Galavant (2015)

Like a gentler Monty Python venture, Galavant pokes, prods and pummels current events. It doesn’t get down and dirty, but it isn’t afraid to wallow every now and then. When it does so with a little song and dance, there’s enough fun to last longer than 30 minutes.

This is a deceptively difficult form to nail; often those who try end up with little more than a collection of flatulence jokes. Done right, though, as it is in "Galavant," a mindless comedy is not the same as a dumb comedy. It’s smart, just in a carefree way.

Galavant's second season improves upon [the first season's] memorably anarchic humor in a way that feels revitalized and once again energetic.

Galavant is perhaps most watchable thanks to the fact that there isn't anything like it on TV right now, and likely never will be replicated. Beyond that, it's silly but fun--rare enough in this world.

These guys know what they’re doing. And this time they’re doing it with a welcome edge in rousing, ribald times.

Written by Dan Fogelman, Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, the new musical miniseries on ABC has so many clever bits and witty songs you’ll think someone wrote a sequel to “Spamalot.”

No part of the equation that makes up Galavant is subtle. It piles on the songs, the choreography, the bawdy humor and the clever writing. That deep dive into the genre is what will help viewers shake off the doubts we had going into it. Galavant is a uniquely enjoyable ride.

Galavant largely overcomes the challenges that have traditionally bedeviled TV musicals with rambunctious energy, cheeky lyrics and music, and — significantly — a half-hour format, thus condensing the need to create songs into a manageable task.

The music is effective without being especially memorable. You may not leave your living room humming any of it, but you’ll still be chuckling over some of the jokes in the lyrics, many centered on puns, childish humor and groan-inducing obviousness.