# the Tenth Kingdom. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 13, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462 "2008-09-13T17:27:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462/1 "2008-09-13T17:27:51Z")
Argh!I saw 15 minutes or so of this on tv the other night. The part where the daughter wins a contest and a mirror. What a gawdawful show! Am I unfair? Should I have given it a little more time? Also; Admins, please fix the stupid (five minute wait) search forum. If this mimics another thread, I’m sorry. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462/2 "2008-09-13T17:30:45Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Argh!I saw 15 minutes or so of this on tv the other night. The part where the daughter wins a contest and a mirror. > What a gawdawful show! > Am I unfair? Should I have given it a little more time? > Also; > Admins, please fix the stupid (five minute wait) search forum. If this mimics another thread, I’m sorry. > Peace, > mangeorge You survived longer than I did. No, you aren’t unfair. For a special treat, try the same company’s other production- “The Magical Legend of the Craprechauns- um, Leprechauns”. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462/3 "2008-09-13T17:41:03Z")
Leprechauns sucked. I liked Tenth Kingdom though. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462/4 "2008-09-13T18:08:57Z")
You definitely have to be in the right mood to enjoy this show. It’s deliberately hokey. My daughter-in-law has the DVDs. There are many DVDs. It’s a long show. Sometimes I just pull out the one with the hallucinogenic mushrooms singing **Whiter Shade of Pale**. Somehow that just fits the song. And their take on the two doors problem cracked me up. Even as a fan, though, I don’t really like the beginning, in New York. The hokey just doesn’t fit until you’re in the fairy tale lands. And if you’re not a fan of the hokey, you’re never going to like it. If three bumbling trolls telling each other to “suck an elf” would be a deal-breaker for you, don’t force yourself to watch any further. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462/5 "2008-09-13T18:16:48Z")
I saw it when it first came out several years ago. I think the concept had a lot of potential, but it was let down by the inevitable budget constraints (“Yes, let’s envision an entire parallel fantasy universe on a made-for-TV budget! Brilliant! That always works!”) and a frustrating inability to settle on anything resembling a consistent tone. They couldn’t decide whether the show was supposed to be **Labyrinth** or **Fractured Fairy Tales**. Casting Rutger Hauer as the remorseless Huntsman suggests that the viewer is supposed to be taking all this at least somewhat seriously, but then they turn around and cast that obnoxious quasi-Richard Lewis guy as the werewolf antihero, to say nothing of the comic-relief trolls worshipping the BeeGees. Note to filmmakers: when your romantic lead/antihero is comic relief to begin with, additional comic relief is unnecessary and unwelcome. Ultimately the one scene from the opening credits, where the giant steps over the Brooklyn Bridge, was more awe-inspiring than anything in the series itself. The same basic territory has been covered much more successfully elsewhere, from the DC/Vertigo comic series _Fables_ to Terry Gilliam’s **The Brothers Grimm**. I admit to being unreasonably amused by the mushrooms singing Procul Harum though. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462/6 "2008-09-13T22:45:11Z")
It’s a cheese-fest, but we enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462/7 "2008-09-13T22:56:22Z")
> [@Helena](#): > > It’s a cheese-fest, but we enjoyed it. Given that Velveeta is actually a cheese. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462/8 "2008-09-14T02:04:35Z")
I don’t understand why it’s being aired as if it’s a TV show. It’s not. It’s a mini-series. I loved loved loved it the first time I saw it. A couple years later, I tried to watch it again, and the magic was gone ☹ If you’re older than your early twenties, and not a girl either, I can see how it would not be that entertaining to you. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462/9 "2008-09-14T02:23:01Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I don’t understand why it’s being aired as if it’s a TV show. It’s not. It’s a mini-series. I loved loved loved it the first time I saw it. A couple years later, I tried to watch it again, and the magic was gone ☹ If you’re older than your early twenties, and not a girl either, I can see how it would not be that entertaining to you. I’m both of those. But I didn’t like the acting, either. The daughter didn’t impress me at all, except that she is attractive. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tenth-kingdom/463462/10 "2008-09-14T04:07:45Z")
There were moments that actually did have a bit of that magical feeling to them, but overall it was just too long and too predictable. If you (general “you”) haven’t figured out that the evil queen is her mother by about the second installment (originally…I have no idea how it falls if they’re airing it an hour at a time), you’re not paying attention.