From the creators of that one show which no one watched, comes a musical comedy show about a knight and his travails. It’s an interesting experiment to see if the TV audience will support the musical comedy genre. Musicals on television have not been welcomed since the Cop Rock fiasco. There have been fits and spurts of musical episodes (Buffy, Scrubs), but no one has tried to do a full on musical series until now. So, does it succeed?
Galavant is a Knight’s knight. He’s brave and strong and handsome and is in love with the beautiful Madalena. And he has a really catchy theme song. Madalena loves Galavant and they’re happy together until King Richard comes along and decides that Madalena should be his and the King’s man of arms Gareth kidnaps her. Galavant won’t stand for this, so he gathers himself and goes on a knightly rampage to the castle where he fights his way through the King’s soldiers and stops the wedding. And then Madalena says she’d rather marry the king and have the money and power.
Fast forward a year. Galavant is a mess. He’s gained weight, most likely from the constant drinking, and has a squire, Sid, who does nothing besides fetch drinks for him. Meanwhile, at the castle, Madalena is making King Richard’s life miserable. She claims that he’s not making her happy (although the Jester is helping) and everyone can tell.
The plot is then set in motion when Princess Isabella of Valencia comes and tells Galavant a tale of woe. King Richard has taken over her kingdom and killer her parents. She was hidden with the priceless gem, which is the symbol of their kingdom. Princess Isabella wants to hire Galavant to get revenge on King Richard. Galavant says no until he realizes that revenge on King Richard could win him back Madalena. So he signs on. However, things aren’t quite what they seem.
The show is a fun romp that doesn’t take itself seriously. It has some bad jokes, such as John Stamos as Jean Hamm (pronounced as Jon Hamm). The music is decent (the Galavant theme song is the highlight) and the story has a good start. Overall, it’s not a bad show and does enough that I’ll be back next week. It’s not for everyone, but you might find it just good enough to watch. Mildly Recommended.