Forgotten TV shows I still like. In 1991, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was a mega-blockbuster, and the entertainment world went a little Robin Hood crazy for a bit. There was the grim and serious Robin Hood TV series starring Richard Masur, the Young Robin Hood cartoon series, a Mel Brooks spoof, and even a Robin Hood-themed episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. And in 1992, ABC aired a medieval adventure in the Kevin Costner style, Covington Cross.

Sometime in 14th Century England, Sir Thomas Grey is a knight in service to the king, overseeing the castle of Covington Cross and its surrounding land. Joining him are his two rambunctious sons, Richard, Cedric, and Armus, and his feisty daughter Eleanor. Various outside forces threaten the peaceful castle, chief among them being Baron Mullens, who’s always scheming to claim Sir Grey’s land for his own.

Wait a sec…  a father and his sons protecting their huge homestead from criminals and rival landowners? This show isn’t Robin Hood, it’s Bonanza! Covington Cross is the Ponderosa, Sir Grey is Lorne Green, and the three sons are, um, the three sons. Just exchange the swords for six-shooters and the English accents for a little cowboy twang, and you’re pretty much there.

What’s to like about Covington Cross? While Bonanza often used its Western setting to explore important social issues and whatnot, the producers of Covington Cross were more interested in the adventure of it all. Expect plenty of swordfights, chases on horseback, and dudes getting shot with arrows. All this action isn’t as flashy or explosive as the Costner movie, but it’s pretty impressive for weekly TV.

Actor Nigel Terry had already played King Arthur in the 1981 Excalibur movie, so he’s able to bring kingly authority to the role of Sir Grey. Youngest brother Cedric is played by Glenn Quinn of Angel, and he’s often put in the romantic role, wooing the young ladies and idealizing chivalry and knighthood. Ione Skye of Say Anything plays daughter Eleanor, and she too is more interested in swordfights than in sewing lace doilies.

Thirteen episodes of Covington Cross were produced, but only seven aired before ABC pulled the plug. Why? The show was incredibly expensive. An American TV show filmed entirely on location in England with all English cast made this a lot more costly than usual. It’s one of those cases where it had to debut as the number one show in the ratings to justify the cost. When that didn’t happen, it had to go. A year after Prince of Thieves, I wonder if audiences were already all Robin Hooded out.

Other observations:

• The pilot had another brother, William, who was written out between episodes one and two. He was replaced by Armus, who gets all of episode two devoted to his intro.

• Is it just me, or does the theme song sound way too much like John Williams’ Superman theme?

• The real-life Covington Cross was Arlington Castle in Kent, England. It’s been a filming location for a number of English TV shows and movies.

There we have it. Covington Cross might Robin Hood lite (or Bonanza lite, even), but it’s enjoyable – a fun, zippy series of adventure tales. If ABC/Disney were to get this out of the vault and put it on Disney Plus, I bet viewers would get a kick out of it.

All thirteen episodes of Covington Cross are currently on YouTube.

Next: Not all black and white.

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