"Kings" on NBC

[billybob476]

I don't think I saw a thread about this show. I "On-Demanded" the 2 hour pilot (eps 101 and 102) with my wife last night and I have to say we really enjoyed it. Show description from NBC.com below:

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.

Maybe it's because Galactica just ended but the show really reminded me of BSG. It's set in an alternate reality and while it's not really sci fi, it doesn't really feel 100% 'present day'. King Silas feels very Adama-ish and I found the writing and acting in the pilot to be very well done.

Probably going to watch episode 2 tonight.

Thoughts?

[Dangelus]

Looks interesting. Thanks for the heads up.

[moyer777]

I really am enjoying this so far.  Andrew, Amy and I like it a lot.  I am talking about it on next weeks THWY podcast.  Should be cool.   

What I like so far is the grand feeling to it all.  It's mystical yet not, I like the whole idea of it.  I think it 's really cool if you know the story of King Saul and David.  Interesting way of looking at it all.  I am digging it!

[billybob476]

I think that's why it reminds me of BSG. It's loosely based on a bible story, and the show itself is very present day and pragmatic but with undertones of spirituality.

[wraith1701]

Sounds right up my alley!  Thanks for the heads-up, man. :)

Found this on youtube

[moyer777]

awesome promo

[Geekyfanboy]

NBC Beheads 'Kings' After Saturday Exile

By MICHAEL HINMAN
Apr-22-2009
Source: TV Week

Call it a victim of poor scheduling, or a tough premise to comprehend. But it seems much of the blame for the cancellation and later banishment of "Kings" lands solely with new management at NBC.

The show, which stars Ian McShane of "Deadwood" in an alternative reality that provided a modern-day twist to the story of David and Goliath, had been heralded as a signature project by former Universal Media Studios head and "Heros" producer Katherine Pope, but not lauded very much by network co-chair Ben Silverman, placing it on Sundays after mid-season, and watching as no one tuned in to see what the show as about.

"Kings" premieres with a 4.1 rating/7 share overnight on March 15, and never did much better than that, falling 39 percent on its final Sunday airing April 5 before being moved to Saturdays April 18.

But no one wants to know how many people caught the show that night as NBC dropped "Kings" altogether after just one airing in its new timeslot, choosing instead to show reruns of "Law & Order: SVU."

The network will burn off the remaining episodes in June, but instead of putting it on a night that might give it a little more attention on a seasonally lighter schedule, the network instead will put it back on Saturdays and allow it to go out in almost total silence.

The show will run between June 13 and July 25.

After its first airing, analysts predicted "Kings" would have an extremely short life, especially since its pilot cost $10 million and later episodes were costing $4 million each -- a lot of money for a series pulling in less than 7 million viewers. The show, however, did get $5 million from an insurance company Liberty Mutual, according to Forbes. Typically, sponsorship deals would allow product placement in a show, but instead, Liberty Mutual wanted the right to review scripts from "Kings" before it was shot and "clean up dialogue."

According to Forbes, Liberty Mutual offered similar deals for show from both ABC and CBS, but both networks turned the insurance company down.

"Kings" was the brainchild of Michael Greene, who used to work with Pope as producers on "Heroes."

[billybob476]

This is too bad, it was an interesting show with some good writing.

[Rico]

It's getting to the point on regular TV that you almost don't want to start watching ANYTHING new.

[billybob476]

Why take a risk on something new when you can pump out a reality show (sorry Kenny) or make another version of CSI.

[X]

I was really enjoying this show too!