Swords And Singing

Galavant is an ABC comedy miniseries set in the world of fairy tales.  It's filling in on Sundays for Once Upon A Time, so if you don't have the sound on you might not notice the difference.

The plot, so far, is fairly simple. Galavant is the swashbuckling hero whose girlfriend, Madalena, is kidnaped by the evil King Richard.  However, when he arrives at the altar to save her, she decides she'd rather go with the riches and fame attached to marrying a king. It's that kind of show.  However, he finds out later she apparently still wants him, so he goes on a quest to save her, not realizing the King is waiting to kill him.

We're vaguely in Mel Brooks territory, following in the tracks of his Robin Hood sitcom from forty years ago When Things Were Rotten, as well as his film Robin Hood: Men In Tights about twenty years later.  Those weren't Brooks at his best, and Galavant, alas, doesn't rise above it either.  Most of the gags are either anachronisms (everyone talks like it's 2015), self-consciousness about being in a fairy tale, or sex jokes.

One more thing: it's a musical.  Every now and then someone breaks out in song. The tunes actually aren't bad--maybe not surprising, as they're composed by Alan Menken, who's done lots of fine work for Disney.  However, the words, for the most part, follow along with the cheap gags the rest of the show features.

It's not horrible, but I wish it could be better.  ABC plays two half-hours in a row, so only six left to go. I can probably hold on.