Starz Camelot Series (1 Viewer)

[Josh Dial]

Originally Posted by mattCR



Xena:WP or Highlander: The Series

Wait, wait, wait. Let's not make comparisons we can't take back

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by Josh Dial




Wait, wait, wait. Let's not make comparisons we can't take back

*Shrug* I don't know, I enjoyed all of those series. I guess I look for different things out of each series. I can enjoy "The Wire" "Treme" and "West Wing" in maybe a different way that I still can laugh at "Bensen".. or that while I enjoy "Law & Order" it doesn't mean I don't appreciate "Night Court" Everything in it's own place. I've always found the BBC "Merlin" to be fun, lots of action, lighthearted, and the kind of show I can sit and watch with my 12 and 10 year old and they cheer. It's a light romp. I recognize Camelot is geared in a much darker tone with a different setting, so I am giving it all the chances that it has.


But the problem for me is that the Arthurian myth is in some ways wrapped up in the joy and kid-friendly nature of it. Think Disney's "Sword and the Stone". So for an adult version to work, I have to feel as though they are doing something different but interesting.


I guess the biggest problem right now I really have is that the casting of Arthur seems bad, and that the Merlin character, while aloof is played in a way that the script doesn't give him much to actually show up for and do.


I though Episode 3 was a big step backwards from 1/2, where we had a premise setup, some action.. and Episode 3 turned into political game of a show - which is fine - but it may take a while to build. I'm in for the whole season. I remember "Spartacus" had a rough first 3 episodes and then rallied into something sensational.

 

[dmiller68]

I have watch the 3 episodes and I'm not drawn in as much as Spartacus. Both from a production quality are fantastic. I hope that this one can draw me in fully.

 

[Josh Dial]

Originally Posted by mattCR



But the problem for me is that the Arthurian myth is in some ways wrapped up in the joy and kid-friendly nature of it. Think Disney's "Sword and the Stone". So for an adult version to work, I have to feel as though they are doing something different but interesting.

I totally understand what you are saying. I guess I just grew up with a different version: Excalibur (the film), The History of the Kings of Britain, Le Morte d'Arthur, The Once and Future King, among others were my introductions to the myth.


Regarding my comment about Highlander and Xena: don't get me wrong, I liked them both too. I was actually commenting on the comparison between the two--I find Highlander to be totally different than Xena (and superior)

 

[NeilO]

Well, that was not the legend of The Lady in the Lake that I was expecting. And Morgan went through some pretty crazy stuff in this episode.

 

[mattCR]

This is a very.. different take on everything. Merlin as a very creepy guy is hard to relate to.

 

[NeilO]

Just saw the season finale. More surprises there and some things we anticipated and expected. Overall it was quite an interesting series. Eva Green really plays a Morgan that you love to hate. I'm was mainly glad that Dish Network gave us a year of Starz so I could see Torchwood later this year, but I also enjoyed this new take of the legend of Arthur.

 

[NeilO]

To my surprise I just saw this article: http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/starz-declines-option-to-renew-camelot/

Starz said today that due to significant production challenges, the network has decided not to exercise the option for subsequent seasons of its freshman original series Camelot.

 

[mattCR]

I think the problem was that it closed out the year on a low ratings note, and had lower ratings (by far) then either of the Spartacus series, and it didn't seem to mesh with the Starz concept of edgy programming. It was different, but to be honest, it just never seemed to go anywhere until too late in the series.

 

[mike caronia]

I think the problem was HBO whipped out Game of Thrones which was superior in every way. Made Camelot look like a high school production.

 

[PhilipG]

I think the problem was HBO whipped out Game of Thrones which was superior in every way. Made Camelot look like a high school production.

^^^ is exactly right. IMHO, Camelot's saving grace was Joseph Fiennes' surprisingly-good take on Merlin. Sean Pertwee was excellent too but his character was killed off early. The casting of Arthur (to be fair, the actor did seem to be improving, slowly, as time went by) and Morgan (Eva Green's horrible voice - there, I said it!) were the big negatives. And the writing for the filler episodes was awful, I'm sorry to say. Too bad.

 

[Garrett Adams]

Originally Posted by PhilipG /forum/thread/309176/starz-camelot-series#post_3828047

Besides here hot looks I really dug her voice. I do agree the show was a dud.

 

[Mark Maltais]

I think it could have gotten better, they just needed to add an "edge" to it...the character study was getting too long and boring. I was giving it a good chance and would have tuned in to a second season. Personally I'm getting sick of shows that are dumped after a season or two. I keep going back to ST TNG, that did not hit it's stride until the end of season 3!!! Bad enough these shows usually only go for around 10 episodes but now it's either a super hit out of the gate or it gets cancelled.