S01.E01: Pilot / S01.E02: Joust Friends 2015.01.04

[Former Nun]

Didn't watch the entire program, but saw enough.  No need for more.   There's too much to see on Sunday nights.

[CrazyDog]

I loved it. Silly, stupid, funny. The jousting scene was hilarious. And the king with his attempts to be tough. I kept waiting for Mel Brooks to make a cameo.

[EverCat]

Couldn't watch the whole thing.  The actors weren't funny.  The music was tedious.

[blackwing]

Loved it. Thought it was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. The Princess whatever singing in an obvious aside "what will he do when he finds out I'm working for the king" and then Galavant going "wait, what?" "Nothing." "But you said...." Too funny.

[Slovenly Muse]

Timothy Omundson was the best thing about it, hands down. But I've got to hand it to them, the music was solid, and the story has potential, even if it seems extremely derivative at the moment. I'll be back next week, and I really didn't expect to be able to say that!

[bros402]

This was hilarious.

 

ABC's singing promos, however, were not. They need to go to the darkest pit of television hell, never to return.

 

Just how long did that joust training last? Or am I demanding too much realism from my television musical comedies?

I'm guessing the training wasn't really training - since Galavant is supposed to be very skilled, he was just a bit rusty and needed to get back into form.

 

Let's just accept that jousting could be like riding a bicycle :P

[CPP83]

King "Dick" being spoonfed by the chef at dinner had me in stitches. The way he clapped his hands like a five year old, so pleased with himself and amused by the silly feeding antics of the chef. And then when he got a piece of fat and forced him to remove it from his own tongue...dear lord I could barely stand it.

 

He reminds me completely of King John in the old "Robin Hood" cartoon from Disney, where King John was that weaselly lion and Robin was the fox. The childishness and cartoonish behaviour just fits, heh, and it works because I think Timothy is utterly n his element and is brilliant, just brilliant and I truly enjoy his singing.

 

Galavant's line to his squire that his "tight brown body" was in danger if they came across any highway men cracked me up, as did seeing John Stamos playing such a smarmy knight. He gets better with age, like a fine wine.

 

Oh the jousting scene...what can I say, I could barely see the screen for laughing so hard. They actually got slower the closer they approached one another and the horses were golden the way they just left them there like useless sacks of wheat on the ground.

 

I feel like this show is a Broadway production split up into pieces, or episodes in this case, and I don't mind it. I think they've kept it short enough to not get annoying and it's engaging and the singing is decent, I like it. It's campy, silly, ludicrous fun.

[mertensia]

Wonderfully silly fun. They had me at the King explaining that that night sure they'd open *a few* wedding gifts but after that.....

Timothy Osmund sure seems to be having a blast.

[HoodlumSheep]

The jousting scene was priceless. My favorite character is Isabella. She and Galavant have good chemistry. My favorite song of the night was the "Hero's Journey," or whatever the title is for that song. Also liked the training montage. My mom totally called Galavant being too stiff and sore to joust, I was actually surprised that they followed through with that.

The costumes are gorgeous and colorful. I love Isabella's red coat.

One thing I missed, what did Madelena say to King Richard that mare him upset? I have horrible sinus pressure and a pretty terrible cold right now, so I missed what she told him before she walked away.

Also, I liked how the jester turned out to be the teller/singer if the tale.

I enjoyed it well enough, but I think it was a smart move to double up the episodes and make it a four week extravaganza. My older brother thought it was terrible though.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I love musicals, The Princess Bride, A Knight's Tale, Psych, and Alan Menken so it's no surprise that i enjoyed this show. I agree that having this as a mini series really works (see Glee for an example of what not to do with a singing show).

 

Everyone from the main actors to the background singers/dancers and the writers/composers seemed to be having so much fun which makes it that much more enjoyable for me to watch.

 

And I loved seeing Danny Two Hats from My Mad Fat Diary!

 

I am so glad that they hired actors who can sing. I would rather have less famous actors who can actually sing than bigger names who can't sing or need to be dubbed (I'm still not over how awful Russell Crowe was in Les Misérables).

[Josette]

 

One thing I missed, what did Madelena say to King Richard that mare him upset

 

He said she'd grow to love him like Pearl did; Madalena replied that he's unlovable and Pearl only loved him because his parents paid her. 

[WatchrTina]

It's interesting to me to read all the positive comments here. I missed half of the things you are applauding, probably because I kept playing with my iPad all through the show since the lyrics were turning me off. Didn't those of you with children find it terribly crude? I don't have children but I just spent few days with my sister and my 13- and 14-year-old niece and nephew and the thought of them seeing this made me cringe. All those jokes about sex really surprised me in a show that is on during the "family hour". I say this as someone who doesn't bat an eye at the sex on HBO or, for that matter, The Good Wife. To those of you with kids -- is this family fare? Am I just an out-of-touch old spinster?

[Suzysite]

King Richard was the best thing about this.  When he said,"Oh poop!  I got gravy on my tummy flowers!"  I lost it.

[jette]

WatchrTina, I agree - the level of crudeness caught me off guard too, since none was hinted at in promos. At least it started immediately, giving parents a chance to switch channels quickly. That said, I absolutely adored the show! Timothy Omundson is brilliant in his role.

[Good Queen Jane]

The dancing knights in armor production scene means that I will forgive almost anything else. But I found much to like. The songs were much better than I expected. A really fun show.

[BooBear]

I liked it enough but was taken aback but the horrible singing.  Perhaps that is the joke but I couldn't help but think it would be so much better with people that could sing.

[blackwing]

It's interesting to me to read all the positive comments here. I missed half of the things you are applauding, probably because I kept playing with my iPad all through the show since the lyrics were turning me off. Didn't those of you with children find it terribly crude? I don't have children but I just spent few days with my sister and my 13- and 14-year-old niece and nephew and the thought of them seeing this made me cringe. All those jokes about sex really surprised me in a show that is on during the "family hour". I say this as someone who doesn't bat an eye at the sex on HBO or, for that matter, The Good Wife. To those of you with kids -- is this family fare? Am I just an out-of-touch old spinster?

i don't think there is really anything such as the "family hour" anymore. "The Bachelor" and "Grey's Anatomy" also air in the 8 pm slot, and these are hardly family shows. I think it's up to parents to monitor and control what their children are watching, if they are concerned. In the age of DVR it is not difficult. I assumed the show would have some crude humour, the promos reminded me of Monty Python, and as far as suggestiveness, the promo featuring the guy shirtless and dumping a bucket of water over his head while the woman looks on appreciatively and says "daaaaammmmnnnn" clued me in, and I saw this promo seemingly everywhere.

[peacefrog]

My 8 year old daughter loved it. All of the innuendo went over her head, she was there for the slapstick, singing and princesses.  

 

I have no problem letting her watch something like this than something with gratuitous violence.

[LydiaMoon1]

This was hilarious.

 

ABC's singing promos, however, were not. They need to go to the darkest pit of television hell, never to return.

THIS.  I tuned in with low expectations for Galavant.  Instead, I was immediately charmed by it.  Unfortunately, the endless ABC promos and excessive commercials every ten minutes broke that spell pretty quickly.  I was so annoyed by 8:30 that I turned the channel and never looked back.  I'll wait and catch it on one of the streaming services. I just can't with ABC. Their promo dept. always manages to ruin my viewing experience.

[HoodlumSheep]

He said she'd grow to love him like Pearl did; Madalena replied that he's unlovable and Pearl only loved him because his parents paid her.

Thanks! And...ouch! Poor King Richard.

[cardigirl]

I loved it, and was really pleased at the twists and turns of the plot. Not sure who the commentator is referring to as not being able to sing, as I thought they all handled their songs well.

I too loved Timothy Ormundson on Psych and really enjoyed his King Richard. I'm in for the whole shebang!

[peachmangosteen]

I legitimately adored this. I am so looking forward to Sundays in January!

 

Everyone from the main actors to the background singers/dancers and the writers/composers seemed to be having so much fun which makes it that much more enjoyable for me to watch.

 

Others have mentioned this and I just wanted to echo it. I think that is the biggest reason why the show worked so well for me. It's fun to watch people just have a blast. None of them took it too seriously or looked like they thought they were above this campy fun. 

 

My 8 year old daughter loved it. All of the innuendo went over her head, she was there for the slapstick, singing and princesses.  

 

I was taken aback by all the innuendo at first, but I figured that there's no way children would get it anyway, so meh. That was for the adults watching.

Edited January 5, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[shapeshifter]

My 8 year old daughter loved it. All of the innuendo went over her head, she was there for the slapstick, singing and princesses.  

 

I have no problem letting her watch something like this than something with gratuitous violence.

Yes, but I imagine a sector of parents will ban the show because of it. The first few moments I thought: I must recommend this to my coworker with 3 little girls! And then quickly the references to promiscuity began to fly, and I thought: Oh. Will not mention it.

[Ketzel]

I had high hopes but this was so wrong in so many ways. The actors all chewing the scenery, the pace too slow, the jokes too obvious and the music! I watched with increasing annoyance and boredom and finally shut it off when the theme song played for the eleventyish time during the commercials.

[Sakura12]

I expected this to be better than it was. There were funny scenes like the jousting one which was the highlight of both episodes. The rest I almost fell asleep for. I was really tired beforehand so I will attempt to watch it again tonight to see if my opinion changes. 

 

I completely agree with the signing promos, do NOT do that again ABC!

[DeLurker]

Didn't those of you with children find it terribly crude? I don't have children but I just spent few days with my sister and my 13- and 14-year-old niece and nephew and the thought of them seeing this made me cringe. All those jokes about sex really surprised me in a show that is on during the "family hour". I say this as someone who doesn't bat an eye at the sex on HBO or, for that matter, The Good Wife. To those of you with kids -- is this family fare? Am I just an out-of-touch old spinster?

My daughter, 14, watched it with me and there were moments that I cringed at the dialogue and thought about turning the channel, but in the end I did not.  Crude humor doesn't faze me and she seems to have an appreciation for it.  Her favorite movies are The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spaceballs, anything by Studio Ghibli/Hayou Myaizaki and comedy concerts by Eddie Izzard.   The sexual stuff was where I was on the line, but decided that she's getting older and there is an abundance of it out there The promos for the Bachelor they showed repeatedly during the ep shows the guy making out with multiple women, a girl pulling off her bikini bottoms, multiple women crying in assumed heartbreak, ...I'd rather her watch Galavant than the Bachelor!

 

As a parent, it is a judgement call on whether or not your kid is ready for watching something that is not across the board kid fare.  And since she watched it with me, I needed to be ready if she had some questions.  But to tell you the truth, tv watching has led to fewer uncomfortable discussion that what she sees and hears riding the bus to jr high or in the halls there.  Clearly, kids today are a lot more grown up than I was at that age!

 

Overall, we both genuinely enjoyed it and liked the overall goofiness of the story.  Even the villains are appealing in their own way.

[blackwing]

Does anyone else think that the actress who plays Queen Madalena looks like a young Madeleine Stowe?   I thought the actress who played the Princess Maria Elizabetta something looks like Shelley Conn (of Strike Back and Terra Nova) but I was wrong, it is another actress of South Asian descent.

[miracole]

I loved it! Pop! Pop!

[SmithW6079]

Count me in among the fans. I like silly things like this, where the actors don't take themselves too seriously and they seem to be having fun.  

 

Galavant's line to his squire that his "tight brown body" was in danger if they came across any highway men cracked me up, as did seeing John Stamos playing such a smarmy knight.

 

I also liked Sir Jean Hamm's line to Galavant about "nice beard," and then following it up with something along the lines of "your facial hair looks good too." 

 

Also, King Richard going into Gareth's room and asking, "What's that smell?" "Testosterone."

 

I got a kick out of Madelena being a social climbing gold-digger, who decided she'd rather be queen than poor, and that Princess Isabella is secretly working with King Richard. 

Edited January 5, 2015 by SmithW6079

[mtlchick]

 

I also liked Sir Jean Hamm's line to Galavant about "nice beard," and then following it up with something along the lines of "your facial hair looks good too."

 

I think that was the joke that had me thinking "they can say that now at 8? Ok then."

 

 

I loved it! Pop! Pop!

 

Hee hee!  I was thinking it was the guy from Community but the hair was obviously different.  Now I expect him to say that or mention Quiddich out of nowhere..

[iMonrey]

I thought it was pretty cute, but I agree the ABC promo spots set to the same music were excruciating to sit through. It makes it hard to watch it live, and that's really one of the main things it's got going for it because it's not on against anything else I want to see at 8:00.

 

I expected to really hate the singing and I was kind of turned off by it at first but once I got used to it I grew to appreciate it a bit more. I have a real problem with "songs" that are really exposition and dialogue set to music, but it worked here as parody. 

 

It doesn't hurt that Joshua Sasse is pretty easy on the eyes.

 

It makes a nice replacement, if only temporary, for Once Upon a Time and I actually like it a little better right now because this doesn't take itself too seriously. At all.

 

Favorite line: "I spilled gravy on my tummy flowers!"

Edited January 5, 2015 by iMonrey

[Iamsweetdee]

It doesn't hurt that Joshua Sasse is pretty easy on the eyes.

 I thought he was sexy on Rogue (where he played Marton Csokas' son) but DAMN!

[Fosca]

I too was a bit startled by how raunchy it was for that early in the evening, but then I realized that most of the humor was vague enough that it would indeed fly over the kid's heads (how many children know what a "beard" is when it isn't facial hair, anyway) and plus it all went by so fast that there was literally no time for kids to ask questions before the conversation had moved on.

 

I may have to watch it with the CC on, because I kept missing the muttered asides that kept flying by.

[legaleagle53]

Yeah, I missed some of that, too, but I got enough that I still thoroughly enjoyed it.  This show is bawdy, cheesy, campy, and hilarious as hell, and the cast and crew clearly had a lot of fun making it.  What's not to love?

[kennyab]

It's interesting to me to read all the positive comments here. I missed half of the things you are applauding, probably because I kept playing with my iPad all through the show since the lyrics were turning me off. Didn't those of you with children find it terribly crude? I don't have children but I just spent few days with my sister and my 13- and 14-year-old niece and nephew and the thought of them seeing this made me cringe. All those jokes about sex really surprised me in a show that is on during the "family hour". I say this as someone who doesn't bat an eye at the sex on HBO or, for that matter, The Good Wife. To those of you with kids -- is this family fare? Am I just an out-of-touch old spinster?

 

I gave up a long time ago on trying to figure out what's "appropriate" for kids. My sister and her husband, who are quite conservative, had no problem with letting their kids watch Holy Grail at fairly young ages. I tried to warn her about a video game that she may not find appropriate (and this is coming from the "black sheep" sibling with the questionable-to-certain-facets-of-society lifestyle), and she was all, "nah, it's fine." I have a theory that if you dress anything up in medieval garb and add music, it's all good.

 

I originally intended to give this show a hard pass based on the initial commercials, but then I found out it was from the creator of The Neighbors. As one of the few people still lamenting its cancellation, I decided to tune in, and I'm glad I did. I just wish Fogelman had tapped Toks Olagundoye for this one, as she's one of my favorite new stars to come out of the last couple of years of TV (it's basically her and the entire cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine).

 

Edited because Dan Fogelman is not Dan Fogelberg.

Edited January 5, 2015 by kennyab

[Gudzilla]

My favorite bit was King Richard kicking Galavant in the face.

[Browncoat]

In some ways it reminds of "When things were Rotten" with singing.  It is so bad that it is good.  I knew 2 of the actors but the rest I didn't know.  Will have to check out the songs on youtube.  :)

 

Thank you!  I loved When Things Were Rotten, and you're exactly right about the similarity.  It also reminds me in an extremely vague and twisted way of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog.

 

I'm totally in.  Like most of you, I loved the joust (I'm a sucker for Fresians anyway -- gorgeous horses), and was completely sick of the ABC promos by the end. 

[legaleagle53]

And at the risk of offending the purists, how about Evil Queen Regina's take on him (of course, I think he'd be beneath her contempt -- you know how she has no patience for wimps!)?

[Rick Kitchen]

WatchrTina, I agree - the level of crudeness caught me off guard too, since none was hinted at in promos. At least it started immediately, giving parents a chance to switch channels quickly. That said, I absolutely adored the show! Timothy Omundson is brilliant in his role.

 

The promos had singers singing about Galavant's cojones (displaying grapefruit) and Maddalena's cleavage big enough to hold a parade in, so it was more than hinted at.

[legaleagle53]

That, by the way, was another show that this reminded me of -- Blackadder (especially the first two seasons).  Where's Baldrick with his cunning plans?

[legaleagle53]

Incidentally, Dan Fogelman just tweeted this:

 

Dan Fogelman ‏@Dan_Fogelman  10m10 minutes ago
Cool news! @GalavantABC will get an encore of our first 2 episodes Wed night at 10 PM after new eps of @ModernFam + @black_ishABC #Galavant

Edited January 6, 2015 by legaleagle53

[Morrigan2575]

I thought it was entertaining enough to watch again next week, but then I liked Happyland a lot. The location shots were interesting. I think they showed the exterior of Wells Cathedral for the wedding, which would have been familiar to The Baby Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells. (Blackadder). To me, it seemed like Blackadder with more music.

My favorite episode from Blackadder II.

I didn't recognize the castle, I visited Bath once but I don't remember a castle, just the Roman Bath, thanks for the info.

The show was a mix of everything. It reminded me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail mixed with Spamalot (the musical element), plus some The Princess Bride, Robin Hood Men in Tights. Ironically, I didn't get any sense of Blackadder from the show.

Oh and did anyone catch the direction sign in Joust Friends? On first watch I caught the Hell with the down arrow but I missed the Winterfell arrow.

Also in Pilot, I missed the name of the Tavern Ye Horses Arse...LOL

One more joke I missed in Joust Friends...when Sir Jean Hamm first spots Galavant, he says something like love the beard, then jokes about facial hair...I can't remember the exact crack but he was implying that Galavant was gay and Isabella was his beard.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[Meredith Quill]

Oh and did anyone catch the direction sign in Joust Friends? On first watch I caught the Hell with the down arrow but I missed the Winterfell arrow.

 

I caught it and LOL'ed ;)

[Merneith]

I loathed this. First off, to sell comedy, you have to play it straight. Here - There was too much winking along with the mugging. They all desperately wanted us to know that they were in on the joke. Secondly, there was not real bite to the humor. Mel Brooks and Monty Python are clever and funny because their humor is so sharp. This was just a random collection of gags.

 

I won't harp on this because I don't want to bring everybody down but man, what a waste.

 

Yeah, alright, I did like Vinny Jones.

[Terrafamilia]

I'm glad I'm not the only one here who was disappointed. I was all set to enjoy this based on the promos and critics but I ended up underwhelmed. I kept switching channels to The Librarians, at the moment a fair to middling show. Then I tried to figure out just why it didn't work for me. The crudity may have had something to with it but since I like Monty Python and Blackadder it may have been more that I didn't feel they carried it off well rather than its mere presence.

 

I was reminded of an episode of ST:NG, "Deja Q". It had all the makings of a good seriocomic episode but it fell completely flat for me. I settled on chalking it up to the direction, editing, and the fact that Patrick Stewart isn't the worlds best comic actor (IMHO) to play off de Lancie. Similarly, here all the elements were there to make something I'd enjoy yet they didn't gel. Was it the pacing/timing? Was it that it seemed the actors were trying a little too hard? I don't know, It's a bit of a puzzlement.

 

(off topic - Jonathan Frakes would have been a better foil for de Lancie in the comedy department. The ST show with the best cast for comedy would be a tossup between Deep Space Nine (though Brooks could be hit or miss) and Voyager.)

[DrSpaceman]

I thought it was OK, and I am not big on musicals

They did tend to ham it up quite a bit for the camera.

Thought it was a nice twist the love interest for Galavant choosing to get married and being kind of a selfish wench.

[DrSpaceman]

I'm glad I'm not the only one here who was disappointed. I was all set to enjoy this based on the promos and critics but I ended up underwhelmed. I kept switching channels to The Librarians, at the moment a fair to middling show. Then I tried to figure out just why it didn't work for me. The crudity may have had something to with it but since I like Monty Python and Blackadder it may have been more that I didn't feel they carried it off well rather than its mere presence.

 

I was reminded of an episode of ST:NG, "Deja Q". It had all the makings of a good seriocomic episode but it fell completely flat for me. I settled on chalking it up to the direction, editing, and the fact that Patrick Stewart isn't the worlds best comic actor (IMHO) to play off de Lancie. Similarly, here all the elements were there to make something I'd enjoy yet they didn't gel. Was it the pacing/timing? Was it that it seemed the actors were trying a little too hard? I don't know, It's a bit of a puzzlement.

 

(off topic - Jonathan Frakes would have been a better foil for de Lancie in the comedy department. The ST show with the best cast for comedy would be a tossup between Deep Space Nine (though Brooks could be hit or miss) and Voyager.)

I had never thought about Q and Riker together, thats an interesting thought. I rather like Deja Q as an episode, if for no other reason than Worf's great line "Captain, I must protest, I AM NOT a merry man". Anyway the Q-Picard relationship was unique and the writers always liked them together in the Q episodes. Q's function was to push and challenge Picard, representing really all of the human race to the "Q" race, and throughout the series his goal was to see how much Picard was able to grow and expand his mind under the circumstances that forced it to happen. One episode though of Q and Riker would have been interesting however.

[Terrafamilia]

I had never thought about Q and Riker together, thats an interesting thought. I rather like Deja Q as an episode, if for no other reason than Worf's great line "Captain, I must protest, I AM NOT a merry man". Anyway the Q-Picard relationship was unique and the writers always liked them together in the Q episodes. Q's function was to push and challenge Picard, representing really all of the human race to the "Q" race, and throughout the series his goal was to see how much Picard was able to grow and expand his mind under the circumstances that forced it to happen. One episode though of Q and Riker would have been interesting however.

Picard/de Lancie were good with the serious stuff, not so much with the comic. I agree about Worf. Dorn does good deadpan.

[stillshimpy]

I didn't mind the ribald humor at all and I like absurd humor, so I was delighted.  

 

I really didn't expect for the show to make me laugh until I cried, but that joust scene did it.  I started laughing when Sir Jean Hamm was vomiting out absinthe-green-goo from every part of his helmet.  I normally hate spew humor, but it tickled me to death after the "It's Absinthe...it's not very strong..."  bit.  

 

By the time the horses were plodding away I was outright guffawing.  We didn't watch this until tonight and laughing like that was exactly what was needed on such a cold, dreary evening.  

 

Gravy on my tummy flowers.  Snerk.  

Edited January 6, 2015 by stillshimpy

[missbonnie]

I thought it was hysterical myself, kind of reminded me of Mel Brooks humor. Granted, I couldn't sit through an entire season of it, but I will definitely stick around for 3 more weeks.