British Fantasy Series Sinbad Coming to Syfy

[JD]

I just found out that Syfy has (possibly?) picked up the British fantasy series, Sinbad. I've been curious about this one since I saw of the first trailer before it aired over in the UK. It looks like it could be fun to me. It definitely gives off kind of a Middle Eastern Merlin vibe. I love Merlin so that is only a plus for me.
Here's the description off of TV.com:

Sinbad finds himself at sea having fled his home - and had a curse put on him by his grandmother - in his hometown of Basra. Of course, it's not plain sailing and his ship, Providence, soon stumbles across a storm which forces the unlikely band of travellers together. The 12-part series promises "a 21st century take on the classic 8th century iconic hero" for Sky1. Newcomer Elliot Knight plays Sinbad while his nemesis Lord Akbari is played by Lost's Naveen Andrews

[Guy Gardener]

I watched the pilot when it came out.

For second century Baghdad they were all just two clean.

In all fairness as the show continued it could have been as bad as Herclues or as good as Xena.

But that's the limits we're talking about here.

[Anwar]

The series has been out in Canada for months, it just finished it's first series last week.

[OmahaStar]

Guy Gardener wrote:

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For second century Baghdad they were all just two clean.

Two clean what? Two clean people? Two clean businesses?

[Greg Cox]

Guy Gardener wrote:

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I watched the pilot when it came out.

For second century Baghdad they were all just two clean.

I imagine the same thing could be said of every single Sinbad movie ever made, including the classic Ray Harryhausen films.

Who expects gritty, historical realism from SINBAD of all things?

[Owain Taggart]

Saw an episode awhile back wasn't too impressed. I began by liking it, but as it progressed it became more and more nonsensical, and by the time the episode had ended, I couldn't tell what had happened.

[Christopher]

Guy Gardener wrote:

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For second century Baghdad they were all just two clean.

The depiction of people from the past as squalid and unwashed is largely a fictional conceit. They actually had pretty good hygiene in most civilized parts of the world. It was really only in Northern Europe that bathing was uncommon in medieval times, and that probably had to do with the cold climate.

We're actually talking about the eighth century for this show, not the second; that's the early Islamic era, and Islam has always placed a high premium on physical cleanliness as a fundamental part of ritual purity. And even aside from the ritual aspects, the medieval Islamic world had very sophisticated knowledge of medicine and health, and would have understood the importance of cleanliness. The neighboring Byzantine Empire, with which they would've had active commerce and cultural exchange, had some of the highest hygienic standards in the medieval world.

[Praetor_Shinzon]

i'll give it a shot. didn't even know a British Sinbad series existed. anyone remember the late 90s Sinbad series? i remember watching it quite a bit. it was alright.

[Christopher]

Praetor_Shinzon wrote:

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anyone remember the late 90s Sinbad series? i remember watching it quite a bit. it was alright.

It was mediocre, neither the best nor the worst of the glut of syndicated fantasy-action series that arose to mimic Xena around that time. It was mainly annoying for having a mostly white cast, and even having Sinbad apparently be a European who'd been displaced to the Mideast -- and for having its one black cast member be stuck playing a mute character. On the plus side, one of its regulars was George Buza, who was the voice of Beast in the '90s X-Men animated series (and a trucker in the first X-Men movie, coincidentally).

[Relayer1]

Owain Taggart wrote:

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Saw an episode awhile back wasn't too impressed. I began by liking it, but as it progressed it became more and more nonsensical, and by the time the episode had ended, I couldn't tell what had happened.

Interested by the trailers, I series linked it to record. I watched the first three and deleted the rest. At best it's just about O.K. - give it a try and make your own mind up though...

[Mr. Adventure]

Ah cool, a new Syfy original series.

[Praetor_Shinzon]

Christopher wrote:

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It was mediocre, neither the best nor the worst of the glut of syndicated fantasy-action series that arose to mimic Xena around that time. It was mainly annoying for having a mostly white cast, and even having Sinbad apparently be a European who'd been displaced to the Mideast -- and for having its one black cast member be stuck playing a mute character. On the plus side, one of its regulars was George Buza, who was the voice of Beast in the '90s X-Men animated series (and a trucker in the first X-Men movie, coincidentally).

i haven't watched it in ages but i thought it was a decent show. i remember it had some shoddy CGI monsters and the main girl was pretty hot. thats about the extent of my memories though.

[Kegg]

JD wrote:

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I just found out that Syfy has (possibly?) picked up the British fantasy series, Sinbad.

Oh god, I remember the trailers for this (Sky plugged it pretty aggressively). Looked like the worst thing this side of Merlin. I'd assumed it'd get cancelled quickly, but maybe not, I guess?

[Greg Cox]

Kegg wrote:

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Oh god, I remember the trailers for this (Sky plugged it pretty aggressively). Looked like the worst thing this side of Merlin. I'd assumed it'd get cancelled quickly, but maybe not, I guess?

Hey, some of us like Merlin!