ABC’s New TV Series, Galavant, Started Off With a Bang

The medieval musical comedy TV series, Galavant, premiered last Sunday on ABC. It started off with strong catchy songs by Alan Menken, the song composer for The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, and Glenn Slater, the lyricist for Disney’s Tangled, and quite a fairy tale approach.

The series debuted as the mid-season fill-in for the hit ABC series, Once Upon a Time. It was created, written and produced by Dan Fogelman and directed by Chris Koch. Galavant has a total of eight episodes and is starred by Joshua Sasse as Galavant, Timothy Omundson as King Richard, Vinnie Jones as Gareth, Karen David as Princess Isabella, Mallory Jansen as Madalena and Luke Youngblood as Sid.

timothy-omundson-galavant — Photo Source:
thegeekdiary.com

The series follows the journey of Galavant, a good-looking hero who wants to reclaim his reputation and his “Happily Ever After.” And the only way he can do this is by going after the wicked King Richard, who stole his one true love, Madalena. Galavant’s love for Madalena is quite evident in these lyrics:

“Long legs and perfect skin, a body built for sin, With cleavage you could hold a whole parade in. Ah, true love was never this ecstatic, nor as wildly acrobatic, Yes, he loved her to excess, thrice daily more or less. And she’d be screaming, ‘Galavant!’”

Joshua Sasse, who plays the title role, said that the series was, “just off-kilter.” He even described it as “like a living Disney movie.” His co-star Mallory Jansen, who plays the role of Madalena, said, “It’s like Monty Python and ‘The Princess Bride’ had a baby and that baby is a ridiculous fantasy that’s just so out of this world.”

mallory-jansen-galavant — Photo Source:
farfarawaysite.com

For Karen David, who stars as Princess Isabella, medieval singing was an exciting experience, even if she hasn’t fully understood the concept at first. She told ABC News, “It’s a lot to take in. But it’s the ones that are a little different that you should take a chance on. There’s something for everyone!”

Perhaps, the most interesting part of Galavant is its musical format. Not only are the songs catchy, these are also cleverly written to fit each character. However, the toughest challenge for ABC is how they are going to keep up with the high expectations of people, given the short span of time. Other than that, the network has been burning off the episodes quickly, two episodes per day, since the pilot season will only run for four weeks.