Sci Fi TV Obscurities: A look at sci fi and fantasy TV shows that made it to the air only briefly before getting cast to the television wasteland.
[Updated]
What Is It? Two kingdoms are at war with prince Eric Greystone trying to defend the land of Camarand against the evil machinations of prince Dirk Blackpool and his wizard Vector. Meanwhile, Greystone is engaged to marry the spoiled princess Princess Ariel Baaldorf who is much more interested in the clothes she is wearing or how her hair looks than running a kingdom.
Aired: 1983, CBS, 1 Season Totaling 8 Episodes
Starring: Jeff Conaway, Walter Olkewicz, Duncan Regehr, Julia Duffy, Clive Revill
Created By: Don Reo
Is It Must Watch Sci Fi? No. It can be a fun show at its best and could have actually turned into a decent fantasy series if given time, but it is mostly just a curio of the 80s.
The Skinny: Back in the late-70s and early-80s, Dungeons & Dragons was experiencing its first wave of widespread popularity and fantasy movies like Conan The Barbarian and Dragonslayer had drawn some notable attention at the Box Office. So CBS apparently decided that fantasy could be the next big trend and gave the greenlight to Wizards & Warriors which took a tongue-in-cheek approach to the genre, mixing plenty of humor with its fantasy elements. Unfortunately, television budgets in the pre-CGI era were not equipped to handle the show’s more ambitious flights of fantasy, which resulted in a very cheesy look that has not stood the test of time. At best, this show delivered a fun fantasy romp that did not take itself too seriously, but when it faltered it slipped into bad sitcom territory which proved rather cringe-worthy. It might have worked out the kinks and hit its stride if given another season to prove itself, but it came and went all too quickly.
The show did have some decent talent attached to it with Jeff Conaway taking on the lead role after several years on the celebrated comedy Taxi, and before he would go on to play Zack Allan on Babylon 5. Julia Duffy plays the role of the princess right before going on to her better-known stint on Newhart. Don Reo created the series and would have much more success in the 90s creating Blossom and The John Larroquette Show for NBC. Wizards and Warriors only aired for a couple of months before disappearing into television obscurity, but it is noteworthy because of the creative talent on the show, and fantasy fans might find this one worth seeking out.
>Buy Wizards and Warriors on DVD from Amazon.com
Cancelled Too Soon? Yes. This show debuted at mid-season on Saturdays (back when the networks still programmed that night) at 8 PM EST where it had to contend with the higher-rated Different Strokes and Silver Spoons on NBC as well as T.J. Hooker (starring William Shatner) on ABC. It ended the season as one of the lowest-rated shows of the year and was cancelled after only eight episodes.
Should It Be Rebooted? With so many different epic fantasy shows out there as well as the resurgence in interest in Dungeons & Dragons with a movie on the way and live-action TV series in the works, you might wonder if this show would be ripe for a reboot. And with the overly grim nature of most of the fantasy shows on television, the lighter approach of Wizards & Warriors might be a welcome change. But this one never developed much of a following, so expect the networks to prefer something with more name-recognition.
Interesting Facts: Despite its cheesy look, this show was very expensive to produce and cost $8 million for the eight episodes produced. The expense of the series likely factored into its cancellation, but the low ratings probably would have doomed it anyway. Bill Bixby (of The Incredible Hulk fame) directed three episodes of the series.
Where Can You Watch It? The entire series has been released on DVD, though it has not received the Blu-ray treatment. It is not available on any of the streaming services that I am aware of but you can find episodes on YouTube.
Read More About the Show: Wikipedia | IMDb.com
More Sci Fi TV Obscurities at This Link
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