To the surprise of many, the spoof musical comedy GALAVANT was renewed for a second season that debuted tonight on ABC. The show returns with a similar vibe as before as one part Princess Bride, one part Shrek, a dash of Monty Python, and a heaping dose of the Disney fairytale musical genre.
It takes a certain type of appetite to stomach a show of this magnitude. It’s ripe with musical in-jokes and tongue-in-cheek humor. The first episode “A New Season aka Suck It, Cancellation Bear” is evidence to the thoroughly self-deprecating tone of the show.
The Story
The new season picks up where the story left off last year with our titular hero Galavant (Joshua Sasse) on a journey with the dethroned former King Richard (Timothy Omundson) to rescue princess Isabella Maria Lucia Elizabeta of Valencia (Karen David) who is being forced to marry her child cousin.
Queen Madalena (Mallory Jansen) continues to rule with her boy-toy Gareth (Vinnie Jones) in an effort to invade all seven realms of the land. Hilarious supporting cast is comprised of misplaced squire Sid (Luke Youngblood), Chef Vincenzo (Darren Evans) and Downton Abby cast offs Sophie McShera and Hugh Bonneville.
The Music
Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater return for the second season bringing more of the quirky yet oddly infectious tunes synonymous with the show. That makes it pretty hard for a Disney musical fan to turn a deaf ear, even when the songs are somewhat hit-and-miss.
The song’s opening number takes a riff at the first season’s overly infectious theme and takes a fun poke at itself in a grand musical number that resets the entire stage for the new season. Similar to MUPPETS: MOST WANTED’s opening number, the song explores the shock and amazement that it’s been given another shot and takes jabs at other competition including all the apprentices and bachelorettes.
For the other memorable tunes, we find ourselves at The Enchanted Forest which, of course, is a gay pub where its head mistress is Kylie Minogue. Her cameo performance, “Off With His Shirt” is reminiscent of “It’s Raining Men” and “I Need a Hero.” Meanwhile, Jansen and Jones find themselves in a humorous “Anything You Can Do” type of duet duel.
Final Thoughts
It should be interesting to see how the second season progresses. Its first season was rife with mixed reviews and low ratings. The show will likely never have a mass appeal but for those who can find a sliver of enjoyment, it should prove to be another fun romp through a romanticized era that never was and always will be…
GALAVANT can be seen Sundays at 8pm on ABC.
