Sam Raimi Returns to Epic Fantasy TV with "Wizard's First Rule"

Variety reports that Sam Raimi is returning to the fantasy television genre with a new hourlong series, Wizard's First Rule, based on the Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind. The ABC/Disney production just received a full 22 episode order, and will be syndicated throughout the US. Production is set to begin in May.

Raimi undoubtedly has a stroke of magic when it comes to TV productions--Xena and Hercules were both much better shows than they had any right to be. He knows how to perfectly balance epic fantasy storylines with a pulpy and endlessly watchable sensibility. We also saw evidence of this in the Spiderman films, with Spiderman 2 best exemplifying his talents. 

According to Variety: "The weekly hourlong series follows Richard Cypher, a young man who makes his living leading people through dangerous forests, as he investigates the murder of his father and finds himself opposing Darken Rahl, the son of an evil wizard."

This is definitely the sort of project that Raimi excels at, and it will be a refreshing change of pace for television which has seen some excellent sci-fi series lately, but not so much in the way of fantasy. Given the success of Heroes, Lost, and Battlestar Galactica, I think it's about time the fantasy genre saw a similar revival.

Also, if you're feeling a bit thirsty for pulpy Raimi goodness, I recommend you check out the little-seen series Jack of All Trades starring Bruce Campbell. You can find the entire series online at Hulu. The fantastic opening is embedded below.

[Source Variety]