SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
August 25, 1992, Tuesday , FINAL
SECTION: TELEVISION LENGTH: MEDIUM: 62
LINES, Pg. D6
LENGTH: 465 words
HEADLINE: 'COVINGTON' LIGHTENS UP DARK AGES
BYLINE: Phil Rosenthal Los Angeles Daily News
BODY: Two armor-clad combatants exchange blows with broadswords in
the foyer of a stone-walled medieval fortress, doing more damage to
the furniture than to each other, until a third man joins the fray.
"How many times have I told you? Not in the castle!" shouts Sir
Thomas Gray, the peeved lord of this particular home and father of
the two would-be knights.
And so begins ABC's "Covington Cross," an amiable new series about
the adventures of a very '90s family, even though it's probably the
1390s in which they live.
Rather than be held back by its anachronisms, it's driven by them.
The lure of this "Camelot"-meets-"Bonanza" series - which is
previewed for the first time tonight at 10 on KOMO-TV in preparation
for the 8 p.m. Saturday slot it will take over on Sept. 26 - is that
armor and broadswords, castles and crossbows aside, the colorful
Grays are a contemporary kin.
For one thing, the ladies of "Covington Cross" are modern women.
Gray's free-willed daughter, Eleanor (Ione Skye), would rather
practice her crossbow than the harp and wisely rebels when she finds
that dad has promised her hand in marriage to a sleazy rival family
in the hope of keeping peace.
"It's the way things are done in our world," says dad (Nigel Terry),
in spite of overriding guilt, as if trying to explain why the sky is
blue.
Eleanor doesn't buy it for a moment and finds an ally in her father's
current love interest, neighbor Lady Elizabeth (Cherie Lunghi), an
even more liberated and independent post-feminist.
Elizabeth isn't afraid to tell Thomas just how, well, medieval his
ideas are.
And Thomas, despite whatever Middle Age crisis he might be going
through, isn't beyond admitting when she is right.
Meanwhile, the older boys (Jonathan Firth and Ben Porter) are forever
roughhousing - or rough-castling, as it might be. Their kid brother
(Glenn Quinn, whose recurring character will marry Becky next season
on "Roseanne") is not above playing practical jokes on the goodly
Friar (Paul Brooke), who is trying to prepare the boy for the
monastery.
If all of this sounds a bit comical, know that it is. But
while "Covington Cross" certainly shows an ability to laugh at
itself, it's never played as camp, a delicate dance to be sure.
In some respects, "Covington Cross" is reminiscent of the romantic
romp "The Princess Bride" in style and whimsy, although it has yet to
match the sharp wit of Rob Reiner's film. That is a tough measure,
how-
ever.
This is a show with just enough action and humor to threaten to hold
your interest. At one point, for example, young Eleanor's
marksmanship gets dad out of a nasty bind.
Sir Thomas lets out a sigh of relief. But, he hastens to add, "This
doesn't mean you get to give up the music lessons."
He's one of those knights.
NOTES:
Review -- Sir Thomas Gray (Nigel Terry, front), and his three sons
(played by, from left, Ben Porter, Glenn Quinn and Jonathan Firth)
defend the family land and honor on the premiere of "Covington Cross"
tonight.