerful image. And we recognized at the time that’s going to go up on billboards and websites for pro-life organizations. But it was true, and it was accurate, and it was real. And the last thing I want to do is, I happen to be pro-choice, but the last thing I want to do is to give false information or convince people of my argument. I think that’s just not the way to approach things. It’s a difficult choice, and it is a difficult issue.  And I think treating it as anything different than that is dishonest and ultimately counterproductive.”

Shore’s honesty on politics meant that he admitted there was bias against conservatives in Hollywood. As he told me, “there is an assumption in this town that everybody is on the left side of the spectrum, and that the few people on the right, I think people look at them somewhat aghast, and I’m sure it doesn’t help them.” Those are the words of a truth teller. And in its own way, when it wasn’t burdened down with the typical hallmarks of leftist Hollywood (hot bisexuals, open marriages, and the like), “House” was a uniquely truth-telling show.

And that’s just what the Republicans in Congress did to Hollywood when it abandoned the rush to pass SOPA and regulate the Internet for the benefit of Tinseltown. Astonishingly, considering its usual inability to perform competently at even the most basic level, the GOP not only managed to embrace good policy but drove a wedge into the Democratic coalition that may well have dramatic consequences down the road. And, best of all, it provided a bit of long overdue payback to the smug oligarchs of LA’s West Side who have spent the last couple decades treating Republicans like something you’d hasten to flush.

Hey, suckers, how do ya like us now?

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is only the latest attempt by Hollywood to breathe some life back into its dying business model. Enraged that online “pirates” are passing around bootleg copies of movies, shows, books, music, and all other manner of intellectual property, the industry did what it has done for years: ran to Congress for ever more burdensome and onerous laws designed to hold back the inevitable consequences of progress. 

But this time, it went too far. Perhaps it was Hollywood’s arrogance. Perhaps it was the provisions allowing Hollywood to use the United States government to shut down any website it pleased on the mere accusation of “piracy” without any due process, a power lefty–fascist bureaucrats would be only too eager to accept.

Not surprisingly, the people who make their living on the web were less than thrilled about giving Uncle Sam and the media conglomerates an off-switch.

Initially, the Republicans once again fell into Hollywood’s trap. When Hollywood needs something from Congress, it dons the mask of “business” and enlists the GOP ideologically. After all, the Republicans are supposed to love “business.” Until now, they have been blind to the fact that many of the “businesses” that plead for special breaks before them are about as capitalist as your typical Occupy Wall Street mutant – the only difference is nicer suits and better drugs.

They aren’t capitalists; they’re cronyists, either relying on government handouts directly or basking in the protection of special favors. And that’s precisely the opposite of what we conservatives are about.

Businesses compete; “businesses” like the entertainment industry use the government to enact rules and regulations that make it so they don’t have to compete.

So, like Pavlov’s dogs hearing the dinner bell, the GOP started drooling when Hollywood started playing the business card. In fact, Republican Lamar Smith of Texas was only too eager to carry water for it – as were several other normally solid Republicans who should have known better.

Of course, Hollywood laughed. It laughed because it holds Republicans in contempt. For decades, Hollywood has endeavored to depict conservative Americans are weirdos, losers, petty tyrants, religious nuts, baby killing fanatics, and idiots. And, once again, the GOP was falling into its trap and dancing to its tune. “What a bunch of suckers!” snickered the Hollywood big shots.

Oh, and the Democrats? Not an issue. Not only are Hollywood and the liberals in ideological lockstep, but Hollywood represents buckets of money and bushels of glamor. The Dems are always on board for whatever Hollywood wants. They know where their locally-sourced, whole wheat artisan bread in non-dairy buttered.

But something funny happened on the way to the fascism.

There was a backlash. The peasants revolted! Tech savvy Americans, both right and left, saw that the Internet that they had grown up with and embraced was in grave danger of being bound by regulations for the sole purpose of ensuring that the dying Hollywood business model would last a bit longer – at the price of stifling everyone else.

No dice.

The rebellion came as a shock to the GOP congresscreatures, who in reality probably had not given much thought to the contents of SOPA – that is, until all hell broke loose. Suddenly, they became VERY interested in intellectual property and telecommunications law.

The Republicans, pushed by a groundswell of opposition from conservative new media types, bailed. SOPA was a non-starter, and now everyone will be looking the next time Hollywood tries to play them. Hey, Hollywood, there’s a new paradigm in Tinseltown.

And the Democrats who supported SOPA  – and who could not back out no matter how outraged the nutroots got – ended up looking both foolish and like tools of the corporate power structure.  And that’s just what they are.

But it gets better.

It gets better because this was a great object lesson all around. To those in Republicans in Congress, it brought attention to a subject that had been sadly ignored but is vital to a huge number of influential voters. It gave them an issue – Internet freedom – that is truly congruent with conservative values, unlike the past political payoffs to connected Hollywood cronies. We conservatives can run on this.

It was also a lesson to young, tech-savvy people who see themselves as culturally liberal and just kind of voted that way, mostly out of habit.  The group that really shares their values – creativity, enterprise, freedom – is the conservativees. The liberals they counted themselves among wanted to shut down websites, not the conservatives. SOPA opened a lot of eyes.

Everything they thought they knew was a lie. Here was Kevin Bacon, and he was telling John Lithgow not to dance.

Can you say “Wedge issue?”

Internet freedom, besides being the right thing to do, is a powerful banner to carry aloft into the battle for the next generation’s hearts and minds. The young, affluent, educated voters the Democrat Party is counting on for the future have to choose between the stolid, limited, controlled world of the Democrat’s corporate owners or the free market of the conservatives where their only limits are those they impose upon themselves.

The Democrats can’t flex on this – they are bound to Hollywood for money and what’s left of its fading aura. But the GOP? It won’t miss what it never had.

In fact, Hollywood’s history of trashing conservatives only make it sweeter when its emissaries come to us for help and we laugh in their botoxed faces.

With its crappy product, promotion of (mostly) non-stellar “stars” and sneering contempt for the majority of its customers, Hollywood seems desperately committed to failure. That’s why when is asks us for a life preserver, we should be only too happy to hand it an anvil.

Here, the NBC sketch show mocks former House Speaker and current presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for his lofty plans to colonize the moon.

Spartacus and his small band of runaway slaves defeat of group of Roman soldiers. The show still looks like it should. It’s got the “300″-style CGI blood flying everywhere and plenty of slow motion. It also has a new Spartacus, and his name is Liam McIntyre. And no offense to the man, who seems like a nice enough bloke, but he ain’t no Andy Whitfield.

The first season of “Spartacus,” dubbed “Blood and Sand,” began a bit slow, but once the show found its footing by the third or fourth episode, it became almost too good television. It openly exploited violence and sex to push forward its story of the slave who fights for freedom and for his wife who has been taken from him after he and a group of his villagers decide enough is enough and refuse to continue helping fight the Romans’ war (how Libertarian of them).

The show featured great performances from all, including John Hannah (who is sorely missed here). But Whitfield was the solid rock of the show. He was a young Clint Eastwood: charismatic, stoic, a great actor. He told the story through his eyes and face, which was quite an accomplishment considering he was either naked or half naked the entire season.

Then tragedy struck, and unfortunately, the great actor is no longer with us. The show continued with a six episode prequel with a brand new lead. It was different but still good, and it continued the “Spartacus” tradition of delving into the darker and more animal-like sides of human nature through its depictions of sex, seduction, bribery, violence, etc. Now the show is put to the real test. Now we have a new Spartacus.

It’s hard to give McIntyre a fair analysis here. It will obviously take some time getting used to him as Spartacus when Whitfield basically owned the role. But here goes; Spartacus seems to have lost a bit of charm here. Sure, he is in some pretty awful situations, but he has been since season one, and Whitfield always brought a slight charm to the character whether he was interacting with friends or enemies. McIntyre just looks serious or depressed all the time. McIntyre also seems to be more of an outward actor. His performance here is based more on looks and brooding. Whitfield managed to bring across more of an emotional depth in his movements and eyes. However, McIntyre is clearly talented and does better than expected with the character. It’s probably not fair comparing him to Whitfield but, for now, the comparisons are impossible to avoid.

“Spartacus: Vengeance” also seems to suffer from a handful of other flaws (at least the season premiere, anyway). The show pretty much gives up on digging into the very gritty and uncomfortable situations that the first and second season did so well. “Spartacus” always managed to take us where other shows wanted to shy away from when it came to human relationships and the tests it put the characters’ morals up to. They’ve abandoned that here, at least for the time being.

Last week’s season opener was far more tame and typical. It’s more of a PG-13 adventure than challenging show. The show also suffers from some bad supporting cast members. Pretty much everyone new to the show is acting like they’re in a high school play (except McIntyre, who seems far more experienced).

The new season also lacks suspense, mainly due to the lack of the gladiator battles and the trusted setting of the House of Batiatus. Both are missed here. We get a random scene thrown in here of a gladiator battle, but we have no idea who the men are that are fighting and, therefore, are not invested. The show also needs to find its footing when it comes to the writing. It doesn’t know where to go or what to do now that the arena and the gladiator storyline is over. Now that Spartacus and his men are fugitives, they hide in what looks like a sewer, and there is very little to drive the narrative forward.

However, most of these criticisms were inevitable for a season opener that had so much pressure on it and so much to accomplish. They had a new lead who had to follow in the footsteps of the man that defined the role. They had a completely new setting with new motives for the characters: they’re no longer slaves and are now fugitives who, one assumes, wish to abolish slavery. The show had also been off the air for about a year (unless you count “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena,” but that truly was a different story). Some of the highlights of the new season are Manu Bennet (who seems to prove he’s more and more talented as this show continues) and the return of the great Lucy Lawless.

Let’s hope “Spartacus” can find its footing like it did before; otherwise, they can’t go on much longer. Whitfield may be sorely missed, but one hopes McIntyre can win the crowd and that the show’s writers will find a good, suspenseful direction for the characters and find a way to make “Spartacus” edgy again (and I don’t mean with sex and violence only, but by examining the darker elements of man like the previous seasons did).

For now, the new season is a bit of a wash, but let’s hope it picks up and lives up to its name.

“Spartacus” airs at 10 p.m. EST Friday nights on Starz.

Carolla, talking alongside fellow “Apprentice” contestant Penn Jillette, says he and Trump may not see eye to eye on every issue. But the country would be in far better shape if everyone approached work with the intensity Trump brings to every project he starts.

When it comes to roll your sleees up, get to work, stop complaining, get our nose to the grindstone, I like that part of Trump … you can start talking about Medicare and Medicaid and social programs, but to me if everyone had Trump’s attitude of, ‘I’m not gonna feel sorry for myself. I’m gonna roll my sleeves up, and I’m gonna bust my ass and get to work,’ we’d be living in a pretty decent country.”

“That part of  Trump, that part of Trump as a president, I would endorse.

Carolla is one of several contestants on the latest season of Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” set to bow Feb. 19

Michael Jackson!

OK, no matter how you feel about Jackson personally, the man made some awesome music in his lifetime, which is why I was uber excited for this week’s episode of “Glee”… the Michael Jackson episode!

Yup, lots of cool cover songs were there, accompanied by fantastic dance numbers, but this episode bit at me on a personal level. Do you remember the last time we watched “Glee” together (and by that I mean I watched it, and you read about it here), when Finn proposed to Rachel? Well, this week we saw her answer.

Throughout the episode, we saw Rachel hemming and hawing as she tried to make a decision as to whether or not to tie her life to one man for the remainder of her time on earth. For some reason, she decided to go to her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend Quinn for advice. Because, of course, the best place to go for relationship advice is your current boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend (insert eye roll here).

This is where my issue with tonight’s show began and ended. Quinn told Rachel that she shouldn’t marry Finn. Rachel interjected with, “I know he and I haven’t lived together or anything, but, you know, I love him, and he’s the one, I know it.”

What the heck? Why are we sending a message to young people that it’s not only acceptable but also necessary to live together before marriage? No, I’m not a prude; I’m practical. Studies show that couples that live together before marriage are more likely to get divorced than those that don’t co-habitate.

Quinn also gave Rachel such awesome advice as, “We hardly know what we’re going to want in 15 years,” and “If you really want to be happy, you’re going to have to say goodbye.”

Who the heck knows where they’re going to be in 15 years? I sure don’t. One thing I know is that I will be standing next to my husband, because no matter what this life throws at us, we are a team. We are holding hands, weathering the storms, and coming out the other side, caring for each other’s wounds.

I said yes when I was 18 years old. I said I Do seven months later, when I was 19. We’ll celebrate our 10^th anniversary next July, and while it’s been quite a ride, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Do you want to know why? It’s because we don’t treat marriage as some feeling — we treat it as a commitment.

Of course there will be feelings involved, but the thing that gets you through the rough spots is that enduring commitment to one another. I hope my darling hubby doesn’t mind me sharing this, but during one pivotal fight in our relationship several years ago, he turned to me and said, “You’ve changed!”

I responded with, “You married a TEENAGER; what did you expect?”

The fact of the matter is that marriage is special, and not just about that squishy-lovey feeling. People change; they always will. I am not the same person that I was when I walked down the aisle, and my husband is not the same person who stood there waiting for me. But we’ve come to recognize that despite our differences, our shortcomings, and our successes, it’s amazing to share your life with another person.

What ticked me off about tonight’s “Glee” was that it made it seem like Rachel had to make a decision between her own life and her boyfriend. Life is what you make it, and I say that it’s much better when you face it with a partner in crime.

I adore my husband, and “Glee” made me sad that so many young people will only hear that marriage ends your dreams and ambitions. None of mine would have come true without him.

Rachel did eventually say yes to Finn when she thought she was rejected from her performance college of choice. When she got her letter saying she was a finalist, we got to see the fear in her eyes over her realization over what she had done.

Because, according to “Glee,” marriage ruins your life.

Or something.

I guess I’ll have to keep on watching and reporting back to y’all on how Glee treats the issue of teenagers getting hitched!

That helped propel Richard Pryor into the comedy stratosphere and made Chris Rock one of the most incisive commentators on modern living during the early 2000s.

Enter “Key & Peele,” the new Comedy Central series debuting at 10:30 p.m. EST tonight. Biracial comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele share their mixed race ancestry in the show’s opening monologue, the kind of refreshing banter that’s immediately open and funny. The exchange doesn’t feel cobbled together by a team of writers trying way too hard to be casual.

It’s one of the best features of the new show, a program which proves both Key and Peele belong in the sketch comedy trenches – each already paid their dues on both “MADtv” and the short-lived “Chocolate News.” They’re naturals on screen, relaxed and compelling even when they’re just swapping stories.

“On a daily basis we have to adjust our blackness,”  Key says before Peele finishes, “to terrify white people.”

Normally, the pair “sound whiter than Mitt Romney in a snow storm,” Peele adds.

The premiere episode mixes the kind of material you might find on any other sketch show with bits given an edge by their heritage. That edge vanishes when the duo take on the first black president.

The sharpest sketches come first, a double dose of laughs that prod our expectations on race and the culture at large. The opening finds Key on the street talking about tickets to an upcoming symphony on his cell phone. When another black man (Peele) walks past, Key transforms the conversation to sound tougher, more stereotypically “gangsta.”

The next bit finds the show’s stars playing henpecked husbands commiserating about their impossible wives. Each is panicked at the thought of his wife hearing them use the dreaded “B” word to describe them, so they end up hiding in some pretty odd places for safety’s sake. It’s two grown men trying to beat their chests while suffocating in domestic “bliss.” Even the camera angles deployed during the sketch reveal a sharp wit.

Other bits aren’t as incisive, including a series of prison videos featuring Lil Wayne. A fake ad for Ancestry.com has one joke – many American blacks are direct descendents of Thomas Jefferson – but unlike “Saturday Night Live” the sketch knows it should end before wearing out its welcome.

“In Living Color,” the most famous sketch show featuring a predominantly black cast, relied heavily on excessive mugging and recurring characters to provoke laughter. The tone here is smaller, more subtle, and the show’s stars appear capable of using nuance rather than exclamation points.

What a shame, then, that the first “Key & Peele” episode wraps with the duo’s “Obama Translator” sketch, which leaked online weeks prior to the show’s debut. It’s nothing more than a full-throttled defense of the president rather than an attempt to mock the powerful, the supposed mantra maintained by comedians prior to Jan. 20, 2009.

“Key & Peele” looks like it will keep its focus on straightforward comedy with an occasional shout out to the first black president. That makes it a snug fit with Comedy Central’s liberal-leaning lineup, but conservatives will still find some solid laughs here.

It’s about horse racing and the characters the sport attracts. It’s filmed largely at California’s Santa Anita race track and tells the story of racing from so many potentially fascinating points of view: gamblers, owners, jockeys and trainers. It stars a cast that on paper can’t lose, including Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina and real-life Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Gary Stevens. The co-executive producer is Michael Mann, who understands light and sound and color as well as anyone in Hollywood.

But that’s on paper. As bettors know, the horse with the winningest record, the best times, the richest purses and the bloodline for the distance doesn’t always win. There’s no such thing as a sure thing.

Stumbling out of the gate, “Luck” turns out to be a one-trick pony. It hurts to write that, because this show has the pedigree of a champion.

“Luck” begins with a peek behind the daily workings at a busy track. There’s the Peruvian trainer Turo Escalante (John Ortiz) described in press materials as “brilliant but disreputable.” And there’s the hard-luck grinder Walter Smith (Nolte), a good horseman and a good man who deserves the big win.

There’s the clique of obsessive, desperate gamblers: Marcus (Kevin Dunn), Renzo (Ritchie Coster), Jerry (Jason Gedrick), and Lonnie (Ian Hart). And there’s the sad sack agent Joey (Richard Kind), the once-great jockey determined to pull his life back together (Stevens), and the eager young apprentice rider (Tom Payne).

What is supposed to carry this tale to the winner’s circle is the ominous appearance of Hoffman’s character, wealthy gangster fresh from prison Chester “Ace” Bernstein, and his loyal tough-guy driver Gus Demitriou (Farina), fronting as a horse owner for his felon boss. They have nefarious grand plans, and mayhem ensues.

Well, not really. It should, but it doesn’t. For long stretches, nothing ensues. Characters mope and horses go in circles while Milch indulges himself with his artistry.

Hoffman looks bored and wooden throughout, and Farina is never allowed to unleash the sparkling menace he’s capable of. As for Stevens’ acting, well, he’s a great jockey and deserves respect for a brilliant racing career.

Robotic may be the best way to describe “Luck.” There’s no conflict, no depth. In their own way, the characters single-mindedly pursue predictable goals. Ace wants to take over the track, and he drifts through every scene with that label pinned to his lapel. The trainers want the best horse. The jockeys want to ride. The gamblers want to win. Some of it’s logical, but with nine hours to dig deeper, viewers deserve more.

“Luck” isn’t without bright spots. The biggest surprise is Nolte. He delivers an outstanding performance and reminds viewers of the great work he is capable of, playing a world-weary trainer who missed his shot. Kind plays his role as the good-hearted but pathetic loser with heartbreaking enthusiasm, the quartet of frenzied gamblers lope along gamely with the storyline even when situations make little sense, and Kerry Condon is endearing as Rosie, the exercise rider who dreams big.

Where performances stumble may not entirely be the fault of the actors. They are, after all, reading lines. For a man who spent so much of his life at horse tracks and proclaims a love for the sport and the atmosphere, Milch writes a story that is a painful exercise in drudgery. Even when characters win, they lose. Like a horse that snaps a leg just short of victory, Milch is there to trip up anyone who gets close. The cumulative effect keeps viewers at arm’s length.

Anyone who has enjoyed a day at the track will be baffled by this theater of dread. “Luck” is on a long, narrow course without twists or turns, and there’s never a payoff.

Milch’s previous HBO tour de force, “John From Cincinnati,” landed with a thud. A subsequent effort for the premium outlet never made it to the screen. Now “Luck” may hint that Milch’s is running out. An HBO subscription adds a chunk to the cost of the average cable bill. How long can his triumphant creation “Deadwood” carry him?

To be fair, for viewers who stick around through all nine episodes (hat tip to HBO for allowing reviewers all nine), “Luck” rallies down the stretch. The last two episodes pick up the pace and hint at better things ahead. But there’s more than the final furlong to a horse race, and a series should engage and reward viewers throughout its run. “Luck” does not.

“Luck” premieres at 9 p.m. EST tonight on HBO

“Fear Factor” combines outrageous physical stunts – don’t try this at home, or this … or this – with dares you wouldn’t pin on your enemy. Yes, eating some bugs can be nutritious, but there’s a good reason 99.9 percent of us choose Big Macs over Cockroach cupcakes.

The show’s latest gross-out stunt nearly got spiked by NBC suits. Even network executives had to think twice about approving an episode where contestants gulp down donkey semen. But the show will go on as scheduled.

Sources involved in the production tell us the stomach-churning stunt was shot last summer — but NBC honchos were having a tough time swallowing this one as the air date approached.

We’re told the challenge involved teams of twins drinking the full glass of donkey semen — with a glass of urine thrown in for good measure. Contestants had to drain both glasses in order to move on to the next round.

Our sources say NBC execs had multiple pow-wows in the months after the stunt was shot … but eventually gave FF producers the thumbs up….

The episode airs this coming Monday — and yes, we’re told multiple contestants actually do (gulp) drink up.