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This show has been on my watch list ever since the trailer was released during last year's upfronts. Fantasy and musical theatre are both rare for television: to have them both in a weekly serial sounded too good to be true.
After watching the pilot and second episode last night (more on that later), I'll say this: it's definitely worth watching if you're into musical comedies. But it's not quite as inspired as the trailer, if only because most of what I saw was from said trailer. Nothing was quite bad: nothing was quite inspired either.
What Works The very fact this show was every greenlit seems like a miracle; the fact that the production turned in a fairly entertaining hour of musical theatre comedy with songs by Disney legend Alan Menken and some decent production values is astonishing. I'm very happy for the number of skilled extras and performers who got to appear last night.
Show frontrunner Timothy Omundson's getting lots of good buzz as the delightfully despicable King Richard, but for my money his right-hand man Gareth (Vinnie Jones) really makes their scenes work with his great lines and delivery. The addition of a deadpan chef (up-and-coming Darren Evans performing his best Dobby impression) formed a terrific comedic trio.
On the heroic side, Princess Isabella's (Karen David) double agent role is a nice inversion, and I defy anyway to not like Galavant's squire Sid (Luke Youngblood). He's not done anything remotely interesting and yet he's just so plucky. I hope he gets used more soon: his singing was the best of the heroes.
The music itself is a blend of styles and moods. As has been note elsewhere, the theme song "Galavant" is wonderfully catchy, but the second episode really held the most musical gems. The sophomore opener "Hero's Journey" isn't particularly great but was the least annoying "previously on" summary I've ever watched. We got a great '80s action movie training song and then closed with the first approach at something more than laughs in "Maybe You're Not The Worst Thing Ever."
What Needs Work I remember being confused that two episodes would air starting at 8:00 pm, followed by the newest episode of Resurrection. Only when the pilot's credits started playing at the 30-minute mark did I realize that the show is diced into half hour bits: four weeks, eight episodes.
That wouldn't be so bad if there weren't so many, many, many commercial breaks. Barely did things get going than the show stopped, literally, often in weird moments that felt like an intern accidentally flipped a switch. ABC might have been better served experimenting with web release instead of packing in the ads to pad out an hour-length time slot.
The lead character Galavant (Joshua Sasse) and his former lady love Madalena (Mallory Jansen) are both supposed to draw our hearts and minds, but unfortunately have probably the least interesting material to work with. Yes, it's a comedy, but we already have Richard for the broad stuff. I think Gal might have fared better as more like Sir Harry of even Monty Python's Arthur. Poor Madalena is so one note that instead of clever or conniving she comes across as a shrill shrew.
The humor is stuck in a rut. I don't mean to say the show isn't entertaining at times, but it wasn't laugh out loud funny. The best bits were delivered by Gareth, who plays a great straight man to Richard's antics. So far the hero's side hasn't managed to work up an equal dynamic. I'm also hoping future episodes vary the pace with some ironic quips or situational comedy rather than going straight to the sex jokes.
And I don't know what's up with the vocal dubbing for Isabella, but that needs to be fixed immediately.
What Galavants? Compared to NBC's Peter Pan, this show is amazing. But compared to the musical comedy giants it's obviously paying homage to, Galavant's still got a ways to go. Still, there is a delightful sense of promise to the whole thing that gives me hope. It absolutely does not try to take itself too seriously. It knows it's camp and embraces that whole-hardheartedly. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't, but it doesn't waste time pretending to be something it's not.
Let's face it, though: the best part of Galvant so far is the theme song. If the show can live up to its own theme we're in for a treat. I'll therefore close with it; in the immortal words of Lieutenant Riley, let's hear it one more time.