‘Galavant’ TV show review
By Cheryl Minns, Arts Editor
5/5
Opening a half-hour comedy series with a musical number fit for Broadway is a bold move for any TV show. But for ABC’s new musical series Galavant, it perfectly sets the tone for an eight-part medieval adventure series in the style of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
Galavant is anything but cliché, with an opening number that introduces the hero Galavant (Joshua Sasse) before promptly knocking him off his pedestal when he loses the love of his life, Madalena (Mallory Jansen), to King Richard (Timothy Omundson).
The music is composed by the award-winning Alan Menken, which makes the show feel like a Disney movie for adults filled with laugh-out-loud jokes not intended for kids, catchy show tunes, and lots of lush England scenery. The series easily fills the network’s fairytale void in the Once Upon a Time timeslot while the show is on break.
In the Galavant premiere, one year after Galavant lost Madalena, his squire, Sid (Luke Youngblood), tries to get him to be a hero again but has little success. It isn’t until Isabella (Karen David), the princess of Valencia, begs Galavant to help her travel to stop King Richard and save her kingdom, that the fallen hero rises to the occasion and once again goes on an adventure. Too bad Isabella is secretly working for King Richard, which she sings about in episode two within earshot of Galavant, who pays no attention.
The show also has a Disney’s Beauty and the Beast tone to it due to the similar-sounding Menken music and familiar plot: the most popular guy in town (Galavant/Gaston) falls for the most beautiful girl in town (Madalena/Belle) only to have her end up with royalty who held her captive (King Richard/The Beast). There’s even a song between Madalena and King Richard called “Maybe You’re Not the Worst Thing Ever” that sounds like a cheekier version of “Something There” from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
Galavant airs two half-hour episodes at 8 p.m. on Sunday nights on ABC.
