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Kings

post #1 of 33
3/15/09 at 10:12pm
Thread Starter 
Well, for a series potential start, it's interesting. This requires a whole lot of suspension of disbelief. But as an alternate reality program, it is told well.

I'm of the belief having seen it that it's almost a "what if the US had instead went with Kings? What if the State of New York was a Kingdom instead?"

The one kid is a bit too lucky, but some nice eye candy.
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post #2 of 33
3/15/09 at 10:57pm

Re: Kings

I was intrigued by the concept (especially the biblical aspect), but didn't get around to watching. So the kingdoms replace the states? Do the European countries still exist in their present form, or are they totally different too?
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post #3 of 33
3/16/09 at 4:16am

Re: Kings

This is basically telling the story of David and Saul in a modern setting. Interesting how the writers have updated the details. Ian McShane is dead on as Silas/Saul, but David needs a little more confidence in his role as Silas' eventual successor.

I thought the Goliath scene was great until David revealed to his brother that he was surrendering.... Not in keeping with the original character.

Adam. this update has nothing to do with our current world, only the technology, etc. It's pretty much ancient Israel, Philistine, etc., given different names and modernized.
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post #4 of 33
3/16/09 at 9:05am

Re: Kings

I don't think at all that David needs more confidence, as we don't know from the biblical telling that David didn't have insecurity issues, etc. We know what happened, but we don't know what went on inside of David.

Yes, the series is a modern-day retelling of David and Saul, but it's not supposed to mirror everything exactly, and therefore, it doesn't matter that for the purpose of THIS story, David told his brother he was surrendering. There are lots of details in this story that don't mirror the original and they're not supposed to. But they definitely got the spirit of the original down pat.

I thought the pilot was great!
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post #5 of 33
3/16/09 at 9:24am

Re: Kings

Yeah, noticed that the character of Jack/Jonathan has been altered quite a bit from the source character, too.

Still, I liked it, and liked the little details (a wrench and grenade instead of a slingshot, the image of a lyre built into the design of the piano, Samuels' confrontation with Silas on the steps, with an almost quote directly from the Bible, the look on Silas' face when he saw the crown of butterflies descend on David.)

It's apparent the producers have gone out of their way to honor the spirit of the story!
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post #6 of 33
3/16/09 at 9:41am

Re: Kings

I watched a little bit and, at least in those scenes, I was very distracted by the super extreme close-ups on the faces of the actors. They were on my TV screen, but were shot so close that it felt like they were actually invading my personal space. And I don't need to see the pores on their faces.

Couldn't watch enough to form an opinion about the program itself.
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post #7 of 33
3/16/09 at 1:34pm

Re: Kings

I had higher hopes for this show. I thought from the advertisements that it would take place in America but something had happened to create a monarch in this country. In any event i did like the show, I was just disappointed by that.
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post #8 of 33
3/16/09 at 1:37pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Kings

I watched it so late at night (started at 10, got done by 11:30) all I noticed was the comparitives to rebuilding towers, NYC comparisons, etc.. now I feel completely like an idiot for the obvious. I took the David / Goliath bit as a "eh" whereas I was waiting for a mythos that said "what if" the US became a kingdom. Since the commercials had built that up, it's what I -wanted- to see.
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post #9 of 33
3/18/09 at 8:49am

Re: Kings

I finished watching it last night. The ratings for the pilot apparently have been dreadful. I think if they had premiered it on Thursday evenings at 10 PM as originally planned and split it into two one-hour episodes, it would have done better.
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post #10 of 33
3/22/09 at 9:46am

Re: Kings

I only made it through an hour of it but will try again as I LOVE Ian McShane. Since there is no chance in hell that we will get the Deadwood finale we deserve this will be the place to catch McShane monologuing and plotting. It sounds like they shot all 12 or 13 episodes already so dreadful or not folks interested in it will likely get to see all of it somewhere...on TV with NBC, Sci-Fi or USA or something or on DVD. Maybe it gets better as it goes?
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post #11 of 33
3/23/09 at 6:42am

Re: Kings

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Florian
I Maybe it gets better as it goes?

I am assuming you're talking about the ratings, as the series itself is already pretty good.
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post #12 of 33
3/23/09 at 7:29am

Re: Kings

According to Ian McShane's interview on The Daily Show
Ian McShane | The Daily Show | Comedy Central
they had just finished shooting the season (two weeks ago). (The clip at the beginning of the interview was from last night's episode.) The second episode was nicely done with great imagery. These episodes look like they'll play well a second time.
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post #13 of 33
4/7/09 at 12:48pm

Re: Kings

In case anyone here is still watching, Kings moves to Saturday nights to finish its run. I've been enjoying it.

Seen at
NBC pulls 'Kings' from Sundays--The Live Feed
Quote:
NBC pulls 'Kings' from Sundays

Kings2 NBC is replacing freshman drama Kings on Sunday nights, yanking the struggling allegorical series after four episodes.

Kings will be swapped out for another hour of Dateline, which will now run for two hours starting at 7 p.m.

Sunday's Kings episode was seen by 3.6 million viewers and received a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. Yet Dateline had a 1.5 rating in its half hour leading into Kings. NBC suspects an expanded Dateline will provide a better lead-in for 9 p.m.'s Celebrity Apprentice, which has seen some audience erosion in recent weeks that might be attributed to Kings.

The remaining eight episodes of Kings will air on Saturday nights at 8 p.m. starting April 18.

The situation is a shame because, as nearly every TV critic pointed out, NBC took a chance here on an imaginative idea with a strong cast. Kings, which retold the story of King David in modern times, wasn't another police procedural, it wasn't a cynical programming move. Some may harp on NBC for airing Kings on Sundays at 8 p.m. -- it's a weak slot for the network -- but if the network had misjudged the show and it was truly effective its ratings would not have sunk week to week.

Incidentally, over on iTunes, the most-recent episode of Kings currently ranks as the most-downloaded TV show.
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post #14 of 33
4/7/09 at 2:44pm

Re: Kings

It's different and acclaimed... so it must be taken off the air!
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post #15 of 33
4/7/09 at 4:30pm

Re: Kings

too bad, I really like Kings and will continue to watch. I just wish it could have been received better.
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post #16 of 33
4/8/09 at 12:54pm

Re: Kings

I, too , have been enjoying this show. I hope it gets better rating, but I don't think it will happen.
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post #17 of 33
4/8/09 at 1:14pm

Re: Kings

Quote:
Originally Posted by gushin
I, too , have been enjoying this show. I hope it gets better rating, but I don't think it will happen.
If they actually put some publicity behind the move to Saturday night there is a chance the ratings will improve. As noted in the article
Quote:
Incidentally, over on iTunes, the most-recent episode of Kings currently ranks as the most-downloaded TV show.
So, perhaps some of these people might be able to watch it more easily on Saturday. Still, at the moment it seems likely that we'll get the rest of this season (which is already available for pre-order on Amazon as seen at Kings DVD news: Pre-order Kings - Season 1 from Amazon.com | TVShowsOnDVD.com ), but I doubt we'll see any more than that.
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post #18 of 33
4/9/09 at 6:58am

Re: Kings

I hope this show gains some traction. It's a great, original idea in a sea of programming that's been done to death, and it seems to get better with each episode.
Sunday night is a challenging slot. I hope the move to Saturday picks up more viewers, even though it seems that moving a show to Saturday means it has one foot out the door.
Ian Mcshane is an intense actor, isn't he?
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post #19 of 33
4/9/09 at 10:13am

Re: Kings

Quote:
Ian Mcshane is an intense actor, isn't he?

Buy "Deadwood", season 2. Watch "Requiem for a Gleet".
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post #20 of 33
4/9/09 at 11:00am

Re: Kings

I saw it. Deadwood was a fantastic series, and Ian was the primary reason my wife and I tuned in to check this series out.
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post #21 of 33
4/10/09 at 4:54am

Re: Kings

Interesting series, McShane of course is great, but the show pretty much dies whenever the actor who plays David (the other Lead in the show) is onscreen. He's such a bland uninteresting fella, and not the greatest for McShane to play off of. Deadwood was Fantastic because McShane playing off of Timothy Olyphant who was a much more interesting personality and actor.
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post #22 of 33
4/10/09 at 12:42pm

Re: Kings

Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilO
(which is already available for pre-order on Amazon as seen at Kings DVD news: Pre-order Kings - Season 1 the Complete Series from Amazon.com | TVShowsOnDVD.com ), but I doubt we'll see any more than that.

Fixed. Too bad, because I like this show. I'm surprised none of these Deadwood fans has commented on the scenes with Mcshane and Bryan Cox. Takes me back...
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post #23 of 33
4/22/09 at 6:02am

Re: Kings

It appears that Nielsen families couldn't follow Kings over to Saturday night as it has been pulled until the summer according to
NBC moves Kings to summer | Entertainment | Television | Reuters

Quote:
"Kings" will return to its Saturday 8 p.m. slot June 13 and will finish its run through July 25.
The question is whether NBC will really air the rest of the episodes.
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post #24 of 33
4/22/09 at 8:17am

Re: Kings

Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilO
It appears that Nielsen families couldn't follow Kings over to Saturday night as it has been pulled until the summer according to
NBC moves Kings to summer | Entertainment | Television | Reuters

The question is whether NBC will really air the rest of the episodes.

Well, it isn't like they've got much of anything else to air.

Regards,

Joe
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post #25 of 33
7/5/09 at 2:45pm
I watched the last two episodes last night and things are heating up quite a bit.  It is really unfortunate that they had to cancel it, but at least we are getting all of the episodes they made.  I was quite surprised by some of the twists in those episodes. 
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post #26 of 33
7/8/09 at 5:30am
This is a really great show.  I keep forgetting that I am not watching a "made for HBO" series. The quality is amazing.  I could watch Ian McShane fold the laundry for hours, provided he makes commentary while doing it.

C
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post #27 of 33
7/14/09 at 3:41am
Relevant article:

People just weren’t that interested in Kings, but some can’t accept that


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post #28 of 33
7/14/09 at 10:14am
That was an interesting article.  In the comments to the article there was a quote from the creator by a poster named Rei:
Quote:

Now I will report what Micheal Green, creator of KINGS, has said recently ( http://www.newsarama.com/tv/090515-guggenheim-green-god.html ):

“They were very confused with how to market our show,” said Michael Green, the creator of Kings, which was replaced by NBC this season after airing only the first four episodes. “And I think, ultimately, I think it’s one of the reasons they lost the desire to make a success out of it. It’s very easy to say, ‘we have a nice cop show we executed really well for you.’ It’s harder to say, ‘we have a character-based soap that’s got some bizarre elements to it.’”
 

“When the time came for the marketing, there was a very deliberate, outspoken, loud desire articulated by them that, ‘We are not going to say King David.’ They were scared to say King David. They just felt that that would be detrimental to the show,” Green explained. “I thought it was the clearest way to express what the show was about, and I thought it might actually generate interest. But there was a fear of either backlash or marginalizing or pigeonholing. There were a lot of reasons they had. They wouldn’t go near it in the marketing, but they never had a problem with it on the creative level, which is why I was so baffled.”
 

“I do think there’s an audience out there for this stuff,” Green said. “The audiences for Lost come at it with an incredible amount of intelligence. I think it’s the job of the network to generate an interest in these products.”



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post #29 of 33
7/19/09 at 5:38pm
After last night's episode we have one more left. I hope the final episode gives us some satisfaction.

This past episode (part 1 of 2) had an interesting turn of events.  I was surprised as to how thoroughly manipulated Silas was by the old king.  The old king took quite a bit of delight in how things played out.   It is unfortunate that more people weren't interested.
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post #30 of 33
7/19/09 at 6:11pm
Thread Starter 
The problem is that the show had such a laid back method with not enough bursts of actual action to keep the audience fixed to it.  Last nights episode was very good, but after seeing it I realized that the show could have been entirely done in a 3 part miniseries and probably not lost a drop of the narrative.   It was just too full of filler to really make it.
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