OK, boys and girls, here's a little insider TV critic info for your edification and amusement.
We critics depend on the networks to remind us when stuff is coming. There are simply too many channels to keep track of them all, so it's up to the networks to send us timely reminders. And they do. I get 50 to 60 emails a day from publicists and keep a big calendar with the debut dates.
As a new show gets closer, the network publicity minions kick into gear. Sometimes I get an elaborate press kit with a DVD. Sometimes I just get a DVD. Sometimes I get an email with a link to an online press kit in the access-controlled, press-only website.
There we find photos to download for the column, teasers, trailers, cast biographies and, sometimes, complete episodes to review.
On occasion, however, I get nothing -- no reminder a show is on the way, no photos, no DVD.
That's never a good omen for the quality of a series. My theory is that the networks would rather have no publicity than scathing, snarky derision from the nation's discerning professional TV critics.
That may be the case with Syfy's new drama Olympus, which debuts at 9 p.m. today. I have absolutely no opinion on it because the network didn't bother to send me any information. None whatsoever. I just happened to note a blurb on the TV wire that it was coming and investigated.
On the Olympus press-only site there was a single, solitary photo (see above) instead of the usual dozen or so with most new programs. There was no information in the "news" section and no electronic press kit. That's never a good sign.
On the Syfy public website for Olympus there were a handful of short trailers and rudimentary character intros from which I was able to piece together some clues.
I found this synopsis: "Get ready to enter an action-packed world where humans, gods and monsters clash when Syfy transports viewers back to ancient Greece in the channel's newest acquired 13-part mythological drama series Olympus.
"It's a young man's mythical quest to solve the riddle of the gods, unlock the doors to Olympus and become an immortal.
"Hero's epic journey leads him through the darkest realms of ancient Greece accompanied by the beautiful, but twisted Oracle of Gaia, the powerful sorceress Medea, and genius inventor Daedalus.
"Hero battles trickster gods, vicious monsters, seductive nymphs, kings and despots, as he transforms from fresh-faced [naif] into a ruthless, cold-hearted killer, and match for the gods themselves."
Bottom line: Olympus looks like passable entertainment for those who enjoy this sort of cheesy thing. It's a puzzle why Syfy didn't do more with it.
Note the series is rated TV-14 for language, sexual situations and violence. In the trailers, there are lots of nubile hotties running around in short, clinging tunics with plunging necklines. There are also plenty of shirtless, strapping hunks swinging swords while chewing the scenery.
Our hero (named Hero) is played by Tom York. Hero is the bastard son of King Aegeus and the holder of the Lexicon, the secret code that allows man to enter Olympus.
Over the episodes, Hero experiences betrayal, love, disappointment, empowerment and exile as he transforms from a naive young man to a ruthless leader of men.
Sonya Cassidy plays Oracle, the mouthpiece of the gods. She has visions "with terrifying truths."
Daedalus (Matt Frewer) is a curmudgeonly, patronizing, mad genius inventor guilt-ridden over the death of his son Icarus.
Medea (Sonita Henry) is married to King Aegeus. She's a sorceress who has one true love: power.
King Aegeus of Athens (Graham Shiels) is arrogant, aggressive and prone to fits of rage.
Alan Peterson plays King Minos, the richest and most powerful king in Greece. He's a bully, greedy and scheming.
Princess Ariadne (Sophia Lauchlin Hirt) is cool, beautiful, calculating and manipulative. She's into sadomasochism.
More interesting are the trailers featuring the producers -- the team behind Syfy's Tin Man, Alice and Neverland. They make the series actually seem appealing and somewhat erudite. For that reason alone I plan to check out the show.
• For small fry. "Sparkle Bunny," a half-hour special episode of Nickelodeon's Little Charmers airs at 11:30 a.m. today. The preschool series celebrates "the magic of friendship." An egg hunt is involved. Things go wrong before they go right.
• Hell cats. My Cat From Hell returns for Season 7 at 6 p.m. Saturday on Animal Planet. Host and cat whisperer Jackson Galaxy (real name Richard Kirschner) continues to exorcise the demons from felines.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 04/02/2015