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Five Reasons to Check Out the 'Camelot' Sneak Peek
by Maureen Ryan, posted Feb 25th 2011 10:45AM
If you're interested in all things Arthurian, the new Starz drama 'Camelot' will get a one-hour sneak preview after the season finale of 'Spartacus: Gods of the Arena' Friday night.But you'll have to be patient if you like the first installment of the sword-and-sworcery epic: 'Camelot's' real premiere, which will be two hours long, arrives April 1.
No doubt you want to know whether 'Camelot' is worth checking out, either tonight or in a few weeks. I wish I could help you, but I haven't seen this latest iteration of King Arthur's tale (critics won't receive advance DVDs until next week). Still, there's good reason to be intrigued by this new version of the saga of Merlin, Morgan and Arthur. There are five good reasons, in fact:
1. Chris Chibnall is 'Camelot's' head writer and executive producer. Chibnall has a very solid track record in UK television; his resume includes stints writing for the original 'Life on Mars,' as well as for 'Torchwood' and 'Doctor Who.' And when Dick Wolf went across the pond to create 'Law and Order: UK,' he chose Chibnall to lead that commercial and critically successful venture. Ideally, the Arthurian legends should have both human scale and dramatic scope, and on paper Chibnall seems like the guy who could make that happen.
2. The cast looks excellent. Joseph Fiennes, Jamie Campbell Bower, Eva Green, James Purefoy play the key roles of Merlin, Arthur, Morgan and King Lot; again, on paper, that's an impressive crew (so 'FlashForward' wasn't his finest hour, but never mind -- Fiennes generally does fine when someone puts him in tights). Of course, great casts are often squandered in silly projects (I still flinch every time I think of the way the great Ian McShane was stranded in Starz's wretched 'Pillars of the Earth'), but 'Camelot' is starting out strong in the cast department.
3. It's 'Camelot' for grownups. From the few clips I've seen, it doesn't look as though 'Camelot' will be quite as sex-drenched as Starz's 'Spartacus' (and I'm not hating on 'Spartacus,' my affection for that show is well documented). Still, this 'Camelot is not necessarily a squeaky-clean romp that would be appropriate for ABC Family. As Chibnall told the media last month at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, "We've approached it as a drama for adults about characters with complex, conflicting desires. There is some sex in there. There is some violence in there. ...It's a show for adults.... It's not really a family show. There are other versions of the myth that have been told in family shows really brilliantly, but we're more in the 'Rome' mold or the 'Spartacus' mold."4. 'Camelot's' approach to magic does not consist of the tried and true "wizards and witches to the rescue" formula. Some of my favorite books, TV shows and movies feature magicians and witches, but used the wrong way, magical powers can drain a story of suspense. The thing is, if special powers can always rescue the characters from danger and move the story along, they can start to seem a lot less special. But 'Camelot' does not appear to be going that route. At the same press event, Eva Green noted, "You see people changing shapes, but it's mainly ancient magic, pagan magic, magic using nature and the forces of nature: air, water, Earth, fire. So it's not 'Harry Potter' or Walt Disney. You don't wave a wand." And Fiennes noted that magic actually presents a danger to those who use it. "We're ...slightly introducing this idea that there is an immense cost; that if you dabble in this, that you will be physically, mentally, and spiritually drained," Fiennes said. "And it's really not for the faint-hearted."
5. If nothing else, this Ye Olde Knights-and-Kings Adventure Saga may give us something to watch until the fantasy epic 'Game of Thrones' premieres on HBO on April 17. Less than two months to go in our seemingly endless wait for 'GoT'! And we've got Merlin and Arthur to keep us company until then, and possibly beyond.
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