I don’t usually keep track of what’s on television anymore (I haven’t since graduating High School). Actually, the only channels that I do keep somewhat of a tab on are Discovery and Sci-F…errr SyFy to some extent. So if any other channel has anything worthwhile on, I almost always miss it. But back on topic:

I got a chance to watch some Merlin this weekend, a BBC acquired 13-part series that runs on Sundays during primetime. It’s a coming of age story about Merlin, a young man born with some magical talent, the struggles of his youth, all while trying to keep his powers hidden. It strikes me as kind of odd that NBC would air a period drama during prime time. Fantasy series hold a strong nerd stigma in the US and period drams in general seem to be hit or miss, usually miss. But hey, not complaining.

If you are expecting the story to remain true to the tale of King Arthur, you might be somewhat disappointed as the plot seems to be a very liberal interpretation at best. Smallville is to the Superman comics as Merlin is to the King Arthur stories, for better or for worse (think young Merlin and young Arthur + antics).

The production quality is decent as is the acting (good cast), there’s plenty of sword play, pretty renaissance-esque costumes to stare at as well as CGI monsters. A little cheesy? Perhaps. Fun? Most definitely. It’s well worth watching, especially if you also share a strong fascination for fantasy and medieval period stories. A new summer favorite for Keiya.

Oh, all of the episodes are on the NBC site as well as Hulu.