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'Legend of the Seeker' review
On one hand, the debut of Legend of the Seeker this weekend should be cause for happiness, the return of original scripted programming to a syndicated TV landscape dominated by tough-talking judges, paternity tests and makeovers.
But the show itself -- from the folks behind Xena and Hercules, two of the last big syndicated hits -- is a bit of a disappointment. Fans of the show's source material and of the fantasy worlds conjured up in those previous shows will probably find some things to like, but at the moment Legend of the Seeker doesn't look especially legendary.
The Seeker in question is Richard Cypher (Australian actor Craig Horner), who when we meet him has no greater worry than finishing construction on a small footbridge over a creek near his home (work he naturally does shirtless). That changes pretty quickly with the arrival of Kahlan (Bridget Regan), a witch who has crossed the Boundary (capital B definitely required), the magical barrier separating Richard's peaceful land from the turbulent realm of evil ruler Darken Rahl (Craig Parker, whose role will presumably grow from his handful of scenes in the two-hour premiere).
Richard soon learns that he's destined to fight the forces of Darken Rahl, and that the goofy old man who lives on the hill, Zedd (Bruce Spence), is actually a wizard who's been keeping an eye on him all these years and will now give him some on-the-job training.
Thus begins a pretty familiar hero's journey, with the sometimes impulsive youngster having grave responsibilities thrust on him, along with a more worldly and wary partner (who in this case also happens to be a gorgeous woman) and a wise old sage showing him the way. If you've seen Star Wars, read Harry Potter or otherwise consumed any number of other, similar works, you'll be familiar with the setup.
Which isn't necessarily a bad thing -- it's a good premise, which is why it's been used so many times. But there aren't enough distinguishing details in Legend of the Seeker to make it stand out from all those other stories, which given its auspices is a bit of a letdown.
The series is based on Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" novels, and among its executive producers are Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, who brought Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess to television in the mid-'90s. And while it shares a genre with those shows, Legend of the Seeker isn't as fun as either of them.
The new show offers up precious little in the way of humor (a quality that helped Xena and Hercules appeal to pretty wide audiences). The action scenes aren't anything to write home about either. There are a number of 300-style slow-motion sequences in the premiere, but the swordplay and stunt work looks about like you'd it expect it to look for a mid-budget syndicated series.
Legend of the Seeker isn't likely to inspire the sort of devotion that some previous Raimi-Tapert efforts have. If the show can find its inner jokester, though, it could broaden its appeal beyond the fantasy fanatics who are likely to tune in.
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Legend of the Seeker premieres the weekend of Nov. 1 in syndication. Check your local listings or LegendoftheSeeker.com for times and stations.
the books have a nice following still waiting to see how the producers play the moriths (women that wear skin tight red leather and torture people) into this show maybe if they play up to the Battlestar crowd and make it a soap style adult/late teen show (which are the people that read the books it will do ok)
loss my job | Oct 31, 2008 6:56:11 PM | #Has the review read the books? None of that campy-vibe from Xena/Hercules really belongs on the show. So if they left it out it may not just be some peoples thing. Hopefully enough people don't rely on it for good TV.
The less than stellar action if of course a problem then. Too bad. Lets hope the other aspects of the series can carry it- assuming they weren't cut out of the show.
Xeddicus | Nov 1, 2008 4:59:14 AM | #Yeah, fine---because those 2 dozen CSI, Law & Order & hospital clones are all so unique? Those shows are virtually the same predictable scripted plotlines repeated ad nauseum. At least this one has actual depictions of swords & witches. Instead of clichéd metaphorical ones. . ..
Juke Early | Nov 1, 2008 8:15:49 AM | #Boy I can't wait until the later seasons when it all turns into lunatic Ayn Rand rantings.
Who'd have thought that a bad series of books would turn into a bad TV show?
Kublai | Nov 1, 2008 9:46:52 AM | #The show wont push Goodkind's philosophy. He has no say in anything. It'll push liberal Hollywood's if anything. It'll also cut out Richard's speeches.
With that said, if you think the first 4 or 5 books are bad you're reading too much Ayn Rand between the lines and not enough of the actual story.
Xeddicus | Nov 1, 2008 10:45:41 AM | #i'm thinking the reviewer doesn't do manual labour either since whenever i have to chop wood/ build a deck/ repair a fence/ etc and it's warm outside?
*I* take my shirt off... and i'm female.
sassinak | Nov 1, 2008 11:41:42 AM | #This show has very little in common with the books except the names. Production values are very poor making it look like a b movie or soap opera. I have read all the books and can say that I am very disappointed.
stephen price | Nov 1, 2008 4:13:28 PM | #I am a die hard fan of the sword of truth series, I have read all the 11 books twice and have been waiting for years for this particular series to be created on film. unfortunatly, I just finished watching the new premier of "Legend of the Seeker" and all I can think of doing is sending the makers of this show one of terrys book and tell them to read it. I feel bad for all the people who invested money in this crap, because not only is the show itself terrible for people who have never heard of the Sword of Truth series. but It is also one of the biggest disappointments ive seen as a fan, in a long time. good luck getting any kind of fan base for the show. I think im going to go into my backyard now and film a better recreation of the books
Angry fan | Nov 1, 2008 4:24:59 PM | #The Show is not the books people. That said, I thought the show has its merits and will be tuneing in weekly. To see Richard and Kahlan battle the forces of darkness. i hope it goes all the way to the last book thats a good 11 seasons. Hope to see it every week for a long time to come. to the authors of the show if you want this show to be a hit? read the books and follow Terry's lead and you will be working for 11 years guys
Being a fan of the outdoors, adventure, and enhanced color, I'm hooked.
Crusoe (recorded), 2 hours of Seeker, then Seeker on the news - fantasy overload! :-)
merryess | Nov 1, 2008 7:12:17 PM | #Wow WHAT A HUGE DISSAPOINTMENT! I just saw the Premier showing of Legend of the Seeker. What a terrible disgrace to TV, acting, and mostly Terry Goodkinds captivating and most desirable books! I am a diehard fan of this series and have read all of them through twice. Every time I read one of the books I can't put it down - literally! I wonder if these producers even read the books?! In this TV series, half of the story line of the book is missing and the other half is completely made up and misrepresented. If you have read the books, doesn't anyone else remember that the Quad was huge men and all blonde and there were only four of them, thus the name The QUAD?? Or how about the fact that Richard and Kahlan stayed together from the beginning of the story? Or that Richard’s father was dead from the beginning of the story? Or that Richard loved his grandfather very much? Or that Richard had the Book of the Counted Shadows memorized? What is this crap about Fane capturing the Book of the Counted Shadows and Richard trying to retrieve it (which ends up being half of the pilot!)? In the book, Richard didn't even use the sword until he crossed the boundary!!! And the boundary wasn’t torn down by the D’Haran army! Richard had to do the dance with the spirits and find out about the power of the sword that way, which included embracing the pain after killing someone. And Zed ... what ever happened with his distrust of confessors? I can go on and on and on and on. I have waited such a long time to see this series materialized but now, I am so sad to see that this series is such a misrepresentation of the great books that they were taken from. If you haven’t read the books read them. You will enjoy them! Don't take your opinion off of the TV series. A lot of reviews seem to make the books lack the captivating theme or story line but THE BOOKS ARE PHENOMENAL! It is the writers and producers that make this series so terrible and discreditable. The Author of the original series, Terry Goodkind, actually did a great job creating a masterpiece in his eleven books. It is too bad that this series didn't get the quality or attention that the Lord of the rings got. I can't watch anymore!!! I can't tell you enough how disappointed I am in Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. They need to sit down and READ the actual books themselves before trying to make a quick buck on a TV series!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A HUGE DISSAPOINTMENT! This crap is not going to last an entire season.
Mark | Nov 1, 2008 7:44:45 PM | #I haven't read the books, but I really liked the series, I think that it has good potential. It is different then all of the other shows on tv and that is why I like it. I always seem to get into magical shows and movies. Charmed is my all time favorite series. Although it got terrible reviews, I also like the movie eragon. I hope that legend of the seeker stays around.
tasha | Nov 1, 2008 8:12:59 PM | #I was excited to that they were attempting any new fantasy on syndicated TV. They're usually flawed but if they can hit their stride. But this one needs a lot of work.
The books are horrible (well the first 3 anyway since I eventually gave up.) This is easily better than those. Tying a show to those generic books seems unnecessary and unhelpful and may be its biggest problem between the expectations and the fees paid to Goodkind.
Callie | Nov 1, 2008 10:37:00 PM | #As someone who has read the books i found that this "legend of the seeker" series is nothing but a huge disappointment. Did the directors even read the book before they started filming or just the back cover? The plot line is so distorted and twisted its not even close to the books plot. For example Richards father is dead before the book even begins. Kahlan originally comes to the Westlands looking for a great wizard whom no one can remember because of a spell he cast to make them all forget. The Sword of Truth is not a sword that seeks out evil and the seeker is not necessarily some here that fights evil. There have been evil and selfish seekers before. The Seeker does what the name says it does. They seek out the truth. The boundaries are not hundreds of years old like the TV series claims, but less than 23. Richard was born before the boundaries went up…. which were raised by Zedd after the first war to separate the new world into 3 sections. The Westlands, The Midlands, and D’Haran I pretty much came to the conclusion that a bunch of events from other books and shows were taken, put into a hat, and used to form a half baked story, fitting the trend of pitiful movie series and TV shows that have been coming out. They’re all the same story but a different title. All in all it was a huge disappointment. They may as well name the show something else because it has NOTHING to do with the Sword of Truth series. I mean they could at least not taint the books with the disaster of a TV series. They should call it something like, o I don’t know, maybe “Another one of those stupid tv series that has nothing to do with the books” or maybe “ Seeker of Nontruth” cause nothing in that movie is remotely true to the books
ryan | Nov 1, 2008 11:50:14 PM | #i saw the show last night and it was great it had a good story line the acting was very good the magic effects were very good for tv that is i agree that there should be a little comedy add to the show but all in all i give the show a 4 star out of 5 star rating now if there will be a big enough audience for saturday night to keep the show going i hope so i really liked it
bigjoe32 | Nov 2, 2008 12:08:53 AM | #i saw the show last night and it was great it had a good story line the acting was very good the magic effects were very good for tv that is i agree that there should be a little comedy add to the show but all in all i give the show a 4 star out of 5 star rating now if there will be a big enough audience for saturday night to keep the show going i hope so i really liked it.
bigjoe32 | Nov 2, 2008 12:11:05 AM | #I notice, from reading the comments, that those who have read the books tend to be disappointed in the show and those who have not read the books tend to like the show. I fall into the latter category. I really enjoyed watching the first two episodes last night, probably because I did not read the book and had no expectations. I simply judged the storyline on its own merits and was entertained. Proof was the fact that I managed to stay awake and engaged even though it was way past my normal bed time. I wish the show would be broadcast earlier than 11:30pm....like during prime time, so I can continue to watch it each week. I was also a fan of Xena, but think the Seeker is much better because it omits the cartoonish humour, which was irritating rather than fun.
glori | Nov 2, 2008 5:00:37 AM | #This show was a huge disappointment. The characters belonged more to a WB network drama than a scifi series.
dana | Nov 2, 2008 5:39:09 AM | #BAGS!!! This just in Terry Goodkind sells out under hollywood pressure. I cant believe Mr. Goodkind allowed such a hack job of what is essentially his lifes work to put on TV. As a diehard fan of his books I am ashamed of what I saw last night. For being as intergral as Terry claimed he was in the shows production, I cant understand how he let such insightfull, elequant work get turned into such drivel. Clearly he is more interested in cashing in than maintaining the inllectual intergrity of his work. I understand that when translating book to film certain aspects of the story are left out or summarized. But never have i seen an adaptation stray so far from its source material. Where the books delved deep into human nature and the discovering of one's self, the series is a shallow, glazed over excuse for the showcase of syndicated special effects. The series retains not one iota of the charm and depth of the source material. To people that like the series.... read the books, then post your opinions. To Mr. Goodkind: You have let your fans down on such a epic scale an 1000 page critique of the show would not begin to touch the surface.
Nauseated Fan | Nov 2, 2008 7:39:41 AM | #I was near tears when I was watching the slaughter last night. I love the books they are GREAT! The series not so much there was so much important storyline missing. Richard was the one to announce Zedd was the old wizard that was important to Richard being named seeker. What happened to the magic of the sword?? The anger the pain? I can understand having to change somethings to make it more appealing to t.v. viewers but you cant change everything! The only thing that says true to the books are the character names. I cant remember the last time I was this let down.
christine | Nov 2, 2008 8:11:23 AM | #First, people need to quit comparing Seeker to Hercules and Xena. They have nothing to do with this show. The Sword of Truth was not a light, frivolous story. It delved deeply into, and was basically about, the wide spectrum of human emotions and desires, whether good, bad, or misunderstood. It is not a stage for "hunky" guys or "stacked" women to jump around fighting and making jokes.
Second, when in the history of TV have they ever got it right when bringing book to screen? So if you expected the show to be what you saw in your mind when you were reading, I'm sure you were disappointed. As I was. Once I tossed out what I expected and just took it for what it was, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. BUT...they did leave out some pretty important points of the story that are really needed to even make what they did make sense. For instance, Richard is NEVER going to completely accept that he has to kill people. Leaving out the anger and pain of using the sword really cans any resemblance to the real story all by itself. At the end of the premier, when Richard says he'll be ready...that is so far from how he feels about what he needs to do that I can't even believe they ended it that way! But, again, I can't see it as the real Sword of Truth story. However, I can continue to enjoy it as a story where the characters just happen to have the same names as some extraordinary books I once read.
In a way, if people perceive the show to be crap , maybe they'll be interested from all the rantings on here about how good the books are supposed to be and they'll buy them, maybe that was Terry's plan all along! :P
Casey | Nov 2, 2008 10:23:46 AM | #You're right that there aren't enough "distinguishing details in Legend of the Seeker to make it stand out from all those other stories." It was a great book series, and they dumbed it down and added the generic details from other series to try to make it appeal to the television audience. So instead of introducing something new, they repackaged an old concept using characters from an awesome book series.
Old, beaten down concept with new characters equals a pretty crappy show. It's a pity. If they stayed true to even half of what Goodkind put in the novels, they would've had a great thing.
disappointed | Nov 2, 2008 10:29:36 AM | #Ok...ok...?...ok, I read the books, yeah. WTF! I was so excited for this series when I found it would be produced. I counted down the days all though October like a little till November 1st (Christmas for us Sword of Truth Die-hards) When the day finally arrives, I get the big ugly pink bunny costume! The quad, they died in the woods. What the #ell is a Fayn and why is he in my plot line? Zedd is Richards Grandfather, accordng to the "show" Zedd brought Richard to the Cyphers and his mom died? And Richard thinking Zedd was some crazy old man? Richard had been friends with Zedd his whole life. This Sucked! Flat out. There are a ton of other incorrect plots, but who cares at this point. In the openning debut, this series has killed everything about the books. I don't think I am going to watch anymore, I just can't watch them kill a good book!
Mikey | Nov 2, 2008 10:51:25 AM | #Sorry. i am a reader and just started re-reading the series last wk before i heard that this was coming out.. Yes it does depart from the book but that is to be expected. But the acting is so poor. The wizard is cast good and kahlan but richard is supposed to be a large broad shoulder woodsman, not a little nerdy guy that can not act. Richard is supposed to be smart but the series has him as a idiot and everyone else does the thinking for him… Sorry to the uninformed it may seem good, but the book series is Awesome and there is no comparision..
Very disappointed | Nov 2, 2008 11:58:27 AM | #
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