Krod Mandoon has been described as "Monty Python meets The Princess Bride." I would describe it as Hercules meets Beevis and Butthead. I had the chance to check out a sneek peak of Comedy Central's foray into fantasy humor, which stars Little Britain's Matt Lucas as well as John Rhys-Davis, who brings a little bit of nerd cred to the show via his turn in The Lord of the Rings films. Krod Mandoon's premise really bears no need for explanation but here it is anyway. The not so mighty Krod Mandoon (played by Sean Maquire, Leonidas in Meet the Spartans ) along with his band of freedom fighter buddies, must take out the evil Chancellor Dongalar (played by Matt Lucas). Krod is about as formidable a fighter as his name would imply and the only offensive his posse seems to be able to mount is through the exaggerated stereotypes their characters are based on. That's not to say Krod Mandoon isn't funny. Sure, I can laugh at a good gay sex prison joke and those are exactly what Bruce, the queeny lover of the late General Arcadius and Krod's mentor, delivers. Unfortunately, I'd say one in every five punchlines connects hard enough to elicit a chuckle.
Besides gay jokes, Krod Mandoon also reaches for
top shelf comedy via equestrian sex innuendos and slapstick knee
slappers. At first, I found it all a bit over-the-top, but once I gave in to the
unrelenting silliness of the whole thing (and a few beers), I found it mildly entertaining. I think that's the key to enjoying
Krod Mandoon. The screening I attended was held
in a bar before a rather jovial crowd (free beer was served before hand) and that made it
all the more fun. Watch this show alone and sober and you'll probably find yourself irritated and longing for Rob Reiner and Cary
Elwes, but get a few friends together and watching Krod walk into a wooden pillar or Loquasto the pig-man (or Grobble as they're called in
the Krod-verse), make another disastrous misfire with his crossbow can become pretty funny.
Not to read too much into the social statements made by a show about
flaming swords and animal sex jokes, but I did find it interesting, especially towards the end, how the other characters were subcoming to
what might be considered the flaws of their sterotypes, while Krod just
sulked in self-pity. Aneka, Krod's gorgeous and promiscuous girlfriend
decides to partake in a Pagan ritual which requires her to have sex
with three-hundred men, while Bruce arrives late to aid Krod because he
had to get his shirt tailored. I'd like to see Krod himself making
more of the funnies. After first reading about the show, I imagined
him as more of a boastful Aragorn wannabe than the unassured, hapless
hero that he is. Here's hoping the writers have more fun with his
character in upcoming episodes, lest we tire of Bruce's
fish-out-of-water fabulousness or Aneka's nether-region revealing
gymnastics. Although I don't think anyone will get too tired of that.
Krod Mandoon premieres this Thursday at 10pm on
Comedy Central. Get your friends together with a few pints of ale and enjoy!
