It’s no secret that we really like fantasy here at SIWTS. We see every fantasy movie that comes out, we’ve dedicated whole episodes to fairy tales, etc. We love magic and swords and dragons and all that stuff. So today we’re revisiting Merlin, the 1998 NBC miniseries starring Sam Neill!

Merlin is the Arthurian legend so if that’s not your bag then this show isn’t for you. But it moves Merlin himself to the forefront and lets him drive the story. And you know, it kinda works. We certainly had fun with it, but it’s not without its faults. As mentioned it’s from 1998 so some of the effects were questionable. And there’s a few acting decisions that we would have made differently. But we enjoyed it (mostly) and we’re probably going to revisit some more miniseries from this era.

We also dig into the Arthurian legend and its history. Wil is pretty learned on the subject so we spend some time talking about how the story has evolved, been added to, and just changed over the many years since its inception. Heck, we even get into the concept of a miniseries and try to figure out why appointment TV itself has evolved in the last 20 years.

So put on your robe and wizard hat and get ready for a mystical, magical, sugar glider gryphon-riding episode of So…I’m Watching This Show!

MERLIN SHOWNOTES!