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One of these Kings is not like the other

Why isn’t America watching Kings? The show premiered Sunday night on NBC and apparently everyone was too busy watching Desperate Housewives to sit up and take notice. AMERICA, YOU ARE VOTING FOR BAD TV WITH YOUR STUPID CHOICES PLEASE STOP IT.

I’ll admit I didn’t get around to watching Kings until last night but that is only because I had to re-watch Battlestar Galactica on Sunday night due to the tequila induced haze through which I viewed it at The Bagdad. But I promise to watch Kings every Sunday night from now until it’s canceled because it is FUCKING AWESOME – which is why it will be canceled.

Now, I realize not everyone may agree with my taste in television shows and yes, I have seen every episode of House because that Sir Hugh Laurie is dreamy, but trust me, Kings is good. Like, epically good.

A few examples:

Ian McShane as King Silas
Effing Swearengen from Deadwood playing a corrupt and enigmatic King? You had me at coc*****ker.

A modern day re-telling of the story of King David
Well, um…okay, film it in New York, throw in some awesome political machinations, and a gay subplot and I am there. Instead of biblical, I like to think of it as fantastical.

Young King David – the Shepherd
Destined to de-throne McShane’s Silas (King Saul in the Bible story), David is that kid from Eragon! He can ride dragons! Yes, yes please kiss the Princess Michelle passionately on the balcony of the “castle”. With tongue. And maybe a little over the sweater action.

Moreover, what I really liked about the pilot, besides the historical/biblical/fantasmimagical elements (which always create an interesting Campbell-ian subtext, especially in regards to folklore and a kind of itching, nagging feeling that you’ve seen this played out somewhere before) is that it felt more like Richard III than Moses on the Mount and I saw more political intrigue, magical realism, and plot movement within the first hour and a half of Kings then I’ve seen during the entire final season of BSG. And, okay, when the “crown” of fake butterflies descended on David’s pretty golden head signifying his divine right to be King, I liked it.

There, I said it.

You can see the pilot episode here on Hulu.

11 replies on “Why Aren’t You Watching Kings? Is This About the CGI Butterflies?”

  1. I loved that they didn’t pull the butterfly thing until the end of the show’s second hour. It became the definitive “so, are you in or are you out?” for the viewer, even if they’d already decided earlier that they were in.

  2. Swearengen will always be my gay-lover-daddy. Fuck, why does everything good have to be cancelled? Deadwood, cancelled. Rome, cancelled. Arrested Development, cancelled. Due South, cancelled.

  4. Can you really float a “Why are you not watching (insert show name here)!” post for a show that’s aired all of one episode? Are the ratings from 3 days ago even available? Maybe people were watching. Maybe this is as pointless as it gets.

  8. Ok, I’m approaching fan-boisim for an elderly Irish-gent… but… Just watched Mr. McShane on the Daily Show. He said that they’ve filmed the complete first season of Kings. So… we’ve at least got that on DVD.

  9. I read some tepid reviews and decided not to bother. I’m afraid nothing you or any commenters wrote have convinced me otherwise. Some guy from from another tv show I didn’t watch, some guy from a movie I did (unfortunately — a wasted two hours I’ll never get back), and based on a story from a book too many people take way too seriously … that’s what I got from your post. Big whoop. You’ll have to do better than that.

  11. If the crown of butterflies is an elaborate trap/mindfuck set up by the evil corporate king’s brother-in-law or the king’s wife(perhaps using the king’s daughter – who had just touched david) then it is cool. If it is a divinely sent actual crown of butterflies then the show sucks. Please let me know.

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