Kings: An “American” Absolute Monarchy
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- Опубліковано 21 лип 2024
- Kings, a modernized Biblical tale set in a quasi-America ruled by an absolute monarch, faded into obscurity during its single season due largely to NBC’s inability to properly market it. But the show is mostly well written, with a few clunky exceptions, and expertly acted all around to portray its slanted reflection of our own world.
Rather than stream the series and fight with the DRM to use clips, all the show footage is from old tv rips, complete with NBC logo and station markers. But for first-time viewing I do recommend a higher quality source.
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00:00 Intro
01:30 The Shepherd Boy
02:45 The Monarchy
03:23 The Functionary
05:08 The Land
07:08 The Quest
08:22 The Coups
09:55 Abrupt Endings
Wait, they made a "modern retelling" of the biblical story of David & king Saul, with Ian McShane as the king and I only found out about now?!
It's an absolute underrated banger
Yep and it was amazing.
See what happens when you blow off staff meetings?
Interestingly, the general audience at the time seemed to think that this was some sort of Ruritanian romance taking place in our own world, but according to the producers themselves, this took place in an alternate timeline. They never explained the whole thing, but what they did say is that history is the same as ours up until the American Civil War. For whatever reason that war didn’t end after four years, but instead went on for generations, with the United States, and then all of North America fragmenting into scores of small countries, republics, principalities, dictatorships, and so on. They said that Shiloh was New York City, which had been completely burned to the ground, and destroyed in one of the countless wars. In the show King Silas says that he chose to rebuild it and rename it as his capital.
So I thought that was really interesting, and since this show has been mostly forgotten, I don’t think many people remember that. Assuming many people knew it to begin with. It wasn’t a very popular show.
It was a great show.
First 'Alien Nation' and now 'Kings'. You are like the Easter Bunny of forgotten turn-of-the-century gems.
“And The King increasingly grew even more jealous and more afraid, because God had rejected him as ruler... and had instead chosen David.”
- The Holy Bible, The First Book of Samuel, The Eighteenth Chapter, The Twelfth Verse
(engine revving)
Jake: "Absolute Monarchies. I hate Absolute Monarchies!"
Elwood: "Floor it."
(squealing tires)
Found it as a show portraying Monarchy and I am impressed by it. The myths, butterflies, that sustain the institution for example.
Thanks for featuring this, I thought I was the only one who remembered this show. It was one of the last I saw when I had cable and it came off of Ian McShane's epic work in Deadwood; it deserved more seasons and it deserves credit for actually attempting to translate the source material without 'Current Day'-ing it (too much).
I appreciate you.
I watched it when I was in college and enjoyed this forgotten show. I was disappointed that it ended at one season.
This and Joan of Arcadia were brilliant shows that felt with themes related to God, and both suffered an untimely end!
I adore this series. I rewatch it every year. I remember seeingbrhe pilot when it aired and thinking "this is gonna be a ratings disaster on NBC, but if HBO had picked it up, not only would the episodes be longer and more mature, but itd be a ratings powerhouse!
Alas... 'Twas ahead of its time.
Truly underrated youtube channel
I remember this series when it premiered, and my first thought was the network has run out of ideas so they decided to mine the bible. It was a surprisingly good show and I regretted its cancellation.
Glad you looked at this one. This is one of my favorite shows that I watched as a kid. Cannot wait for your next review.
I loved this show when it was new. I still think about it from time to time.
This sounds like a really good show. I think I'll give it a watch.
I remember this show when it airing originally and I recall being with impressed with it at the time. It’s a shame that it’s been somewhat forgotten in the (15?!?!) years since. Great retrospective review!
That show was so good! Thank you for doing it justice!
I'm glad others remember this show, wish I could find it online to rewatch
The "Quest" part of the video was perfect. Perhaps that is what the modern action movie lacks, for the hero to collect... errhm.
Then before anyone jumps on any sort of wagon, I will clarify that King Saul (King Silas in the show) was already mad when he made that specific... request.
The Old Testament is an endless series of things not to do. I just thought that should be said and clarified.
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I have been thinking about this show on and off again for years. It must be... I must have watched it around the time it came out, when it was aired deep in the night here in Norway.
All the good stuff was always aired between midnight and four in the morning for some reason.
I've only watched it that one time, but it stayed with me. Perhaps this was where I fell in love with old stories told in a modern setting.
Like "Coriolanus" with Ralph Fiennes.
Or "King Charles III" with Tim Pigott-Smith.
I haven't actually seen "Richard III" with Ian McKellen. It's been on my list, and the comments here reminded me of it.
-----
Then a show that I never in a million years thought I would watch.
Did you know that the South Koreans make some pretty good TV shows? I had no idea until I stumbled upon some on Netflix.
And this one became my favorite TV show of all time.
"Crash Landing on You".
To summarize, it is basically the story of a princess (South Korean, daughter to a man who owns a billion-dollar corporate empire), and a prince (A captain in the North Korean army).
As the title says, she accidentally flies over the border and crash, he finds her, he hides her. The TV show happens.
As the story takes place in North Korea for most of show, it really feeds into this feeling of being a story from centuries ago but with a modern visual.
It's awesome.
And best of all?
No Hollywood politics. None.
And also, the South Koreans tend to make one long season of the TV show, and that's it.
And they are far more socially conservative than the West.
------------
Now, back to the video. I find I must once more jump back to CS Lewis. He's the smart one, I'm just the parrot.
"Thirdly, I do not like the pretensions of Government --the grounds on which it demands my obedience-- to be pitched too high.
I don't like the medicine-man's magical pretensions nor the Bourbon's Divine Right.
This is not solely because I disbelieve in magic and in Bossuet's Politique.
I believe in God, but I detest theocracy.
For every Government consists of mere men and is, strictly viewed, a makeshift;
if it adds to its commands "Thus saith the Lord", it lies, and lies dangerously.
On just the same ground I dread government in the name of science.
That is how tyrannies come in.
In every age the men who want us under their thumb, if they have any sense, will put forward the particular pretension which the hopes and fears of that age render most potent.
They "cash in".
It has been magic, it has been Christianity. Now it will certainly be science.
Perhaps the real scientists may not think much of the tyrants' 'science'-- they didn't think much of Hitler's racial theories or Stalin's biology. But they can be muzzled."
-----
The idea of "Divine Rule" terrifies me.
There is a reason why the Puritans (my people) waged a bloody civil war against Charles I.
And you are absolutely correct in the video by comparing it to Marxist dialectics, or any other 'thing' that can be used to justify and legitimize actions.
With Universal Suffrage, it legitimizes every action made by the government, because it was made in the name of Democracy and of the majority.
Where now, the very term "Democracy" has started to sound like the chanting of the name of some newly made pagan god.
In all these cases, you can just make something up on the spot, and then not just justify your action, but legitimize it from the fact that you did it.
A self-fueling machine of madness and the open potential for boundless oppression.
And what always happens, whether they use the Bible or they use Marx, is that they never actually do what is written.
The Kings who claimed Divine Right, never acted accordingly to what God said.
And Stalin and Lenin never acted according to what Marx said.
And about the TV show itself, King Saul (King Silas in the show), had already lost the support from the Eternal.
Yet he would be the last to publicly acknowledge that fact.
I always wondered why they changed Saul to Silas in this show. Not enough to spend much effort trying to find out though. So many other nagging questions about other matters.
But that said, I'm about due to watch that Ralph Fiennes Coriolanus again, it's been a few years. It's always tangled in my head with a stage production I saw in Ontario in 2018(?), directed by Robert LePage. It was the same kind of modern setting, Aufidius as guerrilla leader, but it was the most interesting stage production I've ever seen. Heavy use of layered scaffolds behind projection screens and moving set elements, it was almost like a comic book thrown up on stage.
I've never heard of "Crash Landing On You" but I'll check it out this weekend. I think my wife is getting tired of the 80s-90s sci-fi I've been subjecting her to so it's a good time to throw something new in.
As for the evils of government . . . These days I can't say anything without slipping into a crotchety old anarchist rant. A lot of Americans are lamenting the loss of confidence in media, law, Universities, the scientific establishment; and I just think "what took you so long?"
@@feralhistorian Without doing any research, I could only assume it was how the name comes off the tongue. Silas sounds a lot more nefarious than Saul. Even saying Saul in English is pretty strange.
Sadly, Norway has absolutely no connection to Shakespear. At best we have some from the Romanticism era, but in reality you will end up with some variation of something post-modern. Besides, here in the southwest of Norway, you would get the same theatre experience that you would probably find in every other rural area.
It's either for kids, or for weirdoes.
I hope she likes it. Although she is going to have to read subtitles, which is something we grew up with here, but I have heard it could be a problem for some Americans to get used to.
I could never be an Anarchist. I flirted with the idea in my late teens, but it never stuck. Anarcho-Communism was my thing among all the variations and such.
But even if we were to somehow get it implemented in an acceptable way, the first thing we would do is to get rid of it.
From my perspective, we were made for the Garden of Eden. And the first thing we did was muck it all up.
What I find to be tragic with people "waking up", is that they very often seem to find some arbitrary point or place to hold on to.
Such as the "UA-cam Right-Wing" people, who seem to have this fetish for the 1950s.
Or people look back at some specific politician or period as the place where it was still good, or before it got really bad.
Almost makes it seem like some sort of defense mechanism holding them back.
@@feralhistorian Oh, about "Crash Landing on You". There tends to be an extra scene after the end credits of an episode.
"'...'Democracy' has started to sound like the chanting of the name of some newly made pagan god."
An excellent way to put it, since they've redefined the term so that they can say with a straight face that keeping decisions away from the _demos_ makes the whole thing 'more democratic.' Those who once believed in the classical definition can't forgive the _demos_ for voting for Brexit and Trump, but neither can they face that the _demos_ aren't dedicated to the ends they 'should be.'
The algorithm brought me to this video and your channel. Your stuff is great.
For anyone wondering about the foreskin thing,
Being circumcised is a Jewish symbol of their dedication to God, so collecting foreskins in this context would've been the equivalent of taking the flag off a dead enemy's uniform.
Also gruesome as it seems now, taking body parts as trophies has been common for most of history, and it could be much worse. The Maori would consume, let's just say human rocky mountain oysters......raw
That makes sense. Thanks for the context on that.
I have another potential one for you to take a crack at: Rollerball with James Caan. It's kind of a proto-Running Man where Corporations rule like countries and settle their differences with bloody gladiatorial games of Rollerskatting Hockey Basketball. The problem is, the best player in the game has gotten too popular with the masses, so he needs to be silenced.
I did a Rollerball one way back in the back-catalog, ua-cam.com/video/OBhbwLx4O4o/v-deo.html though it's probably going to be revisited along with Running Man and a few others.
What the hell, I thought I was the only one who remembered this show. I liked it.
I adore Kings. I'm glad to see this commentary on its brief run.
Great video. Liked and subscribed.
Loved this series, the writing, the performances, the cinematography, the soundtrack. Anyone who hasn't seen it, it's well worth a watch.
I remember Kings, it came out in the wake of Heroes getting canceled. It was a shaky premise coming out of the writers strike too.
I’ve never heard of this, but aside from it being a somewhat heavy-handed allegory, it seems like a good ride. I’ll have to find the dvds.
I seriously thought I was the only person who remembers that show.
This was an excellent show. Wish it had continued.
I used to watch this on hulu back when hulu was free forgot how long ago that was.
I remember this show. Wow. That was a while ago. Just found your channel! Subscribed!
An algorithm said, "Understanding is a three edged sword. Your side, their side, and the truth."
Somehow my minor rewrite of this quote to include the word algorithm, mainly because it's how I've been doing these quotes, make this one feel much more disturbing than the original quote.
I watched this show when it was on, I loved it.
I remember the ads for this. I remember thinking to myself "do we really need this?"
Interestingly, the general audience at the time seemed to think that this was some sort of Ruritanian romance taking place in our own world, but according to the producers themselves, this took place in an alternate timeline. They never explained the whole thing, but what they did say is that history is the same as ours up until the American Civil War. For whatever reason that war didn’t end after four years, but instead went on for generations, with the United States, and then all of North America fragmenting into scores of small countries, republics, principalities, dictatorships, and so on. They said that Shiloh was New York City, which had been completely burned to the ground, and destroyed in one of the countless wars. In the show King Silas says that he chose to rebuild it and rename it as his capital.
So I thought that was really interesting, and since this show has been mostly forgotten, I don’t think many people remember that. Assuming many people knew it to begin with. It wasn’t a very popular show.
Damn, I remember watching it. Truly an artefact of times long gone.
I not only remember this show but was a huge fan and hope and scoured for reboots or subsequent season(s). This was an amazing show and Ian Mcshane was bloody wonderful!!
Maybe we need more of this!
I loved this show. It was so good and deserved to continue
I absolutely loved this show
This was an amazing series, and I absolutely loved it. Damn shame.
Speaking of forgotten NBC shows...I'd love it if you gave "Awake" a run.
I’ve been trying to find this on dvd but no luck
I’ve been binging your videos over the last few days. You’ve got some good stuff my friend. 👍
Recommendation: Can you do a video on Mr. House and New Vegas?
I've got some thoughts on House. Need to do another New Vegas playthrough one of these days, it's been awhile.
@@feralhistorian Okay great. Thanks. 👍
I really liked this show when it aired
The fact that a major Network allowed a show based of Judo-Christian religion to be made is remarkable, and would never be allowed to fly these days, they would be laughed at or people would be to afraid to try it, let alone the have creative talent which is lacking in the film industry these days. Just hose to show how much the state of country has change in such little time(not for the better), this is fairly recently made in the late 2000's. I'm going check it out.
I think for a lot of people it’s not intentional, most people, including those who self-identify as Christians are just incredibly ignorant.
The whole premise of this show reminds me a lot of that one 1995 adaptation of Richard III that set the story in a sort of alternate history version of Britain in the 1930’s where Fascism comes to power in England instead, with the titular character fittingly filling the role of Führer/Duce. It’s actually somewhat interesting considering the fact that the IRL British Fascist movement was headed by Oswald Mosley, who actually was an aristocrat. I don’t know if they intended that connection or not, but the parallels are surprising in any case.
Right, the Ian Mckellan version. I really enjoyed that one at the time, it took a few liberties with combining a couple characters but it all served what they were doing. It seems like someone involved with it said in an interview that were specifically inspired by Mosley's BUF for the uniforms, but I can't recall enough to hunt it down.
Richard the 3rd
@@feralhistorian Now that I think about it, there’s also that 2011 Ralph Fiennes version of Coriolanus that depicts the story in a world that heavily resembles Post-Soviet Eastern Europe, urban decay, ethnic conflict and all. Makes you wonder what other Shakespearean or other classic stories and plays could be adapted into modern or almost-modern times.
This Show was Great! Really wasn’t set up to succeed, but it should of. Michael Green made something really special, and he should have continued it, if not on the small screen maybe comics or the like.
It’s a shame this show got cancelled.
"And David's squad sort of acts like [tanks] are a new thing. Which isn't surprising as Gaff's army doesn't seem to know what to do with tanks either."
Delightfully salty. Although how you end up with a _Panzerfaust_ when _panzers_ are a surprise...
I remember "Kings." I thought it was great! 👍🏾
I loved kings!
Another wierd forgotten TV show is Jericho.
I liked the show, don't know why they cancelled it.
Loved that show. Wish it would have survived
The kingdom of gaboa needs to be reformed.
Yeah I thought it would have done at least as good as American Gods
Died because of the writers strike
I started watching this show because I thought it would be "so bad it's good." Wow though. Absolutely incredible. If I had to nitpick, there's a lot of continuity issues... Why is Reverend Samuels in Port Prosperity, hours away from the capital at the time of the dedication he's supposed to be at? Why does Judgement "Day" clearly last for at least two days, and yet is always described as one day by the characters? A few others that just hold the show back from being perfect. And Macaulay Culkin's acting is painfully bad.
This show never really got off the ground because the marketing was abysmal (hence my thinking it would be funny bad to watch). The commercials didn't mention the Biblical allegory at all and instead made it look like some kind of sci-fi dystopia. Weird choice.
Thank you for the brilliant analysis.
Best regards
A Palestinian
The city of Gath is now called Gaza, No joke.
No, they were separate Philistine cities. Gaza has always been Gaza. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philistia
I actually wrote a story in high school that was probably a better adaptation than this. It was also much more Jewish and gay
Lol. Lmao even.
@@dagon99 I mean was I wrong?