BeastMaster - Herr der Wildnis

I watch this show most of the time. It's erratic, but I like it a lot anyway.

The producers seem to have relatively little idea of what kind of show they want to do. It's now in its third season, and it appears to have gone to heroic fantasy. (Any episodes you see Dar having a sword, they're all third season. And he puts up quite a protest around it, but you'd have to actually watch the show to see it.) Last season would be better characterized as a sort of low-level high fantasy, where most of the emphasis was on complex relationships between all the different characters. And a lot of the first season was a (tragic) love story.

The acting is great, but it's very much in a particular style. It's an understated style that shows up a lot in Canadian productions (it's a Canada-Australia joint production).

But the best part is: They kill characters. Major characters. Not many of them, but people actually die. The storyline moves on. I get really tired of watching adventure shows with no threat of death. It's pretty much a given that Dar won't die (or they'd have to rename the show) but everybody else, except for gods (none of which have made appearances, unlike in a show like Xena) and some of the demigod-level characters (I'm thinking of The Ancient One) has been fair game. It helps make the show exciting, which is the whole point of adventure, right?

The acting style's not for everyone, but if you like it, watch the show. The stories are generally pretty well-written, and the show's got guts.

It seems from watching that the producers of this series didn't take the time to plan their "bible" before beginning the series. The basic story, handed down from Andre Norton through the series of films, was fine, but this kind of high-concept fantasy series requires an established mythology to guide the storytelling. This one seemed to flounder around without much dramatic impetus. The leads were highly appealing, if inexperienced at the beginning of the series, and individual episodes were often entertaining. The final story arc over the last half of the final season was too slapdash and amateurish to redeem the series as a whole. While it did draw the story to a finish, it wasn't a particularly compelling finish; the appearance of Marc Singer (the star of the Beastmaster films) was a silly stunt. One can only hope that Daniel Goddard and Jackson Raine move on to better projects--both are appealing enough to merit it.

Oh what fun this show was! First you have the incredibly *gorgeous* Daniel Goddard as Dar, the BeastMaster. The producers had the good sense to keep him wearing as little as possible. Even in the third season, when he dressed a little more "modestly", you could still see those stupendous biceps. Yummy! Then you have the gay subtext. This is most pronounced in Season Two, where the five most important male characters all seem to be gay archetypes: Dar (Gym-Boy), Tao (Nerd with a crush on Gym-Boy), Zad (Leather Daddy), Voden (Party Boy) and The Ancient One (All-Powerful, All-Knowing Old Auntie). Then you have the fact that it was actually fairly well-written and acted. Admittedly, Season Three was the weakest. The show would have been better had they not gone down that particular road, but, overall it was a lot of fun and most certainly not the worst way to spend an hour. Oh did I mention how gorgeous Daniel Goddard is? (*sigh*)

It's hard to find good shows on regular TV that deal with the supernatural. I am so glad I discovered this show even if it is no longer being made. The only other good supernatural TV show I could find before was Buffy The Vampire Slayer which I love and it's spinoff Angel is OK, but lately both shows have been dissapointing me and I started looking for others.

Coming across Beastmaster has been good for me and I am sure it has been/will be for others. The actors are great and play their characters perfect. The direction is good as well and hardly misses a beat. Also there is beautiful scenery and great dialoge and storyline. It has everything people look for in a good show. I hope others will discover it an enjoy it as much as I have.

Speaking strictly of the first 2 seasons this shows some of the best talent I've ever seen both in writing and acting. Almost every episode was remarkably well crafted. The main characters were very well formed and expertly well portrayed. Especially Dar and Tao. This show teaches us more about the world and shows us how truly human-like animals really are. This summary doesn't speak for the 3rd season because to me the third season simply wasn't that good. The show had lost it's focus both on the animals and the people. At that point it became pure good vs. evil and lost it's appeal. But I still love the show and stand by what i said:this show truly is the best and only one of it's kind!