TV Sneak Peek: Knights of Prosperity

Consider yourselves lucky—you're getting the sneak peek of sneak peeks. The new ABC comedy Knights of Prosperity was slated to premiere October 17, but has now been moved to a mid-season premiere in January.  This move will distance it from the frenzy of the fall premiere schedule, to give it a little bit more breathing room. Stephen McPherson of ABC Entertainment told the L.A. Times, "We feel it's so good, it deserves to have a strong launch."

I have seen the pilot episode already and the question is, “Is Stephen McPherson right?”  While Knights of Prosperity is not the funniest show I’ve ever seen, it has potential. And in this fall season where serial dramas rule supreme, Knights is a breath of fresh air.

The premise of Knights makes it worth checking out. A group of down-and-out guys form a criminal band, they name themselves the Knights of Prosperity, and come up with a plan to rob none other than Mick Jagger. Anyone who wants to steal from Mr. Jagger is a friend of mine.

The criminal band of miscreants is led by janitor Eugene Gurkin (Donal Logue, Grounded For Life), he's the one who actually comes up with the master plan of robbing the frontman for the Stones. Other members of the gang include a taxi driver, Gourishankar 'Gary' Subramaniam (Maz Jabroni, E-Ring); a local night-club bouncer, Rockefeller Butts (Kevin Michael Richardson, Clerks 2); and an attractive Hispanic waitress, Esperanza Villalobos (Sofia Vergara, Big Trouble).

Knights has a great cast, and the characters they play are so off the wall they’re funny.  There are actually a few cameos from Mick Jagger in the pilot episode, mostly of him showing off his new house in an MTV Cribs sort of way.

With the number of new sitcoms this year completely dwarfed by the number of new dramas, there isn’t a big selection of new comedies to chose from. Knights of Prosperity definitely deserves to find an audience and have a good run. Whether fiction or not, I just want to see someone rob Mick Jagger.

The Knights of Prosperity premiere has been moved from October 17 to January 2007, so I don’t have a specific time for it—but keep your eyes open for it early next year.

Article Author: Aaron Peck

College student at Utah State University and movie reviewer for the university newspaper, The Utah Statesman. He's also running the fledgling film site The Reel Place.com.

Visit Aaron Peck's author page — Aaron Peck's Blog