Kings (NBC)

It has been a while since I saw the previews for an upcoming television series premiere and thought, "Wow, I have to see that." The last time was HBO's "Big Love," which I still follow, and I can't remember what came before that. For ABC's "Lost," it actually took me a month or two to get on board, and then I had to catch up.

But "Kings" was compelling right out of the gate, when the ads starting showing up during NBC's Sunday football broadcasts late last year. At first I was very much turned off by the concept, as somehow propaganda to prepare us for a religious monarchy in this country, but once I stood the alternate reality premise of it, I was pre-hooked on it. I was really hoping it wouldn't disappoint me.

The two-hour premiere was tonight. I settled in by the tube and watched it (without TiVo) with commercials and all. I was too eager to wait, and besides, there is something about having commercial breaks in network t.v. that still feels like it is the "correct" pacing.

But would it hold up to my expectations? Twenty minutes into it, I knew it was winner. After two hours, I knew it would join my tiny list of network shows that I still follow regularly.

The high concept of the story is absolutely superb. What appears to be present-day Manhattan is home to a religious kingdom that feels at once like Ancient Judea, present-day Israel, present-day Britain (including the police state aspects), and the present-day United States (including the secret assassinations part). It's the perfect concept cocktail to explore the dysfunctional projective shadow realm of the New World Order in the wake of the Bush-Cheney Revolution.

There is constant war, driven by corporations. There is too-centralized power contained in a bloodline. There is religion pervading all of public life. Best of all, there is a huge skyscraper that looks suspiciously like the Freedom Tower (the would-be replacement for the WTC in Manhattan) that lurks over it all. It just feels so damn creepy, and so damn good.

The part I liked most, I think, was the lack of independent press in the kingdom. Not only is there secret censorship of news items, but the news reporters slavishly follow the wishes of the royal family members in how they will report news. Gee, that sounds familiar.

It is both contemporary and yet anachronistic, in both speech and content. This alternate world has cell phones, jet fighters, and the Internet, yet battles are waged as if it were still World War I. I didn't mind this time period mixing, since this is supposed to be an alternate universe. In fact, it makes it all the compelling, to understand how these pieces could fit together (hopefully the writers have it figured out).

The soap opera plot lines, involving sex, scandal, intrigue, power, romance, etc., were all laid down well amidst a strange modern-day version of the story of young King David. Goliath is an enemy tank. David's harp is now a piano.

Ian McShane is impeccably cast as King Silas. The weight of the series will fall mostly on him, and I can think of no one else who could be in this role. That's how good he was.

OK, I'm gushing. Sometimes t.v. series tank after a good beginning, but this one, like David himself, was quite auspicious at its opening.

One final thought: the alternate reality of "Kings" was, on the surface, nothing like the alternate reality of Watchmen, and yet both had discussions of similar topics and themes. By coincidence, the soundtrack for Watchmen includes a version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." And then of course, there's that huge pit in the ground in Manhattan at the end of Watchmen, with those company logos on it: evidently where they are going to build that aforementioned skyscraper in "Kings."