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I'm told NBC Universal spent a whopping $10 million on Sunday's two-hour opener for Kings and another $4 million per episode. That's a staggering amount of money to lavish on any drama series, especially one that's a bomb. By now you've seen the ratings reports about Kings pulling in horrible numbers -- a 1.6 rating/4 share in 18-49 demgraphics, and 6 million viewers overall. (ABC's heavy hitter Desperate Housewives was No. 1 from 9PM to 10PM.) Nor does Jeff Zucker have anyone to blame but himself for this disaster. Because I hear that Ben Silverman was hands-on. Remember, please, that Ben's predecessor at NBC Entertainment, Kevin Reilly, passed on it. But Ben picked up the script and ran with it. Some thought it should have been a mini-series, but Ben said no. Others thought the modernized Bible retelling should have had more backstory, and at one point Silverman ordered the writers to make it "more real world". So he told them to work up a cockamamie scenario whereby the Allies never won World War II, and America went bankrupt afterwards, which meant no oil out of the Middle East, so Mexico got rich, and then... Ugh, does anybody give a shit? It was scrapped anyway.
Kings was supposed to move into the Thursday 10 PM ER slot (once coveted when the network was still Must-See TV) but has now been banished to Sunday at 8 PM where it can't do any harm since no one is watching NBC that night anyway. This latest failure follows NBC's derivative restaurant reality series The Chopping Block also receiving a pathetic 4 share in 18-to-49 demos for its debut Wednesday. No wonder Ben has less and less to do with programming -- which was why he was hired in the first place -- and more and more to do with liaising with advertisers. (Even though that job is well below his pay grade.) I have a thought: to improve his performance, NBC Universal should rebrand Silverman as Ben SYlverman. That's more likely than Zucker ever admitting he made a mistake hiring him in the first place.
ZUCKERED: SciFi Channel And Website To Waste Money Being Rebranded As "Syfy"
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You know, as much I normally enjoy your ruthless laceration of the powerful, I think it’s unwarranted here. Kings, flawed as it was, was also daring and imaginative and very different for network television– alternate history! the Biblical Book of Kings reimagined as a modern nighttime soap opera!– and Silverman and Zucker deserve praise for taking a chance on it. It’s really disappointing that American viewers were unwilling to even give the show a chance and instead seem happy with endless iterations of the “quirky (but not TOO quirky) crime solver” genre.
I do credit Silverman for going with a concept that’s a little different than another Law & Order or CSI knockoff, and that’s also not a remake of a past hit. Not everything can work and good for him for trying.
But why spend that kinda money? Geez. I guess if your spending millions making Sci-Fi into syfy (short for syphilis of course) what’s a couple other few millions wasted.
This is one of the most original TV shows to come about in a long time
it did not bomb because it sucks
it bombed because TV networks are dead
everyone is on the net now
everyone steals, does illegal downloading
in the next 5 years, studios, tv and film will all be on the web, they will have no choice, btw I had to site through 24 commercials but this show was worth it
BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT
if it was made a few years ago it would have been a smash
but look at the numbers
most popular band on the planet, U2 500k copies, some singles, some the full album, some in stores, most on itunes, and yet they were #1 in billboard, a few years ago they would have been in the millions
in contrast to that sceanario no wonder this show bombed
even american idol is bombing
it is very hard right now to get 10MM or more folks to sit down and watch a tv show
just like it is near impossible to sell 10k full albums in a week
I have to agree with Harry. This show is REALLY amazing and deserves to be watched. There was something new about it…different. Which is why I was surprised it was on NBC.
can’t say much for the casting……….and the pithy dialogue. I watched, probably not again.
I’m far from an NBC apologist, I write The Disney Blog after all, but I think ‘KINGS’ is getting some undeserved bad word of mouth. Sure the second hour was 3-times as good as the first hour and the lack of backstory did make it difficult to just jump in. But I think if you watch KINGS you’ll find it is one of the better shows out there this season.
Credit? This should be the nail in the coffin. If you’re going to try something different, try something good. This show is as baaaaad as a case of the syfy.
I think you might be oversimplifying in order to attack some of your favorite exec targets, Nikki.
I saw this first episode at last year’s Comic-Con and it was great and played well to a packed audience.
And while I haven’t had the pleasure, I know someone who has read several of the scripts and said they were amazing.
But I can get behind the thinking that maybe it should have been a mini-series — easier to maintain the quality and to hype it as an event. Carnivale felt the same way — a cool idea that felt like it was treading water to pad the episode count. Or maybe Kings should have gone to cable instead, where smarter and more challenging material has a better chance to get some traction (Carnivale notwithstanding).
It’s looking more and more like network TV is doomed to be a wasteland of brainless sitcoms and insipid reality fare, interspersed with innumerable spin-offs of CSI and Law and Order.
I have to admit that the second half totally sucked me in. and I was prepared to hate it. just saying Harry has a point. nobody watches TV anymore…not planned anyway. but I thought it was worth watching. so much that I even took notice of the next air date and time.. although I can’t remember what is was now, but I did at the time want to know..anywho, Ben Silverman is still a douche bag but this show isn’t horrible
Thought the show was of a quality and had an originality you’d only expect on HBO. Maybe the show would have done better there, but you can’t say they are trying to really do something different with this show. Also, when they started making the show, it was a different time in the world. This show is in the worlds of war, politics and power struggles – none of those are necessarily topics people want to dive into today. But, I say again that this show is HBO quality and unlike anything else you’ll find on TV. I’d like to see where it goes and watch it unfold.
- All I am saying is give Kings a chance
It’s one of the best drama pilots I’ve seen (and was a great script) and yes it may fail, but that would be a shame. Throw Ben under the bus for other things, but not on this one.
With all due respect everyone, the story is about King Saul and King David. You know Reverend “Samuel” a tank named “Goliath”, fighting with “Gath”. It’s a modern day telling of a classic bible story. I thought it was absolutely excellent and I hope to see more of it. I think this is just one of those shows where you either get it or you don’t. The really cool thing about it is the story can go on forever if it follows the lineage of the kings.
Surprised the show cost more than a buck fifty. I like Ian McShane so I tuned in for five minutes but changed channels because the show looks so damned cheap. And the actors (other than McShane) were atrocious. The main guy looked like he got pulled out of a porno flick which probably explains how he got cast.
Figured out how to blame Ben Silverman for the Punic Wars? God, you show me one exec who hasn’t commissioned a stinker and I’ll politely suggest you look a little harder.
King on Thursday night would of been much better. Not Ben’s fault ER decided to drag the series out.
The show goes completley against Americana thinking. Prolly too high concept for the midwest hicks.
With the right buzz the show can catch on.
King is a hella lot better then Ben’s reliving his childhood with Knight Rider & Bionic Woman remakes.
I might be a bit biased because i’ve done a couple of episodes of Kings as an assistant director, but rarely do i get a chance to do something i believe in (Sopranos was the last). Kings is a very well written show and deserves a chance and a better time slot.
My, my, my, the GE/NBCU flacks are out in force.
American Idol “bombing”? Then Kings is cratering…to the center of the earth.
Ian McShane is the ONLY reason for the discriminating viewer. The flyby states “won’t” get it…They get it all right, hucksters or city slickers shilling crap.
You take a chance not just on a good concept. It starts with good writing, THEN directing and cast, crew, etc…. Sounds like common sense, which is absolutey lack in the industry.
Could be worse, the film industry is STILL mining what they can from the old TV shows.
Blaming the medium, “Broadcast TV is a wasteland!” Then sir/madam please explain the following:
Lost
Desperate Housewives (Kicking Kings Ass)
24
CSI (and its derivatives)
House
Heroes (I’ll give NBC this but they are killing their baby)
Supernatural (Only worthy CW show)
Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice
Fringe
Dollhouse (Waiting for Fox to kill this)
And those are just the dramas, not the half-hours.
Several pieces of advice to the GE/NBCU and Kings crew:
Make sense of what you are writing, the combat scenes were atrocious and if you knew the cast sucked push plot lines and bypass characterization.
Many pretty boys and girls on the show…Too bad they can’t act worth a damn, please refer to “climactic” battle confrontation scene by David Shepherd, ugh!
Get actors who can act worth a damn and writers who know what the hell they are talking about.
Otherwise I propse a new show, Abdication.
Harry –
I disagree with your post. Put something good on the air and people will tune in.
Watch the bass ackwards approach of tv network execs and you’ll find an approach that’s broken, the product of group think. For one, isn’t it peculiar that there aren’t any shows on today that are REALLY funny? Three generations of comedy writers waiting in the wings right now – and NO ONE can do funny?! Come on…
I don’t watch tv anymore – not because of the internet. As Americans have forever, I’d love nothing more than to sit down in front of the tv after a long day of work and watch something with my family. There isn’t anything.
Sorry, Nikki, you got this one bass ackwards. Kings is the best new show NBC has developed in years. It’s original, imaginative, smart and EPIC. There are a couple hack TV critics who had an axe to grind but every non-industry person I talked to about it in the last couple days liked it if they didn’t outright love it.
What killed it in the ratings was the move to Sunday night at 8 and the half-hearted promotion (it didn’t get anything outside LA as far as I know). NBC lost faith in this months ago and it shows. And too bad for them. It is (was?) the only scripted drama on their slate with the potential to redeem their credibility this year.
Put NBC on the endangered species list but don’t blame Kings.
No Silverman fan, but I did like the show. Too bad, since clearly at that cost it won’t be around for long with those type of numbers.
Agreed with the other folks here…honestly, the show is great. I haven’t talked to one person who didn’t enjoy it after watching the 2 hour pilot. It’s something new, relevant, well-acted. Hell, it’s a primetime drama that isn’t about cops/doctors/lawyers! That alone should make everyone excited.
It’s poor ratings are the fault of two things: poor marketing and horrible programming. Get this show better marketing and a proper timeslot that’ll let it compete and it’ll pick up.
As someone else mentioned, there are plenty of reasons for one to throw Ben under the bus, but Kings is definitely not one of them.
This show is a goner, but everything on NBC sucks. I think their “award winning” Thursday night line up sucks too. Frankly, SNL has sucked for the past three years.
The Leno show at 11/10 PM will have a short lived run. Jay should have moved over to ABC at 11:35 PM. He would bury Conan and old man Letterman, but he didn’t. What a mistake!
CNBC and MSNBC are a disaster.
The whole NBC networks and organization needs to be flushed.
If ‘Kings’ is on the air because of Silverman – then Ben did one good thing during his time at NBC. Amazing show crushed by horrible marketing.
If they believed in the show, why did they premiere it against DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, which is ramping up one of their mystery arcs? The show’s not what it once was, but it is still a viewing habit for many, including myself, and it’s serialized, so you’re not likely to invest in something else in the time slot for a short term.
It could have been an interesting summer series if premiered after everyone went to repeats.
And with all due respect to Jen, he runs the network, so he has complete control over how long and when ER runs it’s finale.
Didn’t KINGS win the 8 p.m. hour? It got killed in the second hour up against the Housewives (who were so desperate they pulled out the lesbian kiss trump card). But they didn’t lose too much audience share. Its just that more people had something else to watch.
This is the only exception to my unending joy in reading posts about Silverman’s NBC. It’s unfair to even classify it as NBC, considering how he’s made it some sort of cheap, ill-executed joyless shell of what was once the best network on TV, the HBO of network television. Now it’s a reality show away from being like the early FOX network.
Hey, Jen @ 9:36.
I got news for you, just as much as the Internet, the reason for network TV dying is that comment you made… “prolly too high concept for the midwest hicks”? Really? I mean this in the nicest way possible but… FUCK YOU.
It’s thinking that you are right on that stupid line of thought that limits not just creativity but quality. Just ’cause you are in LA doesn’t mean you have more a clue as to the “midwest hicks”.
So go to your keyboard and just go create some good entertainment. But the “midwest hicks” respond to something good. You haven’t been able or willing to give it to them.
Oh, and they aren’t too lazy to spell out “probably”. I guess that whiz-bang, high-speed LA lifestyle of yours just prevents you from getting it out.
the show did little to hit my interest. I think mostly because it didn’t show the power of democracy really physically changing the path to the future. (ie, NYC looks the same but with a ton of flags… technology looks the same, etc, etc)
When are networks going to turn to mini-series (where audiences know the beginning and end) with better writers / talent. Most people I know would buy John Adams in a second… but the 2nd season of Heroes (which I was beginning to lose interest in? ) Not so much.
Go with the flow of ADD culture. It’s the only way to compete against reality television.
It’s a high concept show, but THEY NEVER TOLD VIEWERS what it was about. I didn’t hear the concept ’til I saw Ian McShane on Tavis Smiley. And who the fuck watches Tavis Smiley?
A note to Jen, who wrote:
“The show goes completley against Americana thinking. Prolly too high concept for the midwest hicks.”
You know what? You’re an elitist jackass. Those supposed “midwest hicks” – who don’t actually exist anymore, as any demographer will tell you – is also known as “the audience.”
You can make yourself feel good and comfy and smug in Hollywood (which is where I live and work btw), but a comment like yours is proof that cheap condescending ignorance isn’t defined by zip code.
If Kings were on a cable station it would have been a hit. It had it’s rough moments, like every opening episode, but overall, it was imaginative and at its best mesmerizing. Not all the credit can go to the performance of Ian McShane, but most of it should.
I thought the show bordered on brilliant.
I dvr’d & finally got to watch it. I thought it had an interesting plot. I agree with some of the other comments, it is hard to get a bunch of people to sit down and watch any show these days. Plus with all the choices. Alos, I think it’s a great idea about going the mini-series way. It puts a specific time/date to show; you can budget for your advertising better & prolly get better more advertising for your $$. it’s like a week of “movie” watching.
just have to be sure the plots & stories are what the viewers want.
What do the Evangelical right winged sect have to say about this series????
From Jen:
“The show goes completley against Americana thinking. Prolly too high concept for the midwest hicks.”
Hey Jen – you live in a town where people think it’s normal to bleach their poop chutes and use coke as casually as beer.
See how it easy that was? Jerk.
I saw Silverman talk about this in September a the NYTVF… and he was very proud of it. Not just because he thought it was good, which he didn’t dwell on at all… but because he said it was basically bought and paid for by a single sponsor (GM?) who had approached them and that basically it didn’t have to rate to be a financial success…
A couple times he said “people keep talking about the ratings, I don’t care about the ratings – I only care about the bottom line”
I was intrigued by the promos but I decided against watching it? Why?? Because I get tired of investing time in a new TV show only to get it yanked. I get the feeling that I’m not the only one which explains why so few new shows are hits.
The networks are killing themselves by not allowing an audience to develop. Nowadays, it’s either get top ratings from the premiere show or get canceled. Thankfully, the executives at NBC weren’t around during its “Must See TV” days or else we wouldn’t have had such classic sitcoms as “Cheers” or “Seinfeld” – both of which were considered bombs at first due to their initial low ratings.
Nikki, Sometimes you seem a little too happy when things go bad. I hate Silverman – he’s an idiot. But the show was pretty good and it’s nice to see the network actually do something that’s interesting.
So please, Nikki. Watch it with the schadenfreude.
Thanks!
ps. who was the guy above who thought Fringe was good? was he joking?
The show got a 1.6 rating in 18-49 demo so at that price tag NBC will have to cancel it.
Too bad they don’t have the decency to cancel Ben Silverman as well!
I really enjoyed the show. The problem in my mind was the marketing campaign which was terrible. Actually worse than terrible, it was horrific, a an abomination. Everywhere you went in Los Angeles you saw these Kings posters with the butterfly, but NO ONE understood what the fuck they meant. The posters did not build excitement for the show. Actually, no one just cared about them. THe marketing people were like LETS BE VIRAL AND NOT TELL THEM ANYTHING. Worst marketing campaign I have seen in a long time. It failed miserably. Maybe this show will do well on dvd.
@ killian
not sure you know the meaning of the word “pithy”…or are you slamming the casting, while alternately, praising the script?
“It’s a high concept show, but THEY NEVER TOLD VIEWERS what it was about.”
Exactly. The marketing was self-conscious and took pains to avoid explaining that it was a modern retelling of David and Goliath. The promos basically said “Watch this whatever-it-is about something or other.”
Ouch, Nikki. This railing against Ben Part 10 on your part is pretty half baked. I would agree with some that the actors were for the most part, underwhelming, but Ian McShane (acting in a world and at a level all his own) is worth everything. To try and use the Desperate Housewifes argument for this being a failure is more than transparent. The television, for network, was bold in concept and often in execution. The problem with everything is the costs associated with it and other network shows. Everyone needs to get with the program and understand that the economcis have changed, irretreivably for those who lived high on the hog for so long reaping absurd fees at a time when every ad dollar went to the networks. When that pilot casts 4 to 5M and an episode is 2-2.5M then the economics will start to crunch. Can’t fault Ben for the creative on this one, but you can fault him for throwing too much dough into the mix and for really not promoting the show creatively enough to sustain the hit Despereate Housewifes (a show that has been on the air for too long and has too many oddly devoted viewers) was going to put on the 2nd hour.
To Charles J:
No, KINGS most definitely did not win the 8pm hour. A reality show in its 14th season (AMAZING RACE) won followed by EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER. KINGS was a distant third in total viewers and 4th in demos behind THE SIMPSONS.
This show was DOA before the 9pm hour.
Oh, Jen Jen Jen.
I have lived in the East, I have lived in the Midwest, and I now live in the West. Each region has pros and cons.
In the East, pros are strong family connection and cons are waaay too much emphasis on status (where did he go to school? What type of family did they come from? etc).
In the Midwest, pros are people are really really nice and frankly the most subversive (I’ll take Chicago hipster cred over LA/NY hipster cred any day of the week) and the big fat con is the weather.
In the West, pro is everyone gets a chance to reinvent themselves – it doesn’t matter who you are, it matters how hard you hustle. Steve Lopez called LA “the great second-chance city” and he was right. Cons?
THE IDIOTS FROM THE EAST AND THE MIDWEST WHO MOVED HERE TO WORK IN HOLLYWOOD AND THINK THEY ARE SMARTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE.
Go home, Jen.
Network TV, as a whole, isn’t dead – but NBC is. Even Jerry Bruckheimer couldn’t score a win with “E-Ring” on NBC, but if it had been on another network it would no doubt still be in production.
“Parks and Recreation” looks promising, but with NBC’s propensity to dork their shows and schedules around it probably won’t fly either. “Kings” is dead – long live the King.
I actually thought KINGS was one of the most original and nuanced shows I’ve seen on network TV in ages. It would have been great on HBO or FX, and I give NBC a lot of credit for trying something high-brow. The misstep here was programming it at 8pm on a Sunday, which in my opinion squandered the opportunity to launch a quality serious drama.
This show is not innovative and daring. It has the same dumbass cliches we’ve seen in every show.
Powerful old white men.
Handsome young white men.
Subservient women and blacks.
A msgic negro reverend.
A weak cowardly homosexual.
This show has a wonderful high concept that was poorly serviced by slavish devotion to the same out-dated stereotypes. What’s killing TV is not writers, it’s executives who live in these lily-white worlds and can’t see beyond them.
This is how we die, people.
This is how we die.
Real Deal Camille is dead on when speaking about NBC. NBC is a disaster. If NBC truly believed that Kings was to be something with the network can take pride, the show would have premiered the day after the Beijing Olympics ended. Yes, there was the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and yes Billary was speaking that night, but they had two hours to fill before the convention.
What should have been done is that NBC should have promoted Kings almost every other segment during the last days of Olympic programming touting it as the next great series. There are only two reasons why that didn’t happen. Ben was in China throughout the games as reported by Nikki, and Jeff Zucker likely hated the show meaning that Kevin Reilly likely passed only to stay in Jeff’s good graces.
Yes, this organization is a disaster. When you have Jon Stewart saying that he would have made $1 million by investing in stocks touted by CNBC, if he started with $200 million, your network and organization has become a total joke. For what I believe should be done with CNBC and General Electric, click the link in my name.
I think the smartest comments posted here have been about the return of the mini-series, esp. for broadcast TV. It’s about EVENTS – and “KINGS” could’ve been a ten-parter with a real arc (after all, David does become king and guess what? leaves it to HIS son too). Perhaps open-ended storylines belong to sappy med dramas (and a few exceptions like “HOUSEWIVES” – tho even Cherry did a big reboot) and the rest of the episodic TV can be left to crime with it’s Wheel of Fortune self-contained puzzles.
I still beleive that the vast majority of America is still mentally programed to watch the new shows in the fall. All other programing, aligned with the summer rerun mode, is still considered “step children” and do not warrent a mass sampling. This is compounded by trying a high concept this late in the big three season.
All the people saying the show failed because “nobody watches network TV”…what bullshit, that’s why CBS can break a piece of mediocrity like THE MENTALIST? KINGS is overblown nonsense that nobody wants to watch and Zucker/Silverman have destroyed the brand beyond repair.
‘Jen’ – your insecurities as I’m sure a former ” midwest hick” yourself are glaring. And if you’re over 21 and write this way, said insecurities are quite warranted.
I . . . I watch Tavis Smiley.
I also thought the episode was pretty good. It just sucks it’s on a bad night (head to head against Fox’s Animation Domination, which is what I usually watch, so I just taped it on DVD and watched the cartoons in the other room). Some folks look at ABC and others look at CBS. And that’s why it “bombed,” not because it was poorly written or acted, because it wasn’t. It’s just on the wrong night.
Granted, people with the last name of Silverman should never run NBC in any capacity (they didn’t learn their lesson from Fred Silverman, who also helmed the network to last place), but sadly, there’s no Tartikoff to take his place, meaning he’ll be there for the long run. Failure equals promotion in Big Media World. But Kings is an anomaly. It’s a good show that’s on a bad night.
i thought this show was pretty sweet. The score was terrific, the set up for the season was good. Agreed that it should have maybe been one season series, maybe 12 hours of programming.
but it’s ambitious, it has great actors, the sets didn’t look overly fake, i really enjoyed it.
If this posting proved anything it’s that Nikki, for all her insider knowledge, does not actually watch what she writes about. “Kings” is terrific, and simply was poorly scheduled and marketed.
All of you are missing the point. KINGS might be one of the best shows around but it is far from being considered mainstream material. The amount of money thrown at it is RIDICULOUS (especially when NBC is struggling financially). And then they bury it with a horrible timeslot.
So, while they get points for taking a chance on an original concept, they lose those points (and tens of millions of dollars) for their bad business sense.
Also have to say I thoroughly enjoyed Kings but saw virtually no advance promotion other than during Celeb Apprentice and AFAIK I’m the only one watching that.
After reading the comments here, I do have to laugh (and Jen, honey, learn how to spell after you learn how NOT to be an idiot)I love people blaming the great TV wasteland for a show failing. People watch what interests them. This show was touted for months as “epic”–um, no. Bluntly put, NBC has become known as the Nothing But Crap network for a reason. Between all the dull, boring reality shows (Donald Trump is now more like Ronald McDonald–and this week’s show has a massive meltdown of Dennis Rodman!! Does anyone care–at all?). Outside of maybe two shows–which will probably be canceled by spring–NBC has nothing to offer. I put the blame where it belongs with the amazing team of Zucker and Silverman. Remove them, get someone who knows what they are doing and try again. Remember if a show is watchable–people watch.
Good concept, flawed execution. That’s on Ben, Zucker and Michael Green.
I felt somewhat obligated to check it out after the 2+ mos. of ads.
I completely agree with Nikki. The writing just made me yawn. The show had the most shallow of character development. It felt overproduced, no nuance whatsoever to the dialogue or the character relationships. I feel like I know exactly where it’s going as a series and therefore I’m not planning to watch it again. The biblical re-telling idea is cool…but I know they could have done better with the writing and direction (it looked beautiful though). I think they didn’t go high concept enough. I expected a lot more.
The scene with Shepard and the flag staring down the tanks really killed it for me more than any other. I kept imagining how that monologue must have read on the page and I couldn’t stop from cringing all the way through.
A “more real world” series about the bible would explore the intrigues behind the wholsesale fabrication of the books, the politics involved throughout the centuries in propping up a myth cobbled together from countless other myths before it, and the modern-day dying-off of yet another religion.
I can’t understand why these kinds of projects getmade. The hardcore believers won’t accept the truth behind the work, and the nonbelievers and easter-n-xmas crowd doesn’t really care.
The sets looked good and not “fake” because they were real locations redressed with added CGI.
But it wasn’t thought out. Eye rolling speeches, ridiculous names (people or countries), supporting actors that should be on a daytime soap, etc.
The battlefield looked like WWI, the tank should have looked HUGE. But really, a crummy little stencil on the front saying GOLIATH? Really?! Only one tank busted turns the tide? Really?! Are there no jets? Smart bombs? Rockets? Really?!!!
That’s when I turned it off. It’s time for Ben S. to fall on his sword, or through himself under the treads of Goliath.
Agree with the majority here, “Kings” is actually got a lot going for it, except a Network that knows how to program/market it. Though 10 mil seems like a lot?
But yes, easily one of the most original things NBC has greenlit in a few years, and I’m definitely interested to see where it goes the next couple weeks.
NBC screwed up but good with the promos for “Kings.” I must have seen the ads for this show a dozen times, and I never once figured out what the hell the show was about.
I watched it anyway, and while it’s still insanely convoluted and at times downright ridiculous, I was actually pleasantly surprised. I am looking forward to future episodes knowing all the while NBC will probably shit-can the series before we get a finale.
The dialogue on this show makes ‘24′ sound like Chekhov. My favorite line of the first episode was the daughter saying, without a trace of irony, “That was when I first understood…the human will can take a swamp and turn it into ice cream.” That’s what I call high-concept. Totally over-the-head of the average television audience. Kitsch? Nah.
If you like daytime Soaps with a pretentious gloss, this show may appeal to you. Otherwise, Kings is asinine. Sorry to see Ian McShane wasted on something better suited to the WB network.
McShane is a treasure.
At least it’s not another cheap ‘Lions eating Christians’ reality show.
Makes me want more ‘Deadwood’ or more McShane in anything.
It was all right. I’d watch it again. Had I known it was supposed to be a retelling of the King of Kings, it might have made more sense.
What’s the alternative, more “Big Losers”? Hey, how about “Big Loser Apprentice”?
Gee, it sure sounds like a lot of the pro-Kings posts were written by the same person. Slow day in the NBC publicity dept?
The show, and the network, are a disaster. Leno at 10 pm will bomb. Jimmy Fallon is a lone bright spot, but he’s more likable than funny.
Put Fallon on at 11:30, dump Leno, and dump Silverman. It’s a talent triage, and you don’t have much to save.
I give NBC 2 more years before some much smaller version of the network moves to the net.
It really is kind of sad about KINGS. It’s not perfect, but it’s the most original show I’ve seen on network television in a long time. Am I the only person who’s tired of “procedural with a quirky main character” ?
I don’t watch NBC so I don’t feel I can comment. But as networks continue to race after the 18-34 demographic, I feel that I am irrelevant to the networks, therefore they have also become irrelevant in my life.
Books and movies, that’s the ticket for the rest of us.
Perhaps KINGS is a great drama. But if it is, sooner or later it will show up on HULU!
Amanda you’re totally right. “Procedural with a quirky main character” has become the new “fat guy with a hot wife” (at least According to Jim finally seems to be going away. The last of that breed.)
Heck, I can agree with both camps here…. Kings is the best thing Ben has given us… but does that really say anything? So yeah, it was a thousand times better than Knight Rider. Kings at least had potential. I’ll give it another shot, but doubt I’ll stick around. It gives me the feeling of trying to be so much more than it is.
Kings has a problem and it’s the writing.
Which is pathetic to worse than pathetic.
Take the Biblical story of David, but leave out the MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER: GOD.
Turn it into a night-time soap opera, with little to recommend it to men/boys, and emphasize the royalty aspect of it (the Israel of David was not the “most powerful nation on Earth” but a minor regional power). Lose the sense of being beleaguered by enemies within and without, divine intervention and favor, and punishment. Lose all of that and the very Old Testament Biblical morality (which is not particularly popular) and you have a recipe for failure.
You can’t tell the story of David without GOD in it. You just can’t. It’s like Othello without Iago and Desdemona. You could do it. But no one would be interested in seeing it.
The most important part of being in Silverman’s job is having a good sense of what will NOT work. This avoids the Supertrains and Pink Lady and Jeff’s. Not to mention BJ and the Bears, Sheriff Lobos, and other disasters.
The only original and daring shows, that also draws decent ratings, is “Chuck,” with it’s take of an everyman hero, and the quirky, everyman-driven “Life” with a Count of Monte Christo hero.
The main plotlines and concepts are not new, by any means, but the skill in execution and desire to win an audience through competent storytelling that espouses mainstream values is well ground breaking. The hippest thing out there when EVERY writer aches and burns to be “edgy” and “hip.”
When you read posts by complete MORONS like Jen, you understand why we have the biggest fraud in America’s history in the White House.
Kings was a clever idea with poor execution.
You have to blame the execs for this. This is an excellent example of what has happened to NBC in general. This network was the one with can’t miss comedy Thursday nights just five years ago. Now there isn’t a night on television other than Monday that I would even bother watching NBC.
USA Network which is part of the same broadcasting team is pushing better product. Maybe they should replace the NBC execs with the ones from the cable division.
GoHometoKansasJen — You are mistaken. George Bush is no longer President.
Kings is a great concept but poorly executed in this format. I agree that a mini-series would have served it better. I am reminded of the V mini-series from the ’80’s which I heard might be coming back to tv.
Missed Oppurtunities:
1)I too wished that this new/alternitive future reality looked a lot less like our own (though I love NYC).
2) Bad promotion-I still don’t get the whole butterfly flag thing.
3)Also as a Judeo-Christian, this “fresher” re-telling of a Bible story would have been so much nicer and the backstory more easily understood if biblical history and David’s relationship and reverence to “the most high God” was expressed (or did I miss it). You don’t have to hit anyone over the head with religion– be original but play to your strengths (ex.Saving Grace).
4)The women and minority characters are extremely badly written.
In the end, bad dialog and poor character development will sink this if they’re not careful.
I have no doubt Silverman is to blame.
How can anyone be shocked about what Silverman has done to the NBC lineup?! I started in a company with him years ago and he never had any women working for him and he has absolutely zero understanding of what women watch.
Let’s face it, women are driving the primetime viewing of network tv in America. Look at the top ten each week! Enough said. Silverman and Zucker have got to go.
I find comments about a lack of character development in a shows PILOT to be rather misguided.
I’ll regurgitate what others have said… Kings is one of the most interesting new shows on television. I’d much rather see it in the 10pm slot on thursdays instead of some new effing cop show. Sorry Southland, i’m sure you’ve got a great personality but i’m shallow and you’re still a cop show. Your rookie cop does look disturbingly like ed norton though.
I just caught the first three episodes of this tonight on HULU and man, have I been missing out.
Great acting, tightly woven drama, good scripts (for the most part), and eye popping cinematography and CGI…
It’s a shame they didn’t do this as a mini or put it on HBO. It’s one of the great dramas that no one’s watching.
GREAT show, hands down. Silverman is behind it?!? My respect for him just went up. Zucker too. The reason no one watches the show is blowback. You feed the audience enough crap and long enough, then that’s what they become accustomed too. You can’t suddenly throw something literate and deep and expect them to eat it up. It’s simple: the Networks have created a monster – a dumbed-down America hungry for only the next Idol, the next cutest doctor or the next roguish cop – and quality shows are trampled under foot.
Wow! Some great comments.
Agreed w/ many that it would have fared better as a mini or on cable. Network just doesn’t have the attention span.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the pilot. I’m not holding my breath for it getting a full season though.
Come on the show is great!!!!! The fact that the network didn’t spend as much advertising it and making enough buzz to inform people it was actually being aired is what made it bomb. Now that the show has been canceled and people are starting to learn about it you can see it was number 1 on iTunes the same day it went off air!