Apr032009
High fantasy meets comedy in Comedy Central’s “Krod Mandoon”
Filed under General, Pop Culture, TV by teresa santoski at 4:02 pm
The realm of high fantasy has been parodied in comics (8-bit Theater), novels (Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series), and film (“Monty Python and the Holy Grail”), but I’m hard-pressed to think of a TV series that’s taken this route. (If you know of one, please comment - I’d be interested in checking it out). Needless to say, it’s long overdue.
When I heard about Comedy Central’s “Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire,” my initial reaction was to wonder why it’s taken so long for something like this to come out. Like I said, there have been fantasy parodies in other genres for decades now, and there have been fantasy TV series that are witty in their approach, but not really full-on parodies. Why did it take so long for the two to come together?
I’m assuming that, as with most things, it comes down to the bottom line. Fantasy has traditionally been a niche market, fantasy parody perhaps even moreso, and if you’re going to invest money in a TV series (especially in this economy), you want to make sure people are going to watch it.
Now that video games and online role-playing games have become a part of the cultural mainstream, there’s a much wider audience for a show like this than there would have been, say, five years ago. Comedy Central, you little scamp - your timing is almost obscenely perfect.
“Krod Mandoon” features Matt Lucas of “Little Britain” and Sean Maguire of “Meet the Spartans” and, according to Comedy Central’s Web site, is “a groundbreaking action comedy that is equal parts workplace comedy and sword and sorcery fun.”
It sounds like a fabulous concept, and I’m curious to see how it will play out in the execution. It will either be a mostly witty approach to humor, with jokes and situations that make you laugh because of how unexpected they are, or it will be an endless string of gay jokes and sexual references that will simply become tiresome after a few episodes.
If you watched any of the clips on the “Krod Mandoon” site linked above, it’s easy to see that the series could go either way. Personally, I’m hoping for the witty/unexpected humor approach, along the lines of “30 Rock” or “The Office.”
We’ll find out soon enough - the series premieres on Thursday, April 9th at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central. Hopefully it’ll be a series worthy of adding to the proverbial TiVo.
Add New Comment
Viewing 2 Comments
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Add New Comment
Trackbacks