NBC Made a Huge Mistake Cancelling This Modern Royalty Series 17 Years Ago
The article looks back at "Kings", a short-lived 2009 NBC drama, arguing the network erred in cancelling it after just one 12-episode season. It reimagined the biblical David and Saul story in a fictional modern-day monarchy, offering an ambitious and unusual take on contemporary royalty that the writer feels never got the recognition it deserved.
The series was created by Michael Green and starred Ian McShane as King Silas Benjamin, ruler of the invented Kingdom of Gilboa, who believes he was divinely chosen to lead. Christopher Egan played David Shepard, a young soldier who becomes a national hero after destroying an enemy tank nicknamed "Goliath", setting in motion a loose parallel to the Old Testament narrative while remaining a wholly original story.
- NBC's 2009 series "Kings" reimagined David and Saul in modern times.
- Starred Ian McShane as a king who believed he was divinely appointed.
- Cancelled after one season, the writer argues it was underrated.
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The Kingdom of Gilboa, ruled by King Silas Benjamin, is torn between belief and ambition, as a young soldier's unlikely rise threatens the fragile order Silas has built and the succession he intends for his own family.
Kings was a US television drama that ran for a single season on NBC in 2009, starring Ian McShane as Silas and Christopher Egan as David Shepard, the soldier whose destruction of an enemy tank makes him a national hero. Created by Michael Green, the show drew loosely on the biblical story of David and Saul but set it in an invented modern monarchy, blending politics, family drama and religious themes rather than retelling the original tale directly.
The series was cancelled by NBC after twelve episodes, and this piece revisits it 17 years on, considering why it struggled to find an audience at the time and whether it deserves a second look now.