Legend of the Seeker - The Most Under Rated Series?

[Christopher]

galleywest wrote:

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I'll agree with that--the wackiness totally turned me off Xena and Hercules. I see why other people found it appealing and it could be quite watchable at times, but on the whole I found the constant tongue-in-cheek hardy-har-har humor a bit much. Enough already! I like that this is more serious in tone.

That's like saying you don't like Neapolitan ice cream because of the constant strawberry flavor. That's just one part of the whole. Legend of the Seeker is more serious than H/X's comedy, but a lot less serious than H/X's drama. It's not more serious overall, just more vanilla.

[galleywest]

Christopher wrote:

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That's like saying you don't like Neapolitan ice cream because of the constant strawberry flavor. That's just one part of the whole. Legend of the Seeker is more serious than H/X's comedy, but a lot less serious than H/X's drama. It's not more serious overall, just more vanilla.

Actually, I don't like Neapolitan because of the strawberry flavor. It totally messes with the chocolate and vanilla, and it's all you can taste. Blech! Even though I like the vanilla and the chocolate, why would I waste my money on a thing that I will not enjoy 1/3 of?* I would just buy the chocolate or the vanilla and enjoy the whole tub, right? So yeah, I'd equate that with my feeling on Hercules, Xena, and LoTS almost perfectly. You don't like LoTS, I do--it's the chocolate for me. I find the tone more enjoyable. It's my Saturday afternoon treat. No biggie. Different strokes, and all that.

*Sorry, terrible grammar, I know.

ETA: Any thoughts on how they will resolve this season? I am wondering if they will stretch out the main plot points of the book (ie the mission to kill Rahl) over all the seasons, or if that will resolve earlier on and they will diverge onto new ground in later seasons. I haven't read the books, so I really don't know how much ground there is to cover or if there is a continuing storyline after the initial quest (or even if/how it is resolved) or not.

[Christopher]

^I didn't say I don't like LotS. I like it. I just don't love it. It's a perfectly nice, safe, middle-of-the-road series. It doesn't take any great risks or dare to be brilliant. Herc and Xena dared to be both brilliant and stupid. They had no shame and no fear. Even when I didn't like what they did, I admired their sheer chutzpah.

[LitmusDragon]

I was completely unaware of this show. I'll definitely be checking it out.

[Bishbot]

Its good, but not a must-watch. I see all the episodes eventually but I tend to save them up for a few weeks and then watch them in a big mindless chunk.

The three leads are all pretty likeable though (and Bridget Regan is stunning). Its not a good adaption of the books, but, well, I'm not going to bitch about the books yet again, but suffice it to say that I don't really care about that.

[cb31]

Christopher wrote:

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Not really. Yes, Hercules and Xena could go to really zany places when they went for comedy, but when they went for drama it was some of the most intense, compelling, gut-wrenching stuff you've ever seen. Either way they went, they pulled out all the stops and weren't afraid to take chances. There was a daring and exuberance to it that was admirable even when the chances they took didn't quite turn out right. Legend of the Seeker is much more middle-of-the-road. It doesn't have their uninhibited goofiness, but it doesn't have their dramatic boldness and passion either. And the cast isn't nearly as talented.

Not nearly as talented! I admit Lucy Lawless ain't bad, but Kevin Sorbo a great actor is NOT and Renee O'Connor has absolutely no talent in my opinion ( which admittedly is just my own).

I did enjoy seeing Michael hurst on LOTS though, I always thought Iolaus was the best part about Hercules.

[Kelthaz]

Christopher wrote:

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That's like saying you don't like Neapolitan ice cream because of the constant strawberry flavor. That's just one part of the whole. Legend of the Seeker is more serious than H/X's comedy, but a lot less serious than H/X's drama. It's not more serious overall, just more vanilla.

Well, to be fair to LotS, Hercules and Xena weren't all that dramatic in their first seasons either. Hercules and Xena never got that great with drama until their 3rd seasons. LotS may pick up and give us our very own "Maternal Instincts" or "Faith".

[Christopher]

cb31 wrote:

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Not nearly as talented! I admit Lucy Lawless ain't bad, but Kevin Sorbo a great actor is NOT and Renee O'Connor has absolutely no talent in my opinion ( which admittedly is just my own).

I did enjoy seeing Michael hurst on LOTS though, I always thought Iolaus was the best part about Hercules.

Lucy Lawless is a brilliant character actress, a gifted chameleon able to transform herself seemingly effortlessly (a skill that was made extensive use of with all the Xena lookalikes and alternate personas of Xena she portrayed). Michael Hurst, as I believe I said, is one of New Zealand's most acclaimed stage actors; his Hamlet is considered definitive. Renee O'Connor was quite good, I thought; she was certainly effective at adapting to the profound changes her character went through over the course of the series. As for Sorbo, he's not great when he's allowed to get self-indulgent, but at his best he's quite effective, certainly better than you'd expect a big square-jawed muscleman type like him to be.

As for the LotS cast, Bruce Spence is pretty good, though not particularly subtle; but the two younger leads are fairly limited. At best they're roughly on Sorbo's average level.

[JuanBolio]

They're too pivotal to be left out completely.

As for the show, I quite enjoy it. I watch every week. Yes, the plot is thus far VERY different from the books... but that's okay! I understand why they did it, and it keeps me from knowing everything that's going to happen ahead of time. I'm glad its doing well, and can't wait til next week!

[RAMA]

My wife and stepdaughter seem to like it, I watched 1 1/2 episodes and my mind wandered to washing the dishes. I'm not really a fantasy fan to begin with but this looked several levels below Krull.

RAMA

[Sakrysta]

I watch the show, but neither the characters nor the overall story have grabbed me in any significant way. The episodes I have liked best have been ones that focus on guest characters - like "Puppeteer" or the one with the boy who could read minds. I'm really having a hard time pinning down why I haven't gotten into the series like I thought I would. I think I'm discovering that my tolerance for straight fantasy is dwindling as I get older.

I think maybe another part of its lack of appeal is that the series isn't doing much to develop the characters -- or rather that what they ARE doing isn't really landing. Each week they are presented with a challenge -- they face it, defeat it (usually with the aid of convenient plot devices -- a box, a spell, a potion), and move on. The only character development has been the romance between Richard and Kahlan, which to my mind has been sudden and rather unfounded in anything other than shared peril.

I'm willing to stick with it, though, and see if it grows into something more appealing.