WIZARDS & WARRIORS, THE MORE D&DESQUE TV SERIES OF THE EIGHTIES

All gamers and collectors know that the first half of the '80s was the very first peak of Dungeons & Dragons' popularity, at least in the United States. TSR seemed an unstoppable force, the game was sold not 'just' in game, toy and hobby stores but in mass market outets too, TSR granted licenses for such 'unusual' products such as party items and beach towels, a cartoon was aired in TV... What was still missing? A movie and a television series. In 1983 it seemed that at least one wish was granted because the CBS TV network in the US aired the first episode of Wizards & Warriors, a fantasy TV series who licensed its name from Mattel and Reston (who published the Wizards & Warriors RPG). Alas the series did not last long because it was cancelled after just eight episodes - this did not stop it from reaching foreign markets: in Italy for example was aired on the Italia 1 TV network some years after the cancellation of the series (it seems that Italy has a voracious appetite for American TV series) first under the name Storie di Maghi e Guerrieri (Tales of Wizards and Warriors) and then as Storie di Guerra e Magia (Tales of War and Magic) under the Italia 7 TV label. Legend has that some local TV stations in Italy still occasionally air Wizards & Warriors!

In Wizards & Warriors we have two conflicting kingdoms, Karteia (the Evil one), leaded by Evil Prince Dirk, and Camarand (the Good one), 'lead' by King Edwin (which looks very similar to Gary Gygax at the time...) but actually defended by Prince Erik who is engaged with Ariel, King Edwin's daughter and archenemy of evil Prince Dirk. And there are sidekicks: Dirk has (of course) an Evil Wizard, Vector, who is costantly trying to kill him and get back his magical lens (source of awesome magical power) while Prince Erik has Marko, a 'servant' with huge strenght and able to speak with animals. You may notice that Prince Erik is interpreted by Jeff Conaway (yes, that Jeff Conaway) so never ever watch Wizards & Warriors after seeing Grease! 

Wizards & Warriors has everything a D&D fan would love: a Paladin (Erik) and an Anti Paladin (Dirk) hating each other; great sidekicks (Vector being a particular favourite of mine); dungeons; monsters; damsels in distress; curses; demons; haunted castles; and much more. The episodes are funny and sometimes witty, the plots are not that original, but agreeable (except perhaps the one with an atomic bomb from ages past - we are not kidding!). Our favourite is "Vulkar's Revenge" where Vector summons the powerful demon Vulkar to kill Prince... Dirk ("The demon is confused, he does not remember which Prince has to kill..." says Dirk staring at Vector...),  albeit officially the target is Prince Erik. This forces Dirk and Erik to make common cause against Vulkar and his demon army - the problem is, it's not possible to destroy Vulkar with a weapon that has already killed him and he has been banned back to Hell many times... Wizards & Warriors is a a great tribute to the D&D of old and we heartily recommend watching it.