SPOILER ALERT! Recap and Review: GALAVANT Debuts with Singing Knights, Damsels in Distress, and John Stamos

By: Jan. 04, 2015
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After what seems like three years of commercials, ABC finally debuted its new musical series GALAVANT tonight. As I'm sure you know, this eight-episode, four-week "event" features lyrics by Tony-nominee and Grammy-winner Glenn Slater and music by Grammy, Oscar, and Tony-winner Alan Menken; who seems to be in desperate search for the Emmy to round out his EGOT.

The series envisions itself as a bit Monty Python and a bit PRINCESS BRIDE, and at times, it comes semi-closeish to being recognizable as one or the other. However, the entire operation comes off as a disappointingly executed musical episode of a TV show that might otherwise have been interesting. The songs are fine, but inconsistent. The singing is not terrible, but not remarkable either. The script has some laughs, but none of the belly variety. As a whole, GALAVANT seems like a gallant effort, but one that never quite meets the potential that its pedigree or premise suggest.

Some of the more enjoyable moments, and there are quite a few, are the winking, self-referential ones that let you know that Menken, Slater, and writer Dan Fogelman aren't taking there meta-musical too seriously. It seems that these three imagine GALAVANT as a musical fairy tale that both satirizes, and capitalizes on, the genre's tried and true tropes. At times, those efforts work, but more often than not, it just leads to adequately entertaining clichés in a half-baked presentation.

The story focuses on a once legendary knight, GALAVANT (Joshua Sasse). In the opening song we are given all of the major exposition to a tune that is oddly reminiscent of "Belle" from Menken's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. In the song, we learn that Gal is madly, and passionately ("Thrice daily more or less"), in love with the beautiful Madalena (Mallory Jansen), but she has been kidnapped by the evil King Richard (PSYCH's Timothy Omundson), who lustily intends to make her his queen.

Going into full hero-mode, Gal races across countryside and beaches until he bursts into the wedding hall where, after a stirring speech (that is, again, oddly reminiscent of a one made by Westley in THE PRINCESS BRIDE), Madalena informs him that she has decided to choose the "fame and fortune" that the king can supply her, instead of the true love that GALAVANT does. Then, after Gal is beat up by Richard's brutish henchman Gareth (Vinnie Jones), we fast forward to a much different Galavant.

Now, months down the road, GALAVANT has given up the damsel in distress business in order to drink and eat away his pain; much to the dismay of his squire Sid (Luke Youngblood), who has brought him a rather lovely damsel indeed. Princess Isabella of Valencia (Karen David) has come to ask for Galavant's help after her parents were slaughtered by an invading king. As payment, she offers him the priceless Jewel of Valencia, a massive emerald that doesn't seem to persuade our hero.

Instead, the one thing that finally convinces him to join her crusade is that the invading, murderous king that slaughtered Isabella's parents and people was Galavant's rival, King Richard.

The only problem is that Isabella's parents aren't actually dead. Since Madalena has routinely questioned her new husband's manhood, especially in comparison to that of Galavant, the king decides to use the young princess to lure the knight to what he hopes will be his death; in fact he sings a rather forgettable song about it that I only barely recall because some of the lyrics reminded me of "Then You May Take Me to the Fair" from CAMELOT.

Richard offers to trade the lives of Isabella's parents for her delivering GALAVANT to him so that he can kill him in front of Madalena. Of course, from the moment she walks into his pigsty of a cottage, it is obvious that Isabella and Gal will wind up together, but the show sees itself as a fairy tale, so I suppose foregone conclusions are just part of the deal.

The first thirty minute episode has a handful of funny lines and bits, including a young chef who is just biding his time until he becomes the next member of his family to be executed by the king in the line of duty. We also meet the rather unfunny jester (Ben Presley), to whom Madelena has taken a specific liking. The jester also serves as the series narrator, so there could be some more fun there down the road from him.

For me, Omundson steals the first episode in a character that is very different than his Lassiter on PSYCH. Richard is a bit foppish, oblivious, and insecure, but still remarkably cruel. He seems to be the only character that is fully at home in this musical kingdom. The RIDICULOUSNESS of his character allows him to burst into a fully-staged song and dance, and for it to come across as completely normal. In contract, when the other characters sing, it appears to be stilted and unnatural. Some of that awkwardness does wane in future episodes, but I still find Richard's scenes to be the most entertaining of the bunch.

As a whole, the first episode serves to remind you of what the series could be, but ultimately, what it is not. GALAVANT is not SPAMALOT. GALAVANT is not the long rumored musical adaptation of THE PRINCESS BRIDE. As much as GALAVANT wants to be both of those things (I mean come on, how badly did you expect the priest to say "Deawy Bewoved" before marrying Richard and Madalena?) is a middling, four-hour musical that will likely have a difficult time finding an audience outside of Menken devotees.

Tonight's second episode didn't have the same dramatic momentum of the pilot, but it did have a pair of catchy songs, and, most importantly, it had John Stamos; and, everything is better with Stamos.

The episode opens with Galavant's version of an all too familiar nightmare. After laying waste to a band of marauders, he sees Madalena, who declares her love, but is soon joined by her husband, who asks how GALAVANT can be a hero if he isn't wearing any pants. The knight's obvious performance anxiety is a major theme throughout the episode, but he puts on a brave face as he, Isabella, and Sid sing "Off on a Hero's Journey," which might be the best song of the series. The tune is extremely catchy, and the three display tight harmonies, all while reestablishing who each of the three characters is. The song's final long, high note serves to confirm that GALAVANT is extremely out of shape; which of course contributes to his combat insecurity.

Back at the castle, after an embarrassing episode where the chef feeds Richard as if he were a toddler, Gareth tells the king that if he wants Madalena's respect, he has to "man up;" and since he is the professor in the art of manhood, he is the one to teach him.

In the forest, GALAVANT et al. realize that they have no money for food or shelter, so they decide that he should enter a local jousting competition that carries a 1,000 pound prize. However, without THE 100 pounds for registration, Sid puts up the Jewel of Valencia as collateral, just as one of Galavant's old rivals appears.

Stamos guest stars as Sir Jean Hamm (yes, pronounced just like the name of the MAD MEN star), a fellow knight who is quite fond of "Your Momma" jokes. Realizing that Gal isn't ready to compete against a knight of Jean Hamm's caliber, Isabella convinces the joust organizer to advance GALAVANT directly to the finals, allowing her an extra day to get her knight ready.

In a medieval Rocky-esq training sequence, complete with a direct rip-off of "Eye of the Tiger" (ROCKY III's theme song), the princess gets GALAVANT back in fighting shape, and begins to see him for the heroic stud muffin that he once was. This was easily the weakest song of the night, as less than five minutes after hearing it, I can't remember a single lyric from the entire thing.

Despite the successful training, Isabella takes an extra step towards winning back her jewel and seduces Jean Hamm (which really is a brilliant character name) with a tall glass of absinthe. The following morning, Sir Jean is incredibly hungover, but Gal is so sore from training that he can't raise his arms above his head, resulting in a less than exciting championship joust. After their horses charge forward at a snail's pace, both knights fall to the ground, and the judge declares that the first man to his feet is the winner. After looking in Isabella's eyes for inspiration, GALAVANT rises and is declared the winner. After claiming the jewel, the 1,000 pound prize, and a rooster, Sid delivers one of the best lines of the night about whether or not he was going to name or eat the bird.

Over dinner, Richard has abandoned his "tummy flowers" and butched up for dinner with the Queen, who begrudgingly begins to see him in a different light. The two couples (Galavant and Isabella and Richard and Madalena) join in the song "Maybe You're Not the Worst Thing Ever" as they realize that they might be developing surprising feelings for each other. As with the better songs of the night, the lyrics in this one are very clever and served both to entertain and to develop the characters and their relationships.

Of course, after the song was over, in evil queen fashion, Madalena ruins the moments be telling Richard that his beloved Pearl, the only person who ever loved him, only cared for him because his parents paid her to.

The second episode was a little hit or miss for me. I thought the songs, even the "Eye of the Tiger" wannabe, were effective and more professional than the first half-an-hour's, but it seemed rather early in the show's run to be abandoning the central storyline for a one-off diversion. I know that the burgeoning relationships developed in the episode will set up the drama for the next three weeks, but I have to imagine that there is a way that the writers could have achieved the same result with a single storyline that integrated all of the characters.

So, did you travel to King Richard's KINGDOM tonight? Were you swept away by Menken and Slater's songs? Share your thoughts in the comments below, or with me on Twitter @BWWMatt. I will be recapping every episode of GALAVANT, so come back next Sunday for my recap and review of episodes three and four.

Photo Credit:
1) Jones, Omundson, and Jansen: Nick Ray | ABC
2) David, Youngblood, and Sasse: Nick Ray | ABC
3) Sasse and Stamos: ABC
4) Jansen and Omundson: ABC



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