If you skipped the premiere of ABC's new musical comedy Galavant a few days ago, you missed out on a unique piece of television, something unlike what we've seen on TV since Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Yes, that's right, Galavant, one of ABC's new offerings this season, is a comedy, that is also a musical. Yes, there is singing and dancing and showstopping numbers in a medieval setting. Although, that alone is enough reason for watching, here are five more reasons Galavant is one of the best things on TV in 2015.
1. Timothy Omundson plays a character called King Dick.
Technically, King Dick is actually King Richard, a sort of evil King that steals away the love of Galavant's life. Well, actually, she agrees to marry him because he is King and has a lot more money than Galavant, but that's just a technicality. However, Galavant calls him King Dick, because, that's how he sees him. And that's funny.
What's most important about King Dick, though, is that he's played by Timothy Omundson, formerly of Psych. Fans of that series remember that it ran a single musical episode. That episode is why Omundsen took on a role in Galavant.
"I'd always sung, and I still continued to sing around town and with friends," says Omundson. "Then we did the 'Psych' musical and it all came flooding back. I had forgotten how much I really, really love singing."
2. It's a love letter to The Princess Bride.
The tale of Galavant is so similar to The Princess Bride, at least in the beginning, that at times you expect Galavant to say "as you wish" to his love as Rodents of Unusual Size show up and start gnawing on his leg. Galavant is a hero, much like The Princess Bride's dashing Wesley, whose love is whisked away by a (sort of) evil King. Of course, there's a twist, but we can't help but wonder if Galavant's writers weren't intentional in how certain scenes in the series were filmed to resemble scenes from that iconic film.
3. Alan Menken wrote the music.
Alan Menken has given us some of the most wonderful musical scores of all time, including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. On Galavant, Menken teamed up with lyricist Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid, Tangled) and the two have developed such wonderful material for the series, such as very catchy opening song, as well as the memorable "Maybe You're Not The Worst Thing Ever."
4. The series brings big name guest stars.
Sunday night's episode brought us the first Galavant guest star in the form of John Stamos, who played Galavant's lecherous foe in a jousting duel. But many more big guest stars are on their way. Not only will Downton Abbey's Hugh Donneville pop in for a few episodes as a pirate, but we'll also see Ricky Gervais, Rutger Hauer and even "Weird Al" Yankovic during the first season.
5. Galavant is funny.
Of course, all of the above is nothing if the show isn't funny, and we're happy to report that it is. If you like your humor silly with a dash of Monty Python and a hint of Mel Brooks, you're in luck because Galavant hits all those wonderful humor notes. The actors are, fortunately, in on the joke, and no scene is ever really played with a straight face.
Of course, there is one downside of Galavant and that is it's over too soon. With each episode only running 30 minutes with commercials, you'll always want more when it's ended. Perhaps, though, that's the point.
Galavant airs on ABC on Sunday nights. You can catch the first two episodes now on Hulu.
[Photo Credit: ABC]
