I swore I wouldn't given some of the cringeworthy former efforts of the father-son Halmis, Roberts Sr. & Jr. -- who were responsible for the execrable MONKEY KING miniseries with Thomas Gibson. They also produced the terrible EARTHSEA miniseries which sucked all the life out of Ursula LeGuin's books. But they were also responsible for the fairly entertaining ARABIAN NIGHTS. And the cast is pretty impressive, led by Zooey Deschanel, Alan Cumming and Neal McDonough. I decided to give the first episode a shot. I haven't made up my mind yet whether I approve or not. But it didn't suck like the MONKEY KING so I'll probably watch part 2 tonight, unless I fall asleep, which tends to happen when I watch tv in bed [I'm recording something else on the living room tv]. Considering the degree to which SciFi hyped this thing, I'm sure it will repeat about 20 times between now and Christmas, so if you miss it, you'll probably get another chance or 19.

I tried it but it made me so angry I had to keep switching away.

What is it with this thinking that taking any fantasy classic and making it "dark" and "cynical" is some kind of radical creative reworking?

If you want to create a dark, cynical fantasy, why not come up with one of your own? Because it wouldn't be pre-sold?

At this point, I'm waiting for someone to take a dark & cynical property and rework it as something light, frothy and fun.

Now THAT I'd tune in for.

I like it! But I won't compare it to Wizard Of Oz, it does not compare well!

BEOWULF! :P

Nope. BEOWULF has its enticements, but a light, frothy and fun evening out it's not.

Brian's thinking of BOLLYWULF.

After the final insult being that thing that's being called FLASH GORDON, I have to be extremely convinced to sit through anything that company has to offer.

I dunno...every time I see the title, I start singing to myself, "BE A WULF! BE A WULF! ALL THE WORLD LOVES A WULF!" :lol: