What’s this? A full-fledged swords-and-sorcery fantasy series on broadcast network television? Have we seen that since The Charmings in 1988? (And I’m not sure that campy, short-lived ABC sitcom even counts.)
It might be an indication of just how desperate NBC is for a hit that the network is willing to take a chance on swords and sorcery, with Merlin, a British import that tells the story of Merlin and Arthur and Camelot “before they were legends,” premiering Sunday, June 21st at 8/7c.
Before-they-were-legends stories — basically, the Smallville treatment — can, of course, be hit or miss, especially when the story in question is as well-known and endlessly-rehashed as that of Camelot. And Merlin has departed dramatically from the traditional telling of the story: Merlin is younger, the same age as Arthur; Camelot pre-dates the would-be king; Morgana is a “good guy”; and Lancelot shows up about ten years early.
Then again, maybe all this isn’t such a bad thing. Despite the never-ending parade of faithful, earnest Arthurian retellings, how long has it been since we’ve had a truly interesting one — one that was worth retelling? Since The Mists of Avalon?
Let’s face it: Camelot has gone stale. If any story deserves to be shaken up, it might be this one.
In Britain, where the first thirteen episodes of Merlin aired last fall, the show has been a critical and popular hit. NBC too liked what it saw, committing to a partnership with the BBC early in the production (no doubt increasing the budget and improving the production values for finicky U.S. sensibilities).
Meanwhile, the online buzz from the U.K. has been positive — though NBC seems to have done a pretty good job of geoblocking online postings of the show’s episodes, to preserve some sense of mysery, and to protect their investment.
Two aspects of this retelling seem unambiguously positive. One is the color-blind casting of Guinevere, or Gwen, played by Angel Coulby. How nice to get a break from the all-white, all-the-time Arthur stories.
In addition, the role of Uther is played by none other than Buffy: The Vampire Slayer’s beloved Giles, Anthony Stewart Head.
Will Merlin work? We’ll know soon enough if this will be the summer that made Camelot cool again.
A preview of NBC’s Merlin (Sunday, June 21st at 8/7c)
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Really curious to see this.
I’ve seen it: it’s pretty good, not great.
I saw all but the last two episodes on the BBC which was kind of annoying but I must say I liked it a lot.
Good to know. Did they now air the last two eps, or did you just miss them?
I was away on business and didn’t get to see them but they definitely showed them. It went down very well over here both in the traditional press and online. A lot of Torchwood and Dr Who fans were up in arms before it was shown as it was accepted that Merlin getting the money was the reason those didn’t get full runs this year but almost all seemed convinced it was a good move in the end. Quite a lot of people saw UST between Merlin and Arthur more online this time than on paper although Russell T Davies did talk about it somewhere.
NBC did a couple of Merlin miniseries with Sam Neil(i think that’s his name he’s the dude that starred in In the Mouth of Madness I know that.) I hated the first one so much I never watched the second.
Fox had that show that Heath Ledger starred in when he first started out. I can’t remember the name though.
To me no movie will ever tell the traditional King Arthur legend a well as John Boorman’s Excalibur so I’m all for mixing up the myth(which is itself a mishmash of history and Celtic legends. So I’m all for untraditional takes on the story.
I think the series Heath Ledger you’re referring to was “Roar,” one of the great cancelled-before-they-could-hit-their-stride series of our time. That had the potential for greatness, but we never got to see it.
Agreed about being up for new takes on the stories! I say let’s see what they can give us.
Considering there are at the lest a few dozen versions of Arthurian legend already, the supposed problem of yet another version eludes me.
I’ve seen the entire season and if you like seeker, xena, etc you should have no problem with Merlin.
I completely agree with what is said. Arthurian legend was in need of a shake up. It is nice to see merlin and arthur on the same age in their teenages together with morgana and guinevere.
Casting Anthony as Arthur’s father elicited the “buffy-dude!” response only in the first few episodes only for me. He does a good job of shaking the giles vibe.
The main problem for me was being able to disconnect John Hurt face from his voice, which he lends in several episodes. But maybe I have seen V for Vendetta to often where his face is usually enlarged and very much present on screen when his distinctive voice is present.
The eye candy departement deveres more attention though! Especially since amongst the fanbase there is alot of discussion. Personally I prefer arthur over merlin and morgana over guinevere(gwen), but I am the minority judging by online debate.
Minor spoiler alert here.
Lancelot does make his appareance(one episode sadly, hoping for more next season) and is latino (santiago cabrera, Isaac Mendez from Heroes).
And as said, everyone is end of teenage/early twenties (nothing specifically mentioned for all of them) and while we may know the romantic directions everyone eventually takes…merlin does interact with what used to be “Arthur’s women” for lack of a better term.
I’m of the firm belief that Morgan le Fey always got a bad rep anyways.
Maybe that’s why I liked Mists of Avalon.
Looks interesting, dunno if we’ll get it in Canada or not.
You will (or so I understand)
I saw when it aired on the beeb, it’s ok. Just try to forget everything you thought you knew about the Arthurian story, otherwise it’ll really grate. Much better than the Robin Hood retelling that’s also on.
Hmm, I want to see this anyway so I shall remember this for the future!
I’m sorry did you read Mists of Avalon? So how about admitting that Morgana might not have been evil?
merlin was so far off the legend you wouldn’t recognize it without the name. did anyone even read the story? it’s like they took all the names, put them in a hat, and then found a children’s story to put them in. I love the legend, god would it kill you to even try and follow it? awful,awful,awful!!!
They could have called the series, it’s protagonists and the kingdom something else since the story itself is so far from the King Arthur legend. It’s unfortunate that NBC underestimates its viewers. We had high hopes, in a word “Merlin” is ghastly.
I agree with Joolz- I found this to be pretty unwatchable. In the first few seconds, when they mentioned that Merlin was a ‘young warlock,’ I suspected it would be lame. Having a hackneyed old hag of a witch within the next five minutes didn’t help.
I get that modern Britain is a multiracial society, but I’m sick of historical or historical-fantasy retellings trying to shoehorn that into myth.
I think the show is real good you should all watch it!
joolz you are correct…in a word Merlin is indeed ‘GHASTLY’….TOO many discrepancies….don’t mind the ethnicity of Guinevere, but a MAID ? Why not just create a NEW fantasy of the same period….just leave the story/myth alone !!!! perhaps the producers think ( or is it realize ) that no one ( or very few ) read anymore ! Thank heaven there’s cable….I looked forward to the first episode…it was so horrible, I will never watch it again !!!
I’m tired of networks screwing with peoples mind. To take a legend which has been taught in schools and has been learned by kids for centuries and then confuse the peoples names is a disgrace and it would have been interesting if not all screwed up.
As one commenter has already mentioned, this series is quite watchable–provided that you forget everything you knew about the Arthur legend beforehand. As several reviewers have also already mentioned, it bears so little likeness to the actual Arthurian myth that if the show were given a different title and all the characters were given different names, hardly any resemblance to Arthurian legend could be found.
It might be daring of NBC to take such extreme liberties with a story taught in every high school in the country… but then, NBC is really just following that proven advertising trick of slapping a well-recognized “Brand name” onto a new (and sometimes rather unrelated) product. If the show is titled “Merlin”, people get interested because they know that name. If the show is titled “Random Wizard Guy Jones!” viewers are much less likely even to try it out.
Also, yes, its wonderful that we are now representing the present multicultural nature of Great Britain, and yes, Gwen and Lancelot are quite well acted, etc, etc, etc. But it is extremely unlikely that someone of either of their ethnicities would appear in Middle Ages Britain. Furthermore, the reviewer above lauds NBC for their openminded and “color-blind” casting decision, but notice certain facts about their Gwen character: she is colored, she is a maid, she stands in the very back on the “poster image” despite being the title character’s (Merlin’s) love interest, and the story has been altered so that she is no longer Arthur’s (the true hero of the old myth) main squeeze. Now ask: how “color-blind” is NBC really being?
All in all, however, I think this show is quite watchable; it is certainly better than a great deal of other prime-time programming. Give it a try, so long as you can ignore (or won’t have) that nagging irritation at an airheaded television producer’s idea of classic English mythology. The acting is much better than one might expect, and the Xena-reminiscent special effects are amusing if not dazzling.
Remember, NBC had nothing to do with creating, casting, etc, this show. It’s British.
I agree with Alex! How would a remake of Roots be if the main character was Hispanic or even white. THe character is what it is! you don’t need to change it. And to be a maid on top of it! Please! If nothing else that should get some feathers ruffled. There is nothing wrong with Merlin falling in love with a moor, but dont’ call her Guinevere. I loved Roots and it is a stong story but like i said it would not have the same inpact if the characters were changed!
Wow, Has televison regressed back to 1986? I feel like I am watching
a cheesy after school special - full of bad acting, bad script and poor set design! Think I will switch to cabel..
Faithful to the story or not, this is a good, interesting show with good acting. Far better than a lot of television. Good job.
I adore this series. It may not be very extravagant but it\’s a refreshing change from some of the other shows.
I love this series, and I don’t care that it “differs from legend”, as so many people are crying. To be honest, there’s about as much similarity between ‘Merlin’ and Malory’s telling as there is between Malory and Monmouth’s telling, or between any of the scores of accepted versions in the Arthurian literary canon. So I don’t really mind the liberties.
Besides, its good fun, and there is great sexual tension between every coupling of the 4 younger characters. Thats enough for me
Can I just say one thing, there are about 50 different version of the stories f Camelot, Merlin, Arthur, etc. and NBC/BBD didn’t necessarily get it “wrong.” I believe this is their interpretation which is all these legends are in the first place. Let’s not wrong the for having their own interpretation of a fictional story! Fiction=not true (up for interpretation).
Can I just say one thing, there are about 50 different versions of the stories of Camelot, Merlin, Arthur, etc. and NBC/BBD didn’t necessarily get it “wrong.” I believe this is their interpretation which is all these legends are in the first place, interpretations. Let’s not wrong them for having their own interpretation of a fictional story! Fiction=not true (up for interpretation).
Merlin gives me a reason to look forward to a tv program - I just lOVE it!! Especially the last two episodes that aired 8/16 - I think the casting is perfect…PLEASE don’t take this off TV - the (very)few times i’ve enjoyed a tv presentation it was taken down after a season - I think the whole thing is GREAT!!!!