Running over two years for 27 episodes, Dungeons and Dragons is a classic example of cult TV was an attempt to bring the D&D franchise to a wider audience. During its run it was criticised for being too violent, having occult content and generally being misunderstood by adults.
The quality of the animation, voice-overs and music are excellent. The stories are really quite original too. The only drawback might be trying to get your head around the weapons and character classes of the characters if you are used to the D&Dverse.
Perhaps the most interesting little tidbit about this show – Eric the Cavalier is voiced by Don Most, or as most would know him, Ralph Malph from Happy Days.
The show is available on DVD in the UK and USA, but for some reason we have to wait here in Oz for a while longer…
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I remember sneaking a few minutes of this show on Sunday mornings. It always seemed like such a magical, wonderful show – especially as we weren’t allowed to watch it! Now it’s all on Youtube. I’m going to have to spend a few happy hours watching it all.
Unfortunately, the final episode was never produced. I believe it appears on the original script writer’s webpage – oh wait, - here it is - and apparently it has been done as a radio play on the DVD, which has only made it on region 1 and 2, if I’m not mistaken.
I have always loved this show. I thought it was really well done for the time and didn’t have such plastic characters like He-Man and the like did…
This place looks like somewhere out of Better Homes and Gargoyles…. LOL
THAT’S too violent?? Far out… There are so much more violent cartoons out these days
Yeah, it was listed as being the most violent show for children in 1985 by the National Coalition on Television Violence. When you think of what was to come later in TV shows for kids, this seems really quite tame…
Before coming to work today, the kids were watching a program that had a proper (stylized) brawl, people punching each other etc. Nothing like that on D&D.
Nope… yet it was a big big deal… He-Man and Thundercats and other cartoons that were contemporary with the show I would have thought were much much worse… all well…
It probably had to do with the connection with the game of the same name and the fear and misunderstanding going on around that time.
Well, that certainly had something to do with it as well…
Well, I’ve finally managed to start catching up on these shows. Making up for lost time! They’re actually really quite good fun, although I’ve always thought the weaponry etc. is rather lack-lustre. Just not “real” enough for me I suppose. Gritty RP has been my game since the beginning, I guess!
Yeah – one of the only complaints I had about the show was the weaponry… It just didn’t seem realistic enough. You can understand it from a story perspective, but a Cavalier with only a shield? Just didn’t work that well for me…
Which is a bit peculiar – I think it’s episode 3 where the Cavalier thinks he’s frightened away a big monster with his “weapon.” I know shields were used as weapons, but as presented, it’s never used offensively in the show.
I thought the token minority – the “acrobat” – was also somewhat tasteless. Dress her up in furs, make her athletic – smacks of the whole “noble savage” thing. And she never takes centre stage in the show, her dialogue almost solely restricted to riffing on the Cavalier.
But then again I haven’t watched them all yet.