Crazy Uncle Ryan's favorite quotes


"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."— Arthur C. Clarke

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Merlin – Jolly good show!

So, in an attempt to lift the caliber of summer TV, NBC decided to import a couple of foreign shows to add to their summer lineup. I had the pleasure of watching both of them. The Listener, a hit Canadian program from last year about a mind-reading paramedic, got pulled after only 8 episodes due to low ratings. I was sad about that but fortunately, the other show stayed. That other show was Merlin.
Merlin (which, not surprisingly, comes to us from the U.K.) follows the adventures of the teenaged, budding sorcerer Merlin as he comes to Camelot and becomes the servant of the than Prince Arthur. Merlin has the ability to perform magic but must keep it secret because Arthur’s father King Uther Pendragon has outlawed all magic and is ready to execute anyone who he thinks is practicing (or even capable of practicing) magic. I’m sure that there are many who are more familiar with the Arthurian legend than I am who are simply groaning when they see the amount of artistic license and the numerous anachronisms present in the show. Of course since most scholars agree that there was never a King Arthur in the first place it doesn’t really matter that much. I mean, since it is pure fiction why not have a bunch of Polynesians living in 6th century Britain? Anyway, I loved this show. It was fun, imaginative and significantly more family friendly than the majority of my TV shows. In fact, my wife actually enjoyed watching an episode with me every once in a while. I really enjoyed the interaction between Arthur and Merlin. In a lot of ways it reminds me of me and my little brother Shane when we were younger. Just like Arthur and Merlin we both liked each other very much but neither of us were willing to admit it.
So, since the season finale a few days ago I have been keeping an eye out for information about whether NBC is planning to bring it back next summer. If they don’t they can expect a sternly worded e-mail from me.

2 comments:

  1. So, if you haven't read them already, you will probably enjoy Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy. Many consider them her best work, and I love her work, she is a great story-teller. The first one is called "The Crystal Cave".

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  2. I did enjoy this series sweetie.... thanks for sharing it. And yes, it's still interesting to see Polynesians in British history :)

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