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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed shows.
Kings
EMAILPRINTSERIES: NBC, Sunday 8:00p (60 minutes)

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 142 votes
Read user comments
Rate this show >
Show Info
Genre(s): Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Created By: Michael Green
First Air Date: March 15, 2009
Summary
Starring Ian McShane, Chris Egan, Sebastian Stan, Susanna Thompson, Allison Miller, Eamonn Walker, Wes Studi, Dylan Baker, and Miguel Ferrer
An idealist young farmer turned soldier (Chris Egan) finds himself involved with the royal court of Gilboa when he saves the king's (Ian McShane) son, in this new dramatic series by Heroes' Michael Green.
Episode Guide & More Info: More about this show at TV.com
Also On The Web: Official Show Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker
So far, that universe is pleasingly treacherous, though not wholly formed, a work in progress that's worth seeing through to completion.
Read Full Review >SalonHeather Havrilesky
The dialogue is just so artful and poetic, the characters are so appealing, the whole damn package is so original and daring and lovely, that after watching the first four hours, it's impossible not to feel inspired and cheered by the fact that a drama this ambitious and unique could make it onto network TV.
Read Full Review >New York PostKyle Smith
The show sparkles with imagination. But Kings may be too campy for some, not campy enough for others.
Read Full Review >NewsdayVerne Gay
Kings is a worthy enterprise that will deeply puzzle millions of viewers.
Read Full Review >Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Happily, this generally well-told tale of a modern-day king and his restive court has more going for it than a charismatic performance from the dependably wonderful “Deadwood” star.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
NBC, which could have ripped off yet another "reality" show for 8 p.m. Sundays, instead bought into something imaginative and intriguing and, yes, a little crazy.
Read Full Review >Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Kings does dip in and out of predictability, when familiar Spelling soap operatics and political machinations break through the show's unique surface. But it still is a fascinating effort.
Read Full Review >Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Kings begins with a refined approach and grows more pedestrian in subsequent episodes. Still, there's plenty to love about this series that dances with symbolism--the butterfly on the Gilboa flag is not a mere adornment--and replaces clandestine backrooms with windowed board rooms.
Read Full Review >PopMattersMarisa LaScala
Combing broad strokes and detailed color on an extensive canvas, Kings makes the rewards and costs of ambition plain for all to see.
Read Full Review >USA TodayRobert Bianco
Kings is a mess, but for a few weeks, anyway, it promises to be a fun, fascinating mess, the kind of "can you believe they're doing it" show you want to discuss the next day.
Read Full Review >VarietyBrian Lowry
Viewers will have to survive a rocky, at-times jarring first hour before the series begins coalescing into something interesting--flawed but unpredictable, with a characteristically intense Ian McShane at its core.
Read Full Review >Washington PostDebra Leithauser
The acting at times is overdone, and some of the pivotal plot moments come across as downright hokey.
Read Full Review >Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Despite a wonderful cast put to good use, a very well-designed parallel world and some marvelous turns of phrase, I can't help admiring Kings more than I actually liked it.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
It's corny, ponderous, literary, ambitious, obvious and, at the beginning at least, as slow as molasses, but continually re-energized by Ian McShane as King Saul, or, as he's known here, King Silas Benjamin
Read Full Review >New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Some scenes are brilliantly and subtly turned, some make you roll your eyes. Some are straight from the Soap Opera 101 playbook.
Read Full Review >Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith
Kings, which also serves up melodrama and mystical happenings, is far more ambitious [than Aaron Spellings' shows]. Yet it can have the effect of a real sleep potion.
Read Full Review >The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
The series itself seems divided: at times a supersize fable told with portentous, and even turgid, simplicity, while at others, a sophisticated spoof that uses ancient legend to send up modern politics. And when a series cannot be both, it ends up being neither.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-TimesTeresa Budasi
The language on Kings is similarly stilted but lacks "Deadwood" writer/producer David Milch's passionate and intellectual punch. King Silas may not be as deliciously Machiavellian as Al Swearingen, but McShane does deliver--and he cleans up well.
Read Full Review >San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
It's visually engrossing. Then it goes oddly flat in parts, only to kick-start itself with another clash of tones.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Sadly, as so often happens, the grandeur and surprise settle toward soapiness when the show moves into future episodes, as various high-level evildoers battle each other for power, money, and hot sex partners, while the good-hearted folk fret and risk their lives for more noble causes.
Read Full Review >New York MagazineEmily Nussbaum
Sadly, the show is carved out of pure phony gravitas--like "The West Wing," only more sanctimonious.
Read Full Review >Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker
NBC deserves points for trying something different, but the results are often pretentious and silly. The best moments belong to Egan, who handles his chores simply and directly.
Read Full Review >Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik
If only Green had not made such a cold, bland stew of such rich and tasty ingredients.
Read Full Review >Hollywood ReporterRay Richmond
Pretentious and far too taken with its own sense of menace, the show casts every line of dialogue as a pronouncement, every action as an uppercut to the chops.
Read Full Review >Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Kings is oddly tedious, thanks to a supporting cast of uninteresting characters and a script loaded with heavy-handed analogies to health-care reform, Halliburton and the Clintons.
Read Full Review >Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Just about everybody is having sex with everybody else: Kings is one giant raging id of a show.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this show is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 142 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
John B. gave it a10:
A refreshment to prime time cable tv. this series reenergized my interest on watching standard television. The entertaining dialogue kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.
Daniel C gave it a9:
Its biblical story meets shakespearean drama meets modern soap, combined in an a most artful and intriguing way. Worth seeing through to multiple seasons.
Travis L gave it a10:
This was one of the better TV shows I have seen. No other show has gotten me to sit down on a specific night to watch in a very long while. Ian McShane is an awesome actor to watch. He sucked me in with Deadwood a while back, now I just look for that guy to entertain.
Parker H gave it a10:
Absolutely inspiring. NBC please dont make the same mistake FOX made with Family Guy. Bring it back soon!
Ana D gave it a10:
I recently watched the entire season 1. Please bring it back. This a such a different show. I am hooked. I happened to watch a few minute of the last episode and immediately went to NBC to see the whole season. NBC please don't disappoint your viewers. Ana.
Cheryl M gave it a10:
Kings is the best TV show I have seen in years. You need to replay the episodes and advertise the show to get more viewers.
Thomas Z gave it a10:
My favorite show and the only one I followed on Tv. It such a shame that it canceled it made me actually care for the characters and want more.
