Watch a mock doc about the craziest miniseries that never was

There's a lot of trumped-up rhetoric lately about this being the golden age of television.

Anyone who lived in the '70s can tell you that's hogwash. Rich Man, Poor Man. The Thorn Birds. The Winds of War. Behold the miniseries! TV's most mind-bogglingly epic creation. They don't make them like that anymore.

The scope, the daring, the sheer number of hours….Show me anything remotely as grand on TV today. Go ahead. Ha! Can't do it. Why, Danielle Steel could toss off a season of Scandal on her way to the ladies room.

Return with us now the era of monumental melodramas that unfolded over five decades and three continents. Let us revisit the lost wonder that was The Spoils of Babylon, a remarkably excessive, snake-bitten monstrosity that IFC will finally unearth on January 9th.

First, here's a piece of To the Victors Belong the Spoils, a shocking documentary about the making of The Spoils of Babylon. You may recognize the time frame, the style, even some of the cast (who look eerily like Tobey Maguire, Tim Robbins, Val Kilmer, Kristen Wiig, Jessica Alba, Haley Joel Osment and others). Enjoy. And never refer to this as the golden age again.

Having trouble seeing the video? Click here and scroll down to "To the Victor Go the Spoils: The Making of 'The Spoils of Babylon' Part 2"

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