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Starz’s drama series Camelot wrapped its freshman season on Friday with 1.032 million viewers for the 10 PM airing and 1.5 million for the night. That was the series’ second-highest viewership behind the premiere, which drew a 1.125 million for the original airing and 1.6 million for the night. On the minus side, the finale fell short of the recent closer of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which posted 1.724 million viewers for its first airing, as well as the first-season finale of Spartacus: Blood and Sand (1.227 million). On the plus side, after some ratings erosion after the premiere, Camelot has been on an upswing in recent weeks, building steadily to the penultimate episode, which averaged 1.003 million, and the finale. Starz will probably weigh all that as the network is yet to make a renewal decision on the costume drama, a retelling of the story of King Arthur.
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Remember what drew people to “Spartacus” in the first place? It was the new faced lead who was just so damn good. JCB is clearly no Andy Whitfield and this show suffered dearly as a result. Nor is he anywhere near as good as “Gods of the Arena”‘s Dustin Clare. Their next coming story has freaking John Barrowman as its lead so the bar is high for leading men on Starz dramas.
The Arthur on BBC’s “Merlin”, Bradley James, was at least on people’s minds that went into this show and this sorry excuse for Arthur, JCB, would get eaten up and spit out by James. They needed a better lead and that would have brought an audience. We need to see why a beauty like Egerton’s “Guenevere” would give Bower the time of day. The veterans, Eva Green, Joseph Fiennes, and Claire Forlani all did good work as did Winchester and Egerton (Although, BBC’s Katie McGrath’s “Morgan” is at least as good as Green’s.) but it all fails because of the terrible choice for Arthur. I’m interested in season two but would not be surprised or really disheartened if “Camelot” is done.
Give the money to Steven DeKnight and his “Spartacus” crew who have created a much better show with less money. They should have made Peter Mooney Arthur his Kay just has something that Bower’s Arthur simply lacks. They need to get some better writers as well if this gets renewed. That is another reason “Spartacus” is so damn good, fantastic scripts. ‘Camelot’ needs a lot of re-tooling but it can be fixed.
Well said.
If someone with more screen presence had been cast as Arthur, I think the arguments over plot lines and characterizations would be relegated to the fanboys. Someone like Bradley James would have owned this role and made us believe that men would follow him despite his questionable personal choices.
I’d watch season 2 if there were an Arthur strong enough to keep his head while all around him others are losing theirs.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704684604575381030727161888.html
$7M/episode.
I’ve watched the entire 1st season and here are the problems:
1) Pacing…there is virtually none;
2) Dialogue is on the level of a high school drama class project;
3) Eva Green reduces Morgana to a comic book character. In fact there isn’t a “3D” character in the show. Each persona is completely flat and predictable withstanding a few moments each episode where the writers attempt to force feed some “roundness”.
4) Utterly devoid of sophistication on each/every level. It’s as if the target audience are people from the time of Camelot…who have never watched TV or read a book;
5) The sets/CGI are laughable. They remind me of The First Knight. Wonder if there’s a connection between the production teams somewhere…lol
It should be canceled. Even if the budget were $1M/episode it should be canceled without a 2nd thought. Not a single likable character or plotline has developed. Starz may not have solid brand identity just yet, but since when does a channel want to be synonymous with a medieval drama that would fit in nicely with the 90s after-school-special genre? LOL
I really liked Camelot and enjoyed how it blossomed each episode. The figures you are siting for every episode is flat wrong. The first episodes that was a two series episode was the higher number and then each episode after was the lower. I watched both Games of Thrones and Camelot and although they were different; I like them both and hope dearly they bring Camelot back.
I love Camelot it is the best i have watched alot of them and i feel they have done a great job. To the comment about the castle wow they had to start some where really use your imagination!!! I think they have done a great job with the whole story!!! I do not like Spartacus as much as Camelot. I have not watched pillars of the earth yet can’t wait.
BRAVO! The problem is that people see one show on tv and want everything to be produced in the same light. That is the great thing about television people…We have options and diversity. I actually agree with the posters above and love both GoT and Camelot. They are very good in their own way. I for one will watch the show until it ends. I really hope they give this show a chance and truly think that the numbers will continue to go up. I would like to see a little more action but I’m not going to compain because the show “as is” is fine with me.
More of a naked Eva Green. Kill Arthur. Worst casting choice for potentially huge show. Change the legend and in Season 2 have Morgan finish that buck tooth worm off!
I would compare Camelot to BBC’s Merlin or Legend of the Seeker instead of GOT. The thing is with a bigger budget and on a premium pay network, the quality and presentation should be on the same level as GOT or even Spartacus. Starz has the same amount of subscribers as Showtime and it’s sister station Encore has more subscribers than HBO. There should be no reason why Starz shouldn’t have the type of quality shows that HBO or Showtime has.Personally, Camelot looks like a low budget syndicated show. I would have prefered Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth(Legend of the Seeker) series to get better treatment than syndication and land on one of the big pay networks. That series if done right and following the book storyline could challenge Game of Thrones. Camelot would have to be even better than a new series coming out because it will always be compared to previous efforts. That being said, it lacks the magical/fantasy presentation of films like Excalibur, First Knight, or even BBC’s Merlin. It also lacks the realism and grittiness of King Arthur(Clive Owen). The last battle was done very cheap and poorly. I don’t expect Braveheart scale battles but I do at least expect the sword fighting to be choreographed as well as or better than an episode of Highlander. Why cast a young boyband looking actor to play Arthur? Are they trying to get the teen/ABC Family crowd even though they want to show violence and nudity? Then they write him in a way where he’s unlikeable. You find yourself cheering for Eva Green even though her acting is over the top and she talks like she’s in an auditorium most of the time. I agree with anther comment that if they have a second season, it should be 10 years in the future and revamping the series.
Camelot is awesome. Nothing will come close to Spartacus, but definetly need to keep camelot going. There is a lot they can do with this story, they can slowly build up Camelot and what it stood for, and keep it very entertaining.
Well said, well said…
110% agreed. Game of Thrones is superior in every way. I even started with Camelot first, but found it lacking, whereas Game of Thrones just blew me away & woke something in me that has been sleeping for a long time.
Camelot is a terrible show, Arthur’s portrayal is weak, his so called champion rocked a bieber hairdo for half the season. Merlin is a weirdo and the only thing he did was kill a father and her daughter. None of the people look authentic to the period. All these powerful women figures in a period where men ruled over all is completely laughable. Where are all savage men that occupied the British isles at the time? Where did they find these people at a modeling agency? WTB some messed up teeth, rugged faces, scars, actual men and not these sissy looking pretty boys. The kings half sister plots to kill him and kills his mother and he lets her live, what a chump. The nun was annoying as hell…who the hell is she to be doing a coronation and have a say in all these important matters. She confessed to being the mastermind of the plot against the king and everyone bought it so easily without one question or concern yet some random villager kills some other random villager earlier in the season and there was an extensive tribunal SMH. How the hell can people think this show is so good to me its like a daytime soap lol, full of cheesy scenes and pretty people. The writers of this show made a totally fluffy story and the only raw aspect of it was Morgan’s blood-lust and insatiable desire for power. If you’re going to go completely outside the traditional Arthur myth at least make the setting and characters somewhat gritty.
I too was disapointed with the lack of action scenes earlier on. I agree with the fact that there was little character development However when I before I started watching this show I was hoping for something snail paced. I wanted to see a kid get the crown.(it would have helped to show a episode or two of Uther reigning while Arthur and Kay went through rural life) However with that said it is my hope that the kid will grow in size over the seasons (much like smallville’s CK) As for the season, I enjoyed it. Really I did, its all about slowly building the castle, and in the finale Arthur becomes more authoritative. I thought it met my expectations for the first season.
With that said I do expect that with the foundation set they do make some risks and start a few battles etc. I mean Merlin was worried about an atttack on the castle and it never really happened. I have much higher expectations for the following seasons so I hope it gets renewed.
***I could have sworn that when Spartacus GOTA ended their director said that Camelot had the timeslot for Spring and Fall.
as for Morgan; King Arthur should have had her killed. Now see what she has done. I look forward to Camelot this fall and find that it is so breath taking from the usual run of the mill shows on TV. Thank you dear Camelot.
You know what this show reminds me of? It reminds me of some bug budget high school show. Very little drama, very little action. Even the battles are small, with just a few men involved in them. Every time I watch, I have this sense that Arthur lives in country with 100 inhabitants… And that’s it. Everything feels small-scale-ish.
The writing feels very sloppy. The actors are completely miscast, except maybe 1 or 2 main characters. I really wanted this series to be good, but as much as I try, I can’t force myself to like it.
I loved Camelot. As a woman, I loved seeing Eva Green get such a great role and to see such a strong woman on a TV show, even if she was evil. I hope they renew it. I have watched a bit of Game of Thrones, but it is so violent. I like that I don’t have to look away constantly with Camelot.
There are so many excellent british actors that could have played Arthur. Why pick that non entity as Arthur. He’s terrible. They should recast.
Well apparently he is supposed to be a young King Arthur. A young man who did not even know he was king until he was thrown into it. If the character would have been allowed in successve seasons to grow and mature, I am sure the actor would have played the part. There was still much to see in the life of Arthur and his experiences to see him mature and become stronger.
Camelot is a great show and if they do not renew I will be shocked. Why on earth would they allow it to end with Morgan sleeping with Arthur? If you are not a fan of the show then why bother wasting time on here badmouthing it?
I agree with most comments that the show started out slow, but ended with a bang. I liked Merlin. Morgan was hot and great. Arthur did pick it up towards the end, I blame the writing for the slow start.
Those who didn’t like Camelot cause it was slow, boring, or shoddy casting.. are idiots. Before you go flaming me back please allow me to explain. The story did indeed have a plenty of action, if you paid attention to detail. Starz network didn’t want to produce another fighting and gore oriented show. What the released was the dramatic story telling of Arthur Pendragon’s rise from a lowly farm boy to into the man the legend speaks of. Nobody grows without hardships or challenges. I personally believe they purposely touched on this version of the story intentionally attempting to turn out a better product so it doesn’t seem… disney or nickalodean in style. The medieval ages were not friendly in the least bit. Hollywood movie magic has everyone believing every castle is 4 walls, parapets and huge inside fortress. Did you stop to consider the condition of the “castle” as it hadn’t actually been fully built and repaired? The state of “Camelot” as it was is literally considered a ruins. junk. They were going to have to build it. Where as Pendragon castle was a fully functioning a bustling estate as well as royal court. As for Merlin… the role was portrayed very well.. Merlin as much of a “lack luster” mage as you may want to call him.. knows his magic is dangerous.. and CHOOSES not to use it.. because of the facts about it.. he’s not ale to fully control it without it affecting him like a drug. Which if those complaining had actually watched the epidsodes.. not had it playing in the background while watching “Jerry springers ever so high quality show” on tv.. you’d know this.
Frankly I feel alot of the complaining is coming from people that cannot stand a good story without a good fight, or video effects to keep their attention.
Camelot is a very very well done show with a cast of great actors. Comparing it to game of thrones is like trying to compare Big Bang Theory, with Revenge of the Nerds. It’s ludicrous and down right stupid. Game of Thrones is riddled with action and it tells the story through violence. Camelot tells the story through story points.. different style of show… for different style of people.
Chris, you said it like it is! Camelot has great unexpected events,and whether historical or lengendary I’ve come to enjoy the show for it’s amazing beauty, twist and turns in the story, battle scenes- love it all-I’ve noticed some of the negative comments are from the same people going from different camelot message sites, actually repeating the same hate. But for me, would like more of Camelot!
Did anyone else think it was a bit odd that morgan ****** (had sex with) her brother?
And no I do not think this show should get renewed but it probably will.
It’s Camelot – Morgan is supposed to have sex with Arthur and bare his son. What did you think you were watching?
And Arthur is supposed to have sex with Kays girlfriend and his friend wife on their wedding day?
I agree with a number of the other comments…that this series got MUCH BETTER especially in the last two epidodes….am really looking forward to Morgan’s pregnancy revealed !!!
completely agreed! Next season should be awesome!!
I, too, agree! Next season will be awesome!!!!
This show is fantastic. All of you whining about JCB not “looking the part” are complete idiots. Arthur was supposed to be a boy king. This is the FIRST SEASON. It’s the BEGINNING. He’s not supposed to look all grizzled and grown and rugged. If starz doesn’t renew, they’re getting dropped from my Directv.
It’s not about JCB looking the part. It’s about his acting the part. Read the posts. Yes – he’s a bit young – but why are a large majority of people clamoring for Morgan to defeat him? His character is whiny and wimpy. He brings no weight to his role. Even the last episode when confronting Morgan in front of all the people – he makes it feel fake and forced.
The viewer needs to believe he’s the king and truly deserves it , or why root for him. His youthful appearance is the least of the issues here.
I love this version and all of the new interpretations in the plot twists. I am a life-long student of French mediaeval literature (MAFLL) and I adore the writing and the acting of Starz’ Camelot. Fiennes as Merlin was a superb casting. He humanized the great wizard, especially during the scene when his love dies. Eva Green as Morgan was also an inspired casting. Her interpretation of Morgan’s malevolence was subtle at times, then Eva shows the true nature of Morgan’s evil, vile personality with the whole center of her being. I see an Emmy for her.
I hope there is another season because the finale set up a couple of plot lines for next season’s foundation, i.e., the round table myth, the entrance of Sir Lancelot, Morgan’s bastard son of the king, and Genviève’s and Artur’s love.
As for the comparison between Camelot and Game of Thrones on which some people above have commented; there is no comparison. Each is based on its own story and each has done a very good job. I love them both.
WELL I REALLY DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE H*¡¿ SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT!! I LOVE CAMELOT PLEASE PLEASE BRING IT BACK!!! I LOVE SPARTICUS TOO BRING THEM ALL BACK GREAT SHOWS AND EVERY ACTOR WAS GREAT!
I am in LOVE with Camelot and am planning to purchase Starz, as long as they renew it for a second season. I respect everyone’s opinion, but am shocked to hear all of the negative comments about this show. I think the acting is great, the writing is brilliant, the design, chemistry between characters, it’s almost haunting…in a good way. I feel like I know the charcters personally…they are ALL strong, even Arthur. Yes, it’s definatley toned way down compared to Game of Thrones in terms of violence, but it’s supposed to be that way. They are telling an amazing story, that to me is incredibly interesting and full of excitment, intrigue, beauty, and intense drama. I think it will just get better in season 2 and if there isn’t a second season 2 I will be extremeley disappointed. I hate that Leontes died and Igraine as well. Something tells me we’ll see her again. I know it sounds crazy. But yeah, CAMELOT is the BEST!!!
Look I am not going to insult you over your taste in tv, that has been done enough on this thread. But seriously what do you find brilliant about the writing in Camelot? I found it so awful it was distracting. The series opens with Arthur sleeping with his brothers girlfriend. Three minutes later all is forgiven and they are off to declare Arthur king. Because a man who has so little control over his impulses that he would sleep with his brothers woman would obviously make a magnificent king. Almost every scene had some giant plothole that i couldnt forgive. I was done after two episodes.
Yes bring Camelot back for another season. I was disappointed that lgraine was killed off, I too wanted to see those sparks between her Merlin develop! I was hoping Merlin was going to save lgraine! I hope it’s a strong actor for Lancelot!