Merlin

Yeah, it's pretty uneven between episodes I think. Some are just cheesy feel-good fillers, others are a bit darker. My main complaint would be that there isn't really a storyline you can feel thread its way through the episodes. There is a setting, which tries to do the same job. No matter how I look at it, the evolution of the characters is painfully slow.

finished wainting now for s3 i think or s4

its a nice tv show one of my favorite just in s2 they use only1 spell per show little lame but ok

elemental can get some items from merlin the shield with the snake in it who attack enemys or the staff of death tosumon undead armry

If it's the one about Merlin and Arthur when they were young, in Camelot, then I saw a few episodes of it, but didn't really keep my interest since it was more or less Smallville with swords. They even dressed Merlin like Clark Kent.

Looks too British for me.

There was a pretty cool made-for-TV movie series called Merlin a while back thats worth checking out.  Haven't seen the british Merlin, though.

Yea, there was Merlin and Merlin's Aprentice.  I liked them both, but a lot of people didn't like the second one.  I liked it more I think.

Merlin, in my eyes, is Stargate for Fantasy nerds. I like it, but I don't catch it often.  

I've seen most of series 1 and the beginning of series 2. I keep watching in hopes that it will somehow 'catch' or 'hit its stride' or something. The acting is adequate, but too many of the stories seemed obviously formulaic and the lack of serious long-term story arcs is very vexing for me. Sometimes I think I keep watching because Anthony Head is laughing all the way to the bank while he waits for someone to give him a better gig. Or maybe I'm waiting for Uther to progress from a tedious caricature to something as interesting as Giles eventually became on Buffy.

The show has 4 credited 'creators,' which might be the real reason it has a bit of bland, built-by-committee feel (the dragon seems like the disappointing love child of John Hurt's agent and a producer with a vested interest in upping the CGI budget). It'd probably be much more fun if Joss Whedon or Russell T Davies were the showrunner. 

I watched the first three seasons. Considering I've seen other British Shows (Red Dwarf, Black Adder, etc) this one is actually decent as far as the budget goes. It's about on par with the British version of the Robin Hood series, though I stopped watching that when they killed Marian in Jerusalem. It just went way too far off for me.

The plotline is sort of there, and sort of not. It tries to have an overall plot and tries to have plots about character development and internal turmoil at the same time, but it never really achieves either. But stepping back as a whole after watching the first three, I'm waiting for the fourth. But it seems like until you've watched it all you can't pinpoint the connections between some episodes.

I've watched them all so far. I usually check my brain at the door and just enjoy the show. It's pretty good. I recommend watching it.

Frogboy,  it s brit 'drama.'  i like brit coms.. and Dr. Who.   But Merlin is too uneven, and lacks an overarching 'backstory' or plot which, for me, trivializes the few episodes I endured.  Perhaps the best TV SiFi series, from a story telling perspective, was Babylon 5.  It had a 'five year' mission - apologies to the original Star trek.  Babylon 5 explored many issues along the way.  Battlestar galacticia (the more recent one (with Olmos of bladerunner fame) was sometimes brilliant - but very uneven and often needlessly dark.  However, I sensed much of it was being made up as they went along - and that disappoints me as a viewer.   

Merlin comes across like Sherwood with magic- LOL.  A few episodes are OK, but it fails to sustain my interest.   Just my two fizbins....  

interesting turn of phrase--very neutral zonish---but I'll check it out. I've been gearing up for Game of Thrones. I also have the Borgias & Camelot on DVR..though I have not seen it (How you have any time for TV is a truly staggering dagger of the mind concept); I'm at work, playing Elemental or browsing the forums. Wife cannot understand my lack of interest in American Idol & Dancing with the Stars. I, for one, thought Kirstie Ally was hot as Saavik in the Wrath of Khan but not enough to drag me in front of the TV for a freaking rhumba. Give her a lirpa and have her go head to head with the Karate Kid and I might watch.

And really? A playboy pole dancer without rhythm? Shocking! Like a Sov without Mana.

But I digress...I have watched Brit tv---MI-6, Coupling, and I think Episodes is fairly well written. Subtle & droll humor with a scathing edge like Valarian steel is appealing....

Merlin seems pretty lame compared to Doctor Who, MI-5, Primieval, etc.  Gave up on it long ago.

Well, the English Merlin is more a kid serie... if you wish something more adult, with real action, with plenty of blood and skin, from the same periode... StarZ have just begin a serie called "Camelot"... let say that it is the same story but filmed like the StarZ Spartacus... 

http://grizzlybomb.com/2011/03/28/camelot-pilot-the-next-spartacus/

Have record and see the two first episodes and i like it very much... English version is more for when you are with your kids... the StarZ one is not recommended for little kids...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb3_AyOplQw

Merlin is what my 10 year old son watches between series of Dr Who.

I like Dr Who - Merlin not so much - although certain episodes (particularly the one with the fisher king) were actually quite good.

you guys get Spooks over there?  "Being Human"?

Being Human - really good... so far... and free on hulu tv (so i can watch it as i don't have cable/dish.

But apparently you don't get QI - which is a real shame.

Primeval? Gah. It's an exemplar of the bad influence US TV can have on UK TV. Even worse with the subbing CGI for real creativity problem that Merlin has with its dragon, and smothered with a generous helping of mediocre acting and crappy writing. Shame, that. The premise and general story arc really had potential, but the pablum-quality end product made it unwatchable for me--and I watch some really weak stuff in the name of an interesting story line.

The UK Being Human is not excellent, but is an amusing bit given the general morass of vampire-zombie-yada-yada going on these days. The promo scraps I've seen for the US version make me suspect it is yet another title that is better in the original but got deemed 'too British' by US media execs. 

Spartacus seemed like some sort of bloody soft-core porn to me. Not sure what that might mean for how this Camelot thing might work out, but maybe it'll be OK. Sure would be fun to see a more 'grownup' version of the stories than has been tried so far for TV. That Sam Neil version of the Merlin story was abysmal, and I kind of like Mr. Neil as an actor.

I think "Spooks" is called MI-5 here.  Anyway, its my local public broadcasting station, not BBC America, and it is great.  But I gather what they show here is a few years behind.

Regular watcher of Being Human here  (on BBC).  Tried watching one episode of the American version and couldn't stand watching a rerun with different actors.  No idea whether it might be better for first-time viewers though.

Being Human doesn't even make it on to mainstream TV channels here (shown on BBC3), but thought it might be worth a watch for the sort of people who frequent this sort of site.

Seems we get a lot of imports from the US (CSI, House, Big bang theory being the ones I watch most often) Its nice to see some of the better programmes from the UK making it over.  most of the rest of the stuff is either soaps, game shows, reality shows, which is pretty much all rubbish, or stuff that wouldn't translate well (mock the week, have I got news for you, etc)

If however you want something that would certainly rate highly on the "too british" stakes - check out the BBC Radio 4 comedy podcast.

Well, there is less blood and naked skin that in Spartacus... after 3 episodes, i cannot yet say that it is a good or bad version... Merlin and Morgan are great but Arthur is not the hero that we hope to see...

About Spartacus, if you translate latin text from the same period, the series is certainly more soft that the reality from this time... Orgie, incest, murder and more was usual at these time... any real European history from the middle age and before can be labeled 18+ in all case...

The Short Review.  Enjoy!

Upsides, the Merlin/Arthur humor is funny and the characters are likable. 

Downsides, I have to say the first season is negative.  It makes me question how competitive TV slots really are in the UK.  The plot itself suffers at times from extremes to being borderline ridiculous.  Late season, one second Morgana loves her father the king and the next shes is the mortal enemy secretly trying to kill him over a petty shallow argument, wtf.  I understand royalty was mad in the middle ages but come on.

And now comes the personal opinion commentary.  The lead character Merlin reminds me of an older taller but somewhat dumber Harry Potter without the glasses, a little less dorky and a lot funnier.  There's no Hogwarts, no Dumbledore, well maybe if Dumbledore couldn't do magic but the badly garbled Latin is still in.  One final point I can't let slide because it's sacrilege.  We've all seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the cup of life spin off is just lame.  I thought this show was made in the UK.  How could they get it so wrong?

Please Please Brad, don't tell me this show is influencing Fallen Enchantress because if it is I'll demand a full refund, in advance. 

Thoumsin, it is the blood-as-porn thing that puts me off a bit in Spartacus, not the depiction of sexuality. Slo-mo gouts of blood are boring at best and basically icky wastes of screen time that could be spent on plot and character. Re the brutality in general, I appreciate shows that don't try to sugar-coat the past (HBO's Rome was awesome). Shame about the lead actor's illness derailing production, but maybe they'll get around to a series outside the ludus.

Re the new Camelot project, I've got it saved to my Netflix queue. Less blood than Spartacus sounds good, and I'm rather fond of stories about Arthur The Less Than Perfect. 

Re Merlin and FE, like RogueCaptain, I'd be pretty disappointed to find the new game reminding me of that show in any way. Not a big worry, though, even with the boost that appears to be happening for the RPG aspects of the game. There's really not enough 'there there' in Merlin for it to have a discernible influence on anything. 

regarding the brit (and EU) tv versus USA TV:   It seems that i prefer Brit versions when I can get them.

Generally, (painting with a very big brush here) USA videos that go to Europe have violence reduced (censored?) - while Brit / European videos/media that come to USA have the sex reduced (censored?).  Sex or violence... umm,  seems a silly choice to me.  

But the USA choses violence over sex. 

and aside;    Hey, i hear TX is passing a law allowing people to carry pistols in high school.

Like you say, "generally"...

In 2001, TNT ( Turner Network Television, an AOL Time Warner company ) have made ( order ) a great film ( personal opinion ) related to Arthur-Merlin-Morgan story... little violence, a few sex scene ( by example, incest between Morgan and Arthur )... anyway, i have really enjoy these American production ( filmed in Europe, Czech republic )...

For these who don't know it, look at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244353/ ( The mists of Avalon )... was at first a 3 episodes mini series, since released on DVD... 

@GW Swicord, agree that Rome was awesome... one of the few series that i have record everything... and keep it after seeing it...