After seemingly endless promotion, ABC's "musical comedy extravaganza" Galavant debuted on Sunday. ABC will air the eight half-hour episodes over four weeks in hour-long blocks, so I'll review both of Sunday's episodes together. Created and written by Dan Fogelman with music by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater, all of whom worked on Disney's Tangled, the show follows titular hero Galavant (Joshua Sasse) as he seeks revenge on King Richard (Psych's Timothy Omundson), who stole Galavant's love Madalena (Mallory Jansen). Although it sounds like your typical medieval fairy-tale, Galavant is very self-aware and even subverts expectations to good effect.
The earliest twist comes at the end of the opening number when Galavant interrupts Richard and Madalena's wedding only to be rejected by Madalena, who would rather share the king's riches than Galavant's love. The show handles the genre very well by delivering moments like this that go against expectations, as well as by playing into the genre while delivering self-aware lines and lyrics. For example, the second half of the hour features a training montage set to an "Eye of the Tiger"-sounding song about furthering the plot by rising up to a challenge. As an unapologetic fan of metahumor and parody, I really enjoyed these moments. Fogelman proved himself a smart writer and was able to keep my attention throughout the hour.
The show's success was greatly aided by the songs. Each half hour featured two main musical numbers (not including the aforementioned training song), and while the only one likely to stick with the viewer is the ubiquitous "Galavant" theme (ABC went overboard with the cross-promotions during the commercial breaks), they were all hilarious. Menken and Slater did a fantastic job with these songs, effectively delivering both exposition and jokes with catchy tunes and clever lyrics. The songs were especially useful in the first half hour, which was almost entirely set-up for the rest of the series. Plot details and backstory can be more craftily delivered in a catchy song than in clunky dialogue.
The entire cast did a fine job both acting and singing. The standouts in this first hour were Omundson and Vinnie Jones, who plays Gareth, King Richard's right-hand man. Jones brought plenty of humor to what could have been a thankless role, and he and Omundson played off of each other very well. Omundson was great as Richard and brought just enough sentiment to make us sympathize with his character. Although, that could also be the result of Jansen's over-the-top performance as the seemingly heartless Madalena. Over-the-top is not necessarily a bad thing, especially in this kind of show, but Jansen is close to taking it too far. That said, there was a subtle moment of tenderness near the end of the hour that was played well by Jansen. Sasse was fine as Galavant, but he failed to make us truly care about his plight. His joke delivery was great, but there's something missing from his performance. For now he's somewhat bland.
The second half also featured John Stamos as the first guest star. He played an arrogant knight with a fantastic name (I won't spoil it here), whom Galavant must face in a joust. Stamos clearly had a lot of fun with the role, delivering countless lame, yet oddly hilarious, "your mother" jokes. His character also allowed Galavant his first chance to prove himself as the hero, which was good to see.
My biggest complaint with the hour is Richard's man-child schtick in the second half. It's one thing to make him "unmanly," but to have the chef feed him is taking it a bit to far. However, the pay off, in which Gareth teaches Richard the "art of manliness", was good and allowed for more screen time for Jones.
I really liked Galavant, much more than I was expecting, but I know that it won't be for everyone. The plot is rather cheesy, and there are plenty of clichés, but the creative team of Fogelman, Menken, and Slater effectively play with those clichés to create a fun, humorous hour of television. With only four hour-long blocks, the show most likely will not overstay its welcome. If you're a fan of The Princess Bride, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, or people singing about disembowelment, I recommend checking out Galavant. If not, you only have to ignore it for three more weeks. In the meantime, those of you who have seen it are welcome to leave your thoughts in the comments.
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