Why We Love Galavant (And Other Fantasy Comedies)

If you haven’t heard of Galavant yet, it’s a four-week “medieval musical comedy” put on by ABC. The phrase “medieval musical comedy” was enough to intrigue me, and the last two weeks’ episodes have delivered on the hilarity in a big way.

Here’s what makes it so great:

The trailer
I dare you not to hum along!



The songs
The combo of Alan Menken and Glenn Slater is pretty unbeatable. As my cousin likes to say, Alan Menken composed the soundtrack of our childhood (Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast), and Galavant’s tunes deliver in a similar way. They’re catchy, and fun, and definitely get stuck in your head!

The guest stars
John Stamos as a pansy jerk of a knight is hilarious! (See the joust scene below) I’m also excited to see Weird Al, Rutger Hauer, and Ricky Gervais in their guest spots.

The tongue-in-cheek fantasy tropes
Like the old Monty Python classics, Galavant is able to make fun of itself and the larger fantasy/ fairytale genre while never veering far from its love of those same tropes and stereotypes. The noble knight, the fair maiden, the evil king. Galavant turns them delightfully on their head, but still speaks to the heart of what we all love about those tales.

The joust scene
In traditional medieval showdown style, Galavant and his knight nemesis (John Stamos’ character) face each other in the joust…only they’ve both been either drugged or overtrained into a stupor.





Want More Comedic Gold?

I also saw the Harry Potter tribute episode of Psych for the first time last week, and if you’re looking for more comedic fantasy gold, look no further. It had me snorting and crying in laughter after about two minutes.

From comicbook.com

And since my Packers won, a shout out to Aaron Rodgers' favorite - the ever-quotable Princess Bride!

Have you seen Galavant? Does Monty Python have a classic place in your collection? Are Shawn and Gus your go-to comedy duo?

4 comments:

  1. I've taped this but not had time to watch them yet. Will definitely check them out since you like the series so much.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I recorded last night's episodes, but I loved the first. The main title song has been stuck in my head for a week now, and I still love it. That joust scene had me on the floor in laughter.

    And Shawn and Gus are my favorite comedy duo. The episode you mentioned is brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was definitely rooting for the Packers over the Cowboys.
    I haven't seen that show.
    However, I have seen every episode of Psych at least three times. Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I definitely need to stream Galavant!

    ReplyDelete