The time of myth and legends, when [Hercules and pals] ruled TV.

21stCentury

This is the story of a time long ago
A time of myth and legends
when the ancient gods were petty and cruel
and they plagued mankind with suffering
and only one man dared to challenge their powers:
Hercules!

Friends, Romans and fellow old people... I wish to speak to you of a thing dear to my heart: Old fantasy-action-adventure TV series from the 90s. See, in the 90s, the big craze for TV show appeared to be making syndicated series about an attractive fantasy character and their sidekick have fantastical adventures, filled with action and wonder and comic relief.

So, let's see the cast, shall we?

Hercules, The Legendary Journeys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLdpQHCoCso
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The original! The Man, The Myth, The Legend! Hercules is the show that started the whole trend. Starring a very charming and hunky Kevin Sorbo (before he went full Christian), this show was helmed by Sam Raimi.
The show lasted 111 episodes over six seasons, airing in syndication between January 16, 1995 and November 22, 1999.
It told the tales of Hercules, Son of Zeus and a mortal woman, a man whose strength was only exceeded by his heart.

Xena, Warrior Princess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHs5MyX9cdQ
--
The close second. Set in the same fantastic universe as Hercules, made by the same people and often crossing over with it. Xena was a mighty princess forged in the fires of war. I didn't watch that one but it launched Lucy Lawless' career, had a lot of lesbian subtext. The latter seasons included more pantheons and, I believe, involved a war between Xena and the gods (that she won, obviously).

Young Hercules
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfpC-HZC3Cg
(For some reason i couldn't find the whole intro on Youtube)
--
Starring Baby Ryan Gosling before he was famous. This was a charming take on Hercules' youth. Also by the same production company, and often with actors from the other two. i remember watching this a lot because it aired on the family-oriented channel (as it was aimed at a younger audience, I guess?). Also very entertaining, involved Ares' son instead of Ares as an antagonist, iirc.

The Adventures of Sinbad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaLv6M8CTmQ
--
NOW! That was my JAM! This was the first follower by a different production company. This was the Canadian answer to Hercules. A Sword-and-sorcery fantasy adventure show featuring monsters and gods and mystery and comedy and a charming lead. This one's hook was that it was about Sinbad the sailor in an Arabian-inspired setting. Featured many colorful characters and an interesting myth arc, but only lasted 2 seasons, numbering 44 episodes in total. It was going to have a third season but got cancelled due to contract disputes, much to my chagrin.

Conan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKcqDj-TiGc
--
Didn't see this one, but the intro makes it seem pretty good! I believe that is the only one of these series that was based on actual books! Conan is a cool setting so I could believe it was well-received!

The New Adventures of Robin Hood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJtqWz832uE
--
I believe i have seen a couple episodes of this one, but i have very little memory of them. Seems to have been a much cheaper series, but i do appreciate the setting. As a kid, I always loved Robin Hood shows and movies (and still do). i probably would've enjoyed that one a great deal had I seen it.

BeastMaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OntqIgXcn4
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Didn't see this one and it seems a bit ho-hum, to be quite honest.

Jack of All Trades
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VNsjjYRgjc
--
That's one of the later series by the same people as Hercules/Xena. This one was set in Revolutionary America, starred the always charming Bruce Campbell and... i never saw it! Shame, because it seems right up my alley!

Andromeda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbhxKrBe0AA
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including this one because it was billed as Hercules. In. SPAAAAAAACE! Starring Kevin Sorbo. It was basically very similar to the Sword-and-sorcery shows, but sci-fi instead. I think it was pretty good.

Legend of the Seeker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKXk2kTykSA
--
The last Sword-and-sorcery series by the original production company, this one was made long after the trend ended. Also it was based on the Sword of Truth books, which i believe are the ones with the magical libertarian shit. not really interested in it, to be honest.

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So, let's talk about mid-90s-early-2000s Sword-and-sorcery inspired action adventure TV series! I loved those as a kid and I'm, like, 90% sure i'm not alone!! It's a rad topic, I think!! What was your fave show, what is an episode you particularly loved? Were Xena and Gabrielle a couple or just gals being pals?

Rainfall

Xena and Gabrielle were absolutely a couple how dare you imply otherwise.

Also, why isn't Sword Of Truth in this list?
Edit: I'm an idiot it's the last one on the list.

21stCentury

Rainfall wrote: »

Xena and Gabrielle were absolutely a couple how dare you imply otherwise.

Also, why isn't Sword Of Truth in this list?

It's the last one, it was called "Legend of the Seeker" though.

21stCentury

I originally wanted to give a shoutout to Ash vs Evil Dead, which is Renaissance Pictures (the Hercules people)'s latest series.

I mean, Sam Raimi was heavily involved in Hercules and Xena...