Camelot

:

Season 1
  • Network: Starz
  • Series Premiere Date: Feb 25, 2011
User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 49 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 49
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 49
  3. Negative: 12 out of 49
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User Reviews

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  1. chrisking8613
    May 1, 2011
    0
    I loved the trailers!!! The actual series... Not so much. I figured that this would be very entertaining story driven series sort of like a mix of the tutors and Spartacus. Although I didn't work that way, I could somewhat tolerate the poor story and slow moments in the episodes. However, the lack to make this series feel like it happened in the past was just awful.
  2. chazah
    Sep 24, 2013
    0
    Just watched first episode of Camelot... won't be watching anymore! Absolute rubbish! The guy playing the role of King Arthur is a joke! A puny, weak little wimp... killed it for me! A complete miscast. He was so goofy and his hair always seemed to be filthy, uncombed, and matted! He was not powerful enough and he just didn't make the role of Arthur believable at all. He's more like aJust watched first episode of Camelot... won't be watching anymore! Absolute rubbish! The guy playing the role of King Arthur is a joke! A puny, weak little wimp... killed it for me! A complete miscast. He was so goofy and his hair always seemed to be filthy, uncombed, and matted! He was not powerful enough and he just didn't make the role of Arthur believable at all. He's more like a gangly awkward teenager with acne. Now his foster brother, Kay, would have made a great King Arthur in this series, as he had more charisma, presence, looked more grown up and manly, and was far better looking too! It badly needed a stronger character for Arthur as the lead character has to be very good otherwise you lose the whole series and its just a flop!… Expand
  3. Scarus
    May 19, 2011
    3
    I started watching this to help battle my withdrawal symptoms from waiting for the next episode of Game of Thrones. I'm up to episode 07 now, and I'm finding this increasingly more unwatchable every episode. While the young King Arthur might be good looking, I find his character completely unsympathetic, rather unbelievable and and even somewhat annoying. The thing that bothers me theI started watching this to help battle my withdrawal symptoms from waiting for the next episode of Game of Thrones. I'm up to episode 07 now, and I'm finding this increasingly more unwatchable every episode. While the young King Arthur might be good looking, I find his character completely unsympathetic, rather unbelievable and and even somewhat annoying. The thing that bothers me the most perhaps is that this whole thing has the feel of a cross between Robin Hood and Days of Our Lives, or even better yet, one of the Spanish Novelas that run nightly. Didn't the Knights of the Round Table wear Armor? I haven't seen any yet. I'm watching this on my computer and frequently just skip ahead a bit because what is happening onscreen is soooooo trite.

    I suppose I'll keep watching. I just wish I could find something better to watch.    … Expand
  4. historian
    Apr 2, 2011
    3
    Unlike Spartacus Blood and Sand, this one doesn't even try to sell you that it's a historical reenactment. Morgan La Fay apparently shops for her clothes on Hollowood Blvd., and buys her make up there while she's at it. No matter, there's plenty of sorcery too account for those dominatrix meets party at mom's skimpy clothing, and not too many actual cheap woolen mantles of the timeUnlike Spartacus Blood and Sand, this one doesn't even try to sell you that it's a historical reenactment. Morgan La Fay apparently shops for her clothes on Hollowood Blvd., and buys her make up there while she's at it. No matter, there's plenty of sorcery too account for those dominatrix meets party at mom's skimpy clothing, and not too many actual cheap woolen mantles of the time period, not to mention lots of phrases like The King is Dead, Long Live the King, which wasn't used until the time of Charles VII, which aws in the 15th century, almost 1,000 years later. The show gets a ten for James Purefoy, being all manly and capable, and a -7 for all the other things wrong with it. Hey at lest there
    some improbable female nudify - those hollywood blvd. party outfits that look like a vogue editorial shoot get featured quite a bit, but the plot mking sense? Fuggedaboudit.    … Expand
  5. Broyax
    Jan 23, 2023
    1
    Attention, il ne s’agit pas de notre camelote à nous (la connerie de série de merde avec l’autre gros con de connard, là….) mais d’une autre camelote ! un minimum plus sexy évidemment puisqu’on peut se rincer l’oeil de temps en temps (cette blonde qui fait Guenièvre, oh dis donc…) et bien sûr l’atout qui épargne la série de la nullité absolue, Eva Green dans le rôle de Morgane, la sorcièreAttention, il ne s’agit pas de notre camelote à nous (la connerie de série de merde avec l’autre gros con de connard, là….) mais d’une autre camelote ! un minimum plus sexy évidemment puisqu’on peut se rincer l’oeil de temps en temps (cette blonde qui fait Guenièvre, oh dis donc…) et bien sûr l’atout qui épargne la série de la nullité absolue, Eva Green dans le rôle de Morgane, la sorcière !

    C’est hélas à peu près tout, car après trois épisodes (sur une seule saison de 10), force est de constater le caractère résolument mauvais de cet ensemble décidément très mal écrit… et pourtant, il suffisait de suivre les fameuses légendes arthuriennes…! mais que voulez-vous, seul John Boorman dans un film pourtant obscur de 1980 a su retranscrire et magnifier, rendre hommage à cette légende des siècles anglo-saxonne ! et pourtant, les acteurs et les actrices, tous étaient (un peu comme ici) plus ou moins… inconnus.

    Or ici, justement, les moins connus et les plus connus sont plus ou moins décevants, voire pour la plupart carrément nuls à chier… cette andouille qui incarne Arthur par exemple, non mais franchement… quelle tache ! et le reste est à l’avenant, sans compter un problème de diversité qui n’a rien à faire là, parmi quelques figurants… non, messieurs-dames, aucun migrant ne traversait la manche en ce temps-là… aucun !

    De toute manière, la série se traîne et peine énormément à faire ressortir les enjeux de cette saga mirifique… elle ne fait que les effleurer, même le rôle d’Eva Green semble écorné et diminué, édulcoré… un comble quand on y pense ! une camelote de plus, donc, à notre grand dam.    … Expand
  6. FilipeNeto
    Feb 9, 2019
    3
    This series was made following many series and films that flooded the cinema and the TV with medieval themes. Despite their merits, it is impossible for all of them to conquer the audience, and this explains the failure of this series, where the heap of irritating situations and errors led the public to move away. To begin with, the series took the legends of King Arthur (well known) andThis series was made following many series and films that flooded the cinema and the TV with medieval themes. Despite their merits, it is impossible for all of them to conquer the audience, and this explains the failure of this series, where the heap of irritating situations and errors led the public to move away. To begin with, the series took the legends of King Arthur (well known) and altered them substantially to increase the dramatic effects and create a slightly different story, perhaps too unlikely to be "swallowed" by the public. Camelot is a ruined place, a castle from late Middle Ages, far from Roman military architecture. Religious problems surrounding pagans and christians are summed up in the most trivial insignificance, Avalon isn't even mentioned, Viviane is a maid and Morgana is a heartless villain, whose power and magic have a dark origin that's never properly explained. Arthur's knights are a bunch of unpleasant men, extras with half a dozen lines. Arthur himself is a beardless egocentric teenager who hardly has our sympathy and Merlin represses his powers for no reason. Lancelot is nowhere to be seen.

    The way the script and characters were designed was a problem but it works if you decide to forget about the Arthurian legends you've learned. However, the cast can be a problem as well. Joseph Fiennes could have been better in the role of Arthur as he wasn't convincing as Merlin and Jamie Campbell Bower was wooden in that role. Tamsin Egerton was a decent Guinevere but with little things to do... when she wasn't distress about her forbidden feelings she was just a body for the male audience to be glaring at. On the other hand, we have Eva Green. She is the only actress who truly shone, completely dominating the screen for lack of any actor capable to match her. The single bad thing about her was the abusive exploitation of her nakedness. There are also several problems concerning historical accuracy. The events occurs in the first centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire and the truth is that there are moments where we didn't know what age is that. Sex scenes are as hedonistic as in our own time, a lot of objects that would be expensive and luxurious at the time (like feminine adornments) are used even by peasants. Oh, and the end is absurdly open due to the sudden end of the series, cancelled due to it's own failure.

    To summarize: this series is far from matching everything I would expect and is far from faithfulness to the original story or the period portrayed. The cast is weak (Eva Green is the single exception), the characters are uninteresting, the ending is lousy and open. However, it still allows for a few hours of entertainment if you're able to ignore these problems.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

94
#94 Best TV Season of 2011
57
#57 Most Discussed TV Season of 2011
45
#45 Most Shared TV Season of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 26
  3. Negative: 2 out of 26
  1. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Nancy DeWolf Smith
    Apr 8, 2011
    70
    Some fans apparently don't think the sloe-eyed blond actor Jamie Campbell Bower is studly and thrusting enough for Arthur. But boyishness gives him room to grow, and there is plenty that's masterly about Joseph Fiennes as Merlin, who is occasionally seen in a studded hoodie and always shrouded in mystery, but other otherwise all man.
    Read full review
  2. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Phillip Maciak
    Apr 7, 2011
    50
    It's not easy, with all the silly one-liners, oddball plot twists, and frat-party ambience, to get terribly invested in who will win the power struggle that Camelot dramatizes. But if Fiennes and Green could stage a coup, wresting control of the show from its tawdrier impulses, then that might just be something worth watching.
    Read full review
  3. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    Apr 7, 2011
    80
    Starz, however, has re-imagined the doings of Arthur, Guinevere and the gang as a bloody, bodice-ripping medieval soap opera, and the result is surprisingly satisfying.
    Read full review
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