Roar

geoffw (see below) is quite right about what happened to this show: poor network marketing support (complicated by network interference with the concept). The Christian Right had nothing to do with its cancellation, and the individual who suggested that is out of touch with the facts.

The fact is that this was another wonderfully original and well-developed concept from Shawn Cassidy (who also created 'American Gothic', among others) that was mis-marketed by FOX. Apparently FOX wanted to grab some of the riches generated by camp sword and sorcery shows like 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' and 'Xena: Warrior Princess'. They gave Roar very little marketing support (I remember vague promos showing people in leather armor that gave no idea what the show was about), and what little support they did give it implied it was a Hercules/Xena clone. It wasn't. When the wrong audience tuned in and rejected it, FOX started moving it all over the schedule, again without proper marketing support. They also applied pressure to the producers to dumb it down and make it more like Hercules/Xena. Watch a marathon on Sci-Fi sometime, and you will notice the following network-inspired trends:

1) The importance of Conor's struggle to unite the Irish clans diminishes. By the middle of the series, his efforts in this regard are only described in throwaway dialog and aren't seen on screen. These efforts should have provided the meat of the series. What table scraps we do get imply that the mission was effortless, which it certainly would not have been (clan rivalries historically prevented the Irish from uniting for the common good, which is how the English got a foothold centuries later). We frequently see Conor and Fergus travelling aimlessly about doing good deeds (instead of raising a resistance against the Romans) ala Hercules and Iolaus.

2) The importance of Conor's war band withers over the course of the series, until finally they don't even appear -- even though they are still credited as regular characters. By midway through the show's run, we usually see Conor and Fergus travelling alone, despite the fact that Conor is an important king who should be regarded as a deadly enemy by the Romans.

2) Vera Farmiga's costume becomes smaller and smaller, until the introduction of Melissa George as Molly, after which the character of Caitlin is rarely seen at all. Obviously a misguided attempt to "sex it up", and when the writers couldn't distort the Conor-Caitlin relationship enough to permit romance, they introduced a new love interest.

3) Originally intensely dramatic, with tragic loves, murky intrigues, murders and double-crosses, by mid-run it had become a campy adventure comedy.

4) The character of Longinus was a well-crafted and mysterious villain with tons of potential. Unfortunately, with the tone of the show shifting, he simply wasn't silly enough, so they unsuitably disposed of the character (it violated the integrity of the character to have him fall victim to such a plot) and made the ridiculously camp Diana the sole villain.

This could have been a great show, and it didn't hurt that the cast is actually quite competent. But I suspect that -- after the failure of 'American Gothic' -- Cassidy was willing to do anything to keep his new masters happy. Unfortunately it diminished his vision, and killed the show.

Ultimately, Roar became indistinguishable from the ilk of Hercules/Zena, but because the characters weren't designed to be camp it couldn't compete with that class of show. Had FOX left well enough alone and helped it to find the RIGHT audience, we would at the very least have a great short-lived series to collect on home video. Now, we don't even have that.

Completely agree with other comment here about this great series, Roar. When it first showed I was absolutely blown away by the then fairly unknown Heath Ledger, aside from being easy on the eye he was a fabulous young actor and every week I wanted more Roar. This show had it all, brilliant acting, wonderful cinematography and directing, great cast, exciting story lines, passion, intrigue, fighting and magic - what more could they possibly want? At a time when Zena and Hercules were getting huge ratings Roar should definitely have been a winner. When it suddenly disappeared from the screen "disappointed" did not cover it - years later I spotted it's name slotted at midnight in the TV guide for two weeks running - so I taped it - only to get late night shopping instead! It never showed that I could see. Obviously Heath Ledger is too big a name now if the series continued but there are plenty of other great young actors who might attempt to fill his shoes as "Conor" - or simply rerunning the series would be big ratings now he is who he is. Maybe I just miss his Irish accent?

I saw this show when it first came on and I applauded the original line they were taking. I loved the depiction of the struggle against the encroachment of the Roman troupes.

By the end, with the serious dumbing down they committed I only lamented the end of the original promise. I'd love to find a DVD copy of what little there was. FOX blew this one seriously with the tacky shift in focus and the lack of support. I've never completely understood why they couldn't expand on the relationship between Kat and Connor. There was a deep feeling of respect between them and during that time in history, pagan and Christian, if they came to an understanding between them intermarried easily enough. Especially in the early days of Christian introduction to the Celtic tribes. Molly was a distraction, an interesting character but a distraction from the relationship of Kat and Connor. Disappointing in the lack of development of either relationship.

I'd like to thank SciFi for giving me a chance to see it once in a while again.

Before he became a household name and invaded the dreams of almost every teenaged girl in North America, Heath Ledger starred in a little known action adventure series called "Roar."

I remember singing "Roar"'s praises when Fox first premiered it as a summer fill-in six years ago. It was a daring show--an action adventure series which took place in Celtic Ireland in the 5th century CE (1200 years before Shakespeare) starring a cast of unknowns. The story lines were great: a reluctant hero fulfill his destiny by uniting clans against the Romans. It lasted maybe eight or ten episodes, but it was a smart, imaginative, entertaining drama.

(I watched an episode on Sci-Fi last night, trying to figure out where I know Sebastian Roche (Longinus, the immortal) from. He played heavy metal star C-Square in an episode of "Law & Order.")

I first saw this show about a year ago. They aired the whole season over here, because as it was set in Ireland, it saved our networks lots of time and money,and made them look good.

It mixed a good amount of historical detail with myth, and plenty of swords and sorcery. It also was completely devoid of stereotypical irish stuff like leprechauns and dodgy accents (because half of the cast were from NewZealand). This made it appeal to everyone here as well. It was also full of kick ass battles and warrior babes, with some classy characters, and a great villain in the form of Sébastian roche (the peacemaker, merlin) as the Roman Centurion who tortured christ on the cross, and was cursed with immortality. It really was a good story, and should be brought back as soon as possible!