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Starz cancels Camelot

Temis the Vorta

Temis the Vorta

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Sounds like the ratings weren't the biggest issue:

Starz said today that due to significant production challenges, the network has decided not to exercise the option for subsequent seasons of its freshman original series Camelot.
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Not sure if anyone cares? Haven't heard much positive about it.

If Starz wants to key off its Spartacus success of "sex and violence to the max" by delving into genre stuff, I think they should go for a very dark, sexy cyberpunkish/dystopian scenario. Really, they're the guys who should be teaming up with Trent Reznor (tho for Reznor's sake, I'm sure HBO is the better option).

But when I think dark and sexy, Arthurian legend just isn't the first thing that comes to mind.
 
I watched 2 episodes and parts of a third and didn't care for it. Apparently Starz has other period stuff in the works so they may just be planning to go with that. Don't they have some kind of Pirates series set in Jamaica during the early 18th century coming up next year?
 
Temis the Vorta said:
Hopefully whatever misfired with Camelot won't be repeated.
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I'm going to preempt everybody here and say "Chris Chibnall". ;)

(That said, I thought his years on Torchwood were fun, if not great drama, and I liked his run on Law & Order: UK. I hadn't actually tried Camelot yet, so I can't speak for where on the scale of his work it falls.)
 
I'll be honest, I wasn't that interested in Camelot. I was actually turned off by the ramped up sex in it. Not being prudish - I just have an issue with shows inserting sex simply because they're on a network that allows it; let's focus on strong storytelling before the clothes come off. it's a concern I have with Torchwood.

But moreso than that, I thought "Merlin" was doing a good enough job on its own and didn't need a competing series. Given a choice between the two, I'm glad to see Merlin being the survivor.

Alex
 
The show was defintely a misfire and it never seemed to quite figure out what it wanted to be. I don't think it's a bad idea for Starz to drop this early and look for a better fit. I did enjoy Eva Green and Joseph Fiennes chewing up the scenery though.
 
I care... in the sense of 'Thank God'. I usually try to avoid saying things like that 'cos there's got to be someone who likes it and is really upset, so why rub salt into their wounds? But this really didn't seem to have anything new to do with the Arthur story except a bit more sex, and a shaven-headed Merlin.
 
I feel bad-ish right now, but two months from now I probably will have totally forgotten about it. Maybe a year from now my wife might ask me when the second season starts, but if she doesn't I might never think about it again.

It was okay. I liked the idea of it, but was never swept up by it. I watched every episode, but feel asleep through more than one and felt that I was only watching it in the hopes that the next week would be better.

At times it seemed like it might have something. At other times it seemed like it was padded or moving to slowly or just plain weird. Weird as in: the producers claimed that they thought having a lady in a lake give Arthur a sword was too fantastic, but then they had Merlin steal the sword from a girl drowning under a lake that he froze with his breath.

It might have made a good miniseries if they wrote it with a fixed length in mind. It might have been an enjoyable few hours over the last few months. But I won't really miss it.
 
The Green Mushroom said:
At times it seemed like it might have something. At other times it seemed like it was padded or moving to slowly or just plain weird. Weird as in: the producers claimed that they thought having a lady in a lake give Arthur a sword was too fantastic, but then they had Merlin steal the sword from a girl drowning under a lake that he froze with his breath.
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Probably the best scene in the whole series though.
 
Not surprised at all, a total waste of an opportunity. I can totally see something dark and sexy and still absolutely Arthurian, but I suspect their 'production problems' were probably that they wanted to get rid of the writers, half the cast, and redo the entire premise of the show. Eh, glad it is gone so maybe someone can come along and do a mature Camelot tale correctly.

When are people going to realize Joseph Fiennes can't act?
 
I'm not surprised. I tried to watch about 3 episodes but thought it was just boring and disjointed. I agree, Joseph Fiennes can't act at all. I thought he was over the top and just loud. I was willing to give it a chance even though I'm not intersted in the Arthurian legends but I was open to this being a way to get me interested but the show was just so blah. And I agree about shows inserting sex just to have it there. I'm trying of that. Let there be a purpose to it.
 
Isn't it amazing how the internet and all the entertainment blogs have copy or the same link and press release buzz? Now that it is cancelled, it seems like everyone is talking about Camelot. Where was all this attention during its season? They thought all hype and fluff sans substance would get this show by- and you know what? It didn't. Oh well. Fiennes only gets by on his family name. I suspect a lot of the actors wanting in or out was part of the production problem, too.
 
23skidoo said:
But moreso than that, I thought "Merlin" was doing a good enough job on its own and didn't need a competing series. Given a choice between the two, I'm glad to see Merlin being the survivor.

Alex
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Camelot was never in competition with Merlin. You're not comparing like with like.
 
The timing of this announcement is ... ironic to say the least. I just posted on FB that I finally watched the "Camelot" finale last night and finally saw something sort of worth watching. I don't disagree with others' assessment of the series to date, and am not all that surprised to hear it was cancelled. It was difficult to stick with at times, but I love Arthurian legend, so decided to see it through. I was actually thinking last night that maybe they'd finally begun to find their footing and that S2 would be more interesting. Too bad. Or not.
 
Deckerd said:
23skidoo said:
But moreso than that, I thought "Merlin" was doing a good enough job on its own and didn't need a competing series. Given a choice between the two, I'm glad to see Merlin being the survivor.

Alex
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Camelot was never in competition with Merlin. You're not comparing like with like.
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I want to see Arthur shagging Gwen, while Merlin murders and schemes in series 4.
 
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