New Spring Shows.

I finally got around to watching the premiere of Kings on NBC. If you hadn't heard, Kings was originally supposed to replace ER on Thursdays (and thus save NBC from oblivion and cure cancer). But while Julianna Margulies finally decided to come back to say goodbye (because you know, her post-ER career is SO Clooney-esque), NBC has quietly decided to keep Kings on Sundays. Instead, a show called Southland with broody-guy from The O.C. is taking ER's place, to resurrect NBC from the bowels of being constantly compared to, forbid, FOX.

Kings was kinda cool actually... until the last 30 minutes of the premiere (David speechifies to tanks on the front line and makes them stop a war that was restarted on a broken truce? Really?) It's basically a David-vs.-Goliath based story that takes place in what the U.S. might be if it were a monarchy. This solves two problems right off the bat: a roadmap for an awesome plot and a mechanism for short-circuiting political intrigue. In the first hour and a half, pretty much every character gets shown as an archetype... with shades of complexity that make for an awesome soap. I'm particularly fond of Ian McShane as King Silas, who could have made the king some showboaty-House/Shark/Monk/other cranky lead, but instead dialed him back. There's nothing quite as mysterious as a lead who doesn't show all his cards.

I like what they did with David -- his actions for the most part seem pretty organic. It's a little odd that he'd go to a banquet in his honor without any family members; it seems like he has a pretty solid family life. The twist that the symbol of his bravery is a lucky sham is a little cliche, but it gets the job done.

I hate his love interest, the princess, who looks like a young Sally Field, and that is NOT a good thing.

The prince, being "secretly" gay is a nice little twist. I'm hoping that the gay-character-as-villain-cliche will be kept in check.

I'm also intrigued by the queen, who constantly says she doesn't like to get involved with politics, but who seems the best at it. The Lady MacBeth comparison is a little too strong here. Not to mention the whole evil-brother-in-law thing.

I'm sticking with this show for now, although my whole foray into Castle went belly-up (Castle is just awful... Nathan Fillion deserves WAY better). I'm curious though about Southland. Not only did it displace the Show-That-Was-Supposed-To-Save-NBC-Because-Heroes-Didn't, it's replacing ER, the show that gave us Noah Wyle. Them thar is big ol' shoes ta fill.