Kings

I discovered this NBC series totally by accident on hulu.com. As we don't have TV except for watching DVDs, I am woefully behind on any kind of recent series (excepting True Blood, but more on that later), so Hulu is just wonderful for catching up at least on some of the stuff.

Kings is basically a modern-day retelling of the story of David and King Saul from the Bible (hence the title). It is set in the fictional kingdom of Gilboa, an absolute monarchy with King Silas as its ruler, who was set on the throne by divine miracles and military successes combined. Enter David Shepherd, a young car mechanic and soldier, who in the decades-long conflict with neighboring stste of Gath, knocks out an enemy tank (a Goliath) while rescuing, unknowingly, the King's son from captivity, thus earning hero status. He is whisked to the capital city of Shiloh and practically used as a figurehead in the upcoming times to advance hidden plans and agendas.
I've only seen three episodes this far (Peanut had A Weekend with her teething again, so quiet time, shall we say, was limited) but it was very much fascinating. Ian McShane plays King Silas superbly (the part was actually written for him before it was even offered to him) and everyone else is really good as well. They managed to do a really good job in translating the story, and kept the mystical-religious angle, even, without being overly preachy, adding some long-awaited heroics. I mean, David Shepherd, he really is quite something...No really. I started to watch alone, and at the end The Husband even kept peeking at it totally on his own.

So, naturally, the show was cancelled. It wasn't promoted at all, and apparently the execs at NBC decided the religious themes were just too much, after all. Too bad. This could have been a lovely counterpoint to some other stuff out there.

On a totally different note and tone, I am enjoying the heck out of True Blood,(got Season One on DVD purchased after watching on Netflix) even with all the profanity and gratuitous sex and violence in it. The original books are a hoot, and they did a good job translating it to the screen, keeping the crucial plot points while changing just enough that it makes sense for the television audience. Plus, the vampires in this aren't sparkly or nice.