Galavant

What’s it about?

The adventures of brave knight Galavant in his quest to rescue the fair Madalena. May contain musical numbers, dance routines and much silliness.

Starring

Joshua Sasse, Timothy Omundson, Vinnie Jones, Mallory Jansen, Karen David, Luke Youngblood, Robert Lindsay

An Introduction to Galavant

Sir Galavant (Joshua Sasse) is our hero, a brave knight who has been wronged by the dastardly King Richard (Psych’s Timothy Omundson). The king has kidnapped the brave one’s significant other, fair Madalena (Mallory Jansen) with a view to winning her over, and this just won’t do at all.

And so it begins… ably assisted by his squire, Sid (Luke Youngblood), our hero teams up with wronged Princess Isabella (Karen David) on a quest to free Madalena from the clutches of the king and his henchman, Gareth (Vinnie Jones).

Format-wise, Galavant is a musical and consequently rejoices in spontaneous song and dance numbers, often at the deliberately oddest of times – gently ribbing the traditional musical format with affection and wit.

Summary

Okay, imagine Rob Reiner’s “The Princess Bride” crossed with Disney’s “Enchanted” and you’re on the right track here. Galavant is epically, proudly silly (see also: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), and as such is a very welcome addition to the TV roster.

A special mention must go to Alan Menken and Glenn Slater for their respective music and lyrics, easily as good as their work on the afore-mentioned Enchanted. The deliberately campy and often wonderfully inappropriate musical numbers are what elevates Galavant beyond mere slapstick.

Episodes are short and cheerful, and the show’s style of comedy is deadpan, daft and self-depracating. Psyche’s Timothy Omundson is especially good value as the theatrical king, and there are cameos from talented souls such as Ricky Gervais, Al Yankovic and Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville.

So, “huzzah and tally ho!”, give Galavant a go – it’s a blast.

Check out the Season 1 Trailer here: