Young Hercules
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| Young Hercules | |
|---|---|
 Young Hercules intro card |
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| Genre | Supernatural Drama |
| Developer(s) | Michael Edens |
| Starring | Ryan Gosling Dean O'Gorman Chris Conrad |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 50, plus pilot |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Sam Raimi Robert G. Tapert Eric Gruendemann Liz Friedman |
| Running time | 20 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Fox Kids Network/Studios USA |
| Original run | September 12, 1998 – May 14, 1999 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Young Hercules is a spin-off from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and aired on FOX Kids Network from September 12, 1998 to May 12, 1999. It lasted only one season with 50 episodes (51 episodes were actually written, but 50 were produced and aired), and starred Ryan Gosling, replacing Ian Bohen from the pilot movie as the title character. Ian Bohen was offered the part, but turned it down by opting not to spend an entire year in New Zealand where the series would shoot principal photography.
Although ratings on the Fox Kids Network were strong for the season (2nd top rated live-action series below Power Rangers), the show was not renewed to the disappointment of millions of fans. Unlike Power Rangers which was owned by Fox Kids Network, Young Hercules is owned by Studios USA (division of Universal Studios), resulting in television politics coming before television ratings. Save Young Hercules campaigns began among fan groups and persisted for several years following the end of the series.
The show featurs the efforts of Ares, God of War, played by Kevin Smith as he attempts to destroy his younger half-brother to win over Zeus' good graces. Among his group is his nephew Strife (Joel Tobeck), who is the rather weaker member of the team. Strife's partner is the goddess Discord, Goddess of Retribution (Meighan Desmond), who acts more level-headed and power hungry than her counterpart on more than one occasion.
The storyline follows Hercules (Ryan Gosling) as he attends Cheiron's Academy to train in the arts of the warrior under the wise headmaster Cheiron the Centaur (Nathaniel Lees). He makes friends with the future king of Corinth, Prince Jason (Chris Conrad) and a thieving former member of a bandit group Iolaus (Dean O'Gorman) who was sentenced to the training academy as an alternative to prison for his crimes. Hercules also meets the academy's first female cadet, Lilith (Jodie Rimmer).
The overall plot of the show is to fill in any of the gaps that may exist between the version of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and the episodes that transpire from his young adult life, although very loosely due to its continuity errors by neglecting the Young Hercules movie and the flashback episodes of the fourth season of Hercules.
The series' executive producers were Robert Tapert and Spider-man director, Sam Raimi. Liz Friedman and Eric Gruendemann were co-executive producers and former MTV producer, Cynthia Hsiung was producer of Young Hercules.
The show has been known to play on the WAM! channel from time to time.
It was known to be only superficially faithful to Greek mythology, as was its predecessor; it uses similar characters, but in a variety of stories, some of which contain anachronisms.
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