Update! NBC's Kings based on the Bible Story

February 9, 2009
I was curious every time I saw that 15 second teaser commercial for the new show called Kings premiering March this year. Then I saw the trailers from their official site and realized that this show is actually the story from the bible, the book of 1 and 2 Samuel. As a christian, it will be kind of cool to see how all the drama of the scriptures will be portrayed on screen, as a modern day tale. Think of the Bible, reboot!

But also, I've seen biblical movies done in such a way, as to make me cringe, with either no biblical knowledge, misinformation, or plain filler just to stretch out a short chapter from the Good Book, into a three day mini-series, a la NBC's Noah's Ark from five or six years ago.

I'm curious to see how they show young David fighting Goliath, will he still use a sling or will it be a army tank or Hummer? Also, I'm betting that in order to make the program more marketable for a global audience, virtually all references to Judaism will be eliminated. I wonder if Saul, Samuel, Jonathan, and the others from the biblical story will have the same names, or will they too become victims of Hollywooditis.

That's just my hunch, but I've seen it done before with the original Veggie Tales dealings with the Peacock network in the past. When all referenes to God, Jesus, and bible scriptures were removed from their Quobo children's network and replaced with moral lessons like in the old G.I. Joe "Knowing is half the battle." sections tacked onto each episode of their 22 minute commercial, I mean tv series.


But those in the know, should get the allusions to the original source material. Who knows, maybe this show Kings won't make it past the first 3 episodes.

If this series really wants to go into it, there are way intense stories to be told, long after King David passes on, his son Solomon marries hundreds of women, more descendants become mad with power and corruption, and the kingdom falls into captivity of the enemy countries.


**Ya know, how you want to comment on a video clip right after you see it, but then you realized you missed something the first viewing. Well, I just noticed that this David the Shepard has a RPG/bazooka on his shoulder, not a rock and a sling.

Oh well, I'm going to hold back my biases until after the first episode is finished. **



ONE MONTH LATER



Okay, originally posted that over a month ago. My thoughts on the show after the premiere/pilot episode. It's pretty good, considering NBC's latest track record for taking their shows off the air in a heart beat.

Although I already heard one of my church members calling the show blasphemous for using biblical characters for ratings, I see this show differently. Even if you don't want to get preached at from your television set, this program still looks promising, just only as an entertainment program.

As a christian, I wasn't that annoyed at the retelling of this classic biblical tale. A couple of the names were changed, and yeah, the whole Bradley Tanks line are called "Goliaths" were a little iffy at best. C'mon, how come this David was able to get across enemy lines without detection and throw his MacGyver bomb at the thing without getting sprayed with a hail of machine gun bullets.

The prophet Samuel here is played as a preacher/reverend who acts as a special liason to the King Silas (Saul) character. Of course, this being taken from OLD TESTAMENT religion, plenty of sexual temptations, revenge, violence, and jealousy to go around. No wrath of God disaster haven't been seen yet, I still don't fully know how it will play in the series.

The Jonathan and Michal grown children of Saul are also renamed here, with the Jonathan character more of a party animal/womanizer played here than shown in the biblical story. I also liked how they changed the musical instrument from a harp to the piano. It's a logical change, because it seems more modern, but I don't know if this David is also going to become a psalm writer and begin to write scripture.

I'm still trying to find where the butterfly allusions come from, but so far, the show did a good job for the first episode. I highly doubt that it' ll make it ten seasons, but if it does follow the source material, this show is in for a big, wild ride.


The biblical King David rises to power, falls from grace with Bath Sheba, his son Solomon eventually comes to power, and a few generations later, the whole kingdom becomes prisoners to the enemy nation, being hauled off in chains and their temple destroyed.

Whether or not the show will get a chance to show all that drama on screen or not, it still looks promising.


Yes, just like the Watchmen movie , there are obvious differences from the book to the screen, and this may become one of those shows you either really hate, like, or just say "meh".