TV: Kings

[Assassin]

From executive producer Michael Green (NBC’s "Heroes") comes a riveting new drama about a modern day monarchy. "Kings" is a contemporary re-telling of the timeless tale of David and Goliath. This series is an epic story of greed and power, war and romance, forbidden loves and secret alliances -- and a young hero who rises to power in a modern-day kingdom.

King Silas Benjamin (Ian McShane, "Deadwood") is the well-entrenched king of Gilboa, whose flag bears a divine butterfly symbol. Gilboa has its capital in Shiloh, a clean new city that is unspoiled by time or litter. Silas must deal with the tensions rising between Gilboa and neighboring nation Gath. When several prisoners of war are taken, a young soldier, David Shepherd (Chris Egan, "Eragon"), defies orders and crosses enemy lines to save them. Unknown to David, the soldier he saves is Jack Benjamin (Sebastian Stan, "The Covenant"), the son of the king. From that day forth, David’s life will never be the same.

Susanna Thompson ("Once & Again") plays Queen Rose Benjamin, a distant, yet supportive wife. Allison Miller ("Lucy’s Piano") stars as King Silas’ beautiful, intelligent and outspoken daughter, Michelle. General Linus Abner (Wes Studi, "Comanche Moon," "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee"), Reverend Ephram Samuels (Eamonn Walker, "Oz") and William Cross, Silas’ brother-in-law (Dylan Baker, "Spiderman 2"), try to influence King Silas.

From Universal Media Studios, "Kings" is executive-produced by Green, Erwin Stoff ("I Am Legend") and Francis Lawrence ("I Am Legend"), who also directed the pilot.

New show that aired last Sunday. I watched the first two episodes, and i really liked it. The show seems to have potential.

[Munsu]

Seems like all critics have enjoyed it. Apparently it had some piss poor ratings to begin the series, so hopefully those will increase. If that happens I'll give it a chance, don't want to start a series right now with cancellation potential. Actually, I might just give it a try just to see Ian McShane.

[Ryllharu]

Seems like all critics have enjoyed it. Apparently it had some piss poor ratings to begin the series, so hopefully those will increase.
This was due entirely to NBCs marketing strategy backfiring (http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSTRE52G1EQ20090317) on them.

They were relying on what some publications were calling the trickle-down effect rather than standard marketing, in addition to their utterly inane and uninformative ads during prime time on the own network.

Rather than go after the standard Entertainment magazines, they went after Time and the New York Times Magazine (http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/nbc_plays_the_kingsmaker.php) going with feature articles trying to pass the show off as something incredibly high-minded and worth sparking conversation and deep watercooler buzz.

Instead, they've been non-stop blasting incomprehensible ads for the past two months, intentionally not telling anyone what it was about. I saw them during Life, but I barely even register if they ever said when it was actually premiering. The only thought in my head through the ads were "wtf is this...?"

I'm glad this idiotic campaign backfired on them, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone got fired for it considering how much money they apparently spent on it.


Hey, if they critics liked it, maybe I'll give it a shot, but now that I know what it is about, I have generally not been a fan of shows that are an overt religious allegory.

[Sapphire]

This is a good show.

NBC fails at publicizing good shows (like Friday Night Lights) but I have to admit, they do try hard. I am wondering why/how their crappy shows get so much publicity!!

[Konohamaru!]

So far I'm enjoying this show. The first 2 hour premier was pretty sweet indeed. A little far fetched at times, but a good show none the less... There are lots of things going on, so the drama will be thick as things come to a head, and I can see a lot of plot twists and turns potential... Though they do mention god a couple of times, I definately don't see it being any major part of the story, but just some influence here and there. Allison Miller is just adorable...

[Inazuma]

This show can kick Alias down the stairs, shit a big smelly Terminator the Sarah Chronicles down the toilets and wipe it's ass with Smallville.

[Konohamaru!]

Hehe, well it's at least the best show on Sunday nights...

[Stitch]

This show is absolutely motherfucking awesome. Excellent acting, excellent story, excellent everything. I wouldn't change a damn thing about it, so far so good.

I will watch this show regardless of its viewership or lack thereof.

[Sapphire]

I'm not liking the main characters "love" interest, but I guess I don't like many female roles in this type of show.

I do like the mother, though.

[Stitch]

I actually think that the mother's role is more cliched than the daughter's. You mean to tell me that the woman of the household (not necessarily the head of the household) whose younger brother is bankrolling Gath's entire treasury is suddenly pulling all the strings behind the scenes? I can't say I'm shocked to see that one coming. It's like something you could expect from a Prison Break plot twist.

As for the politically active and outspoken daughter who is falling in love with the boy that actually supports her cause and concerns... Well, that's just the natural progression of life experiences for a young lady, such as yourself.

I do, however, appreciate your streak of Ayn Rand.

[Sapphire]

Um, I don't remember anything about her 'pulling the strings behind the scenes' as much as telling her brother to quit being a spoiled brat to her husband. Saying she's "pulling the strings" implies she gives a shit about politics or even the ramifications of a corrupt kingdom.

I see her as a noble, rich and somewhat vain lady who's worries go as far as setting up the dinner table. She really couldn't give two shits about the affairs of the state or unnecessary political mumbo jumbo, yet she wields enough power to get her way in the kingdom (even if her worries go as far as being interviewed and making her family look good).

I see the daughter as a whiny brattish goody-two-shoes who hasn't figured how to get what she wants yet. Mainly her purpose is to be a love interest/morally uptight side character, and I'm sure the main character is going to top it all off by rescuing her from her oh so evil father a few times.

[Stitch]

She didn't just tell her brother to quit being a spoiled brat, though. She completely shut him down. When he tried to respond and make his case, she straight up put a leash on him and basically told him how to run his own company... I don't know, maybe it's just me but if you're a man and you let anyone (it doesn't even matter if she's a woman or your older sister) flat out tell you what you're going to and not going to do with your own money, then you just got punked beyond retribution.

Setting up the dinner table was also not as simple as just setting up the dinner table. She set that up meticulously for the enemy to host peace treaty talks. Then she had the foresight to disallow her own son a seat at the table because she knew he would jeopardize the peace talks just by being in the same room as the very guest of honor he blames for stealing all his spotlight. Before that, she even had to instruct him on how to handle himself with the press.

Probably the most obvious foreshadowing of her more-than-meets-the-eye importance is when she lost her cell phone and was absolutely vehement about finding it due to the contacts she had on it. It would cause a security risk if all her contacts got into the wrong hands. If she really didn't give two shits about the state's affairs, she would have let that cell phone stay lost... something her husband, the king, was more than content to do. In fact, he's the one that was indifferent to it.

[Sapphire]

"She set that up meticulously for the enemy to host peace treaty talks."

While I disagree with the first paragraph, I have to agree with this part. She's not stupid I'll give you that much. She has her frivolous purpose in the story, but she does it well. I wouldn't respect her if she let her cell phone stay lost. I attribute that to the fact that she's smart and responsible enough to solve her own problems. She's the queen after all.

I suppose you can count making her brother stop whining, looking for her cell phone, and setting the table contributing to the state, but these all seem to be side effects of her personality that happen to move the plot along in a good direction. I actually am excited to see her in future eps for this very reason. You may be right; she's more important than meets the eye. I have yet to see it though.

(Haven't seen the latest ep yet)

[Sapphire]

Hey Stitch, I think from Last Sunday's ep, both of us are kind of right. (I haven't watched this Sunday's yet) So far we know that she does what she does for an ulterior purpose, though it may be superficial. But last episode also proves that she can be manipulative and she knows how to play her cards right (even in the game of romance) and I think that's cool.