Fangasmic

Consider us kind of dubious about the new take on the King Arthur myth from the producers of Henry VIII Fucks A Lot of Women And There's Pretty Costumes. Camelot, a modern AU contemporary take on the legend, is set to air on the Starz network in early 2011. It was always going to have a lot to prove to folks who imprinted on Merlin, the BBC's more innocent, earnest, and totally gay version. And lo and behold, casting information on the new show has recently hit the interwebs and it's already giving us pause.

The female leads seem to be top notch if conventional choices- Eva Green, so cool and sly in Casino Royale, will be playing Morgana. Tamsin Egerton, who you might remember from her adorable and funny turn in St. Trinian's, aka that movie with the schoolgirls and the heisting and where Rupert Everett is in drag and has a total romantic subplot with Colin Firth where "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" literally swells in the background when they look at each other, no really, I'm serious, has been cast as Guinevere. (No word yet on whether Tamsin is secretly a hussy.)

( But then we get to Merlin and Arthur. )

That aside, what do you guys think of how this show is shaping up? Anyone planning on watching?

According to TVSquad, Michael Rosenbaum, along with Jonathan Silverman, has signed on to play a one of the leads in a SyFy sitcom about washed up science fiction stars. The premise of the show, dubiously titled Saved By Zeroes, is that the two has-beens, now broke, must turn to the scifi convention circuit in order to pay rent. We'll let you turn that one over in your heads for a moment.


Maybe all of his participation in Smallville was just an experiment in Michael Rosenbaum being a method actor!!! The world may never know.

We’re not sure if this is the best or worst idea ever, but we do have one burning question: Do you think there will be a scene where someone presents Michael Rosenbaum’s character with a box of sex toys? We can only hope. (Maybe. We’re not sure. Actually, we’re possibly still traumatized.)

We over here at Fanspastic are big fans of Mr. Rosenbaum, and have been waiting for him to dust off his visor and return back in front of the camera for a while. (No, PG Porn doesn’t count.) This seems like a perfect project for Rosenbaum to capitalize on the fannish goodwill he still has from being the best thing about Smallville, while not requiring him to do annoying things like shave his head or wear purple or, you know, work that much.

However, the success of the project will ultimately depend on how well the show strikes that delicate balance in tone and humor. Hard to say at this early stage, but it’s possible that Saved by Zeroes will hit too close to home for some fans- or worse, get it all wrong.

More importantly, too much mean-spirited mocking of the convention-going "zeroes" and it will turn off its core audience faster than you can say “smut box" or “what is wrong with you, Smallville fandom?" We suggest looking at Galaxy Quest or later episodes of The Big Bang Theory for a model of how to do geek humor that laughs with us, not at us.

Either way, however it turns out, welcome back to TV, Mike. We’ve missed you.