It has come to my attention that ABC has a medieval musical comedy series called Galavant in the works. This, in addition to The Quest, a reality competition where contestants compete Survivor-like to be chivalric heroes. There is officially too much half-baked medieval shit out there, and it’s time to pull the plug.
Blame Game of Thrones. It is a great show which I love and watch diligently! However, it has proven you can attract big audiences to shows set in ye olden times, and not everything is gonna be Outlander. Now, I don’t want to be alarmist, but it’s beginning to feel a little like I’m trapped listening to my high school debate partner explain the importance of the Sword of Shizar to his long-term Everquest goals.
This is hardcore Society for Creative Anachronism stuff right here, on The Quest:
Now, there’s no inherent reason that couldn’t be a blast! But the reviews haven’t been exactly glowing. Meanwhile, here’s Galavant:
It is a musical comedy, and according toVariety, John Stamos will have a guest role.
Granted, this is only two television shows besides Game of Thrones. (If we’re really, really generous with our time periods, we could maybe squeeze the CW’s Reign in there, as well. Plus, Once Upon a Time is still around. And let’s lump in the movie projects like The Hobbit: We Split This Fucker Into Three Parts Because Fuck You and Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur flick.)
But a little bit of the Middle Ages goes a long, long way. I feel fully qualified to make this assertion, on the basis of the fact that I used to dress up for the Atlanta Renaissance Faire and the shelves of my childhood bedroom are packed with Dragonlance books. Look into your heart and see the truth: There is a limit to the number of good projects we can have at once, and it’s lower than the ceiling of a castle dungeon. I watched Pillars of the Earth in 2010 and absolutely loved it, but that was PLENTY until Game of Thrones premiered a year later. And Game of Thrones is still around, so we quite simply are not due for another show set in anything like the Middle Ages. And yet here we are! Not to mention these copycat projects are like ants—first it’s one, then it’s two, then your pantry is crawling with the damn things.
Don’t let TV shows about the Middle Ages burgeon into an ant infestation. Please, showbiz, I am begging you.
