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Kings on NBC

It's not America. It's a fictional land called Gilboa that happens to be the most powerful country in it's version of earth, but it's an earth where America never existed. The premise is NOT "what if WE had a king", but what if a country in our current position on the world stage in a 2009 world still had a king. What would that be like? No such thing as the statue of liberty. No such place as Washington DC. In their world the capital is called Shiloh. You shouldn't feel at home there, but that's all part of the genius of it.

You know the film M.A.S.H ? It is set during the Korean war, right? But it was released during the Vietnam War. This is no coincidence. Altman used Korea, which was a much less volatile place at the time, to satire and make commentary on the current state of things in Vietnam.

Kings is the same, only instead of making America into another real country they made one up. This way the writers can show King Silas making decisions that might parallel the very decisions coming across say Obama's desk, but this way there can be some distance from the commentary. Nobody can get offended very easily when it's a fictional country that happens to be handling the same problems we are. We get to enjoy an outsider's perspective on our own socio-political situation. That to me is a brilliant device.

Anyone who reads this blog knows my own views on religion. This world of Gilboa on Kings is a world where there is definitely a god or fate or destiny or whatever you want to call it, and he takes a very active role in the lives of the characters. I'm totally okay with that. Gilboa's God doesn't quite work in "mysterious ways" so much as grandiose symbolic ways, but it's still enjoyable to watch.

Ian McShane is intense and fantastic as always and this new-comer playing David is surprisingly fun to watch too. At first he may come off as a little sickeningly earnest, but you grow to like him.

PLEASE check this show out. TV.com just added it to the list of shows most likely to be cancelled. It's Ian McShane on NETWORK TV people!! You can watch the first two episodes for free on the NBC website. If this sounds even remotely interesting, please check it out. Don't let it die, it just started.