History YMMV / Galavant

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Many songs on the soundtrack are clearly inspired by previously-recorded music. Music/AlanMenken even self-plagiarizes his past Disney soundtracks.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B9rjRzlWtU "Let's Agree to Disagree"]] is a take on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2oEmPP5dTM "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"]].
** The melody of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBN7FB7PsGE "Off With His Shirt"]] is clearly a remixed version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5aZJBLAu1E "It's Raining Men"]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kxIbo2aEOQ "Maybe You Won't Die Alone"]] takes its inspiration from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aobVs-HfsCI "Kiss the Girl"]] from ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'', albeit executed as a mariachi number rather than as a calypso.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnSHFspT5G8 "Dwarves vs. Giants"]] takes multiple cues from ''Theatre/WestSideStory'', specifically the whistling from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKqESnFmTmA "Prologue"]] and the single soprano contrasting the male gangs from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0TDtythc2o "Quintet"]].

** "Jackass In A Can" sounds awfully similar to "Gee, Officer Krupke" from ''Theatre/WestSideStory''.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXKtjJ4YWmw "A Happy Ending For Us"]] seems to be based on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqIq1rYTb2I "A Little Priest"]] from ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[spoiler: Was Richard right that Tad Cooper was a dragon all along? Or did he turn into a dragon ''because'' Richard super believed in him?]]

* BaseBreaker: Some people find Wormwood to be an annoying distraction from the already well-liked villains from Season 1, while others love him for his campy mannerisms and genuine devotion to wedding planning.

* TheScrappy:
** The people of Sidneyland are not very popular, with their entire joke being just "Jewish people exist" or that it's a joke that a black guy was adopted and raised by a village of Jews.
** Kingsley, with critics noting that Rutger Hauer didn't seem to quite get the show's tone and plays the whole thing completely seriously. Plus, he's the primary reason we don't get any closure in the first season.
** Much like Sidneyland, the CampGay patrons of The Enchanted Forest, as we have to suffer through an entire episode built around tired stereotypes without any kind of twist that would make it more fun.

* ArcFatigue: Isabella's storyline in the first half of Season 2, where she's nothing but a straight-faced DamselInDistress killing time until Galavant can save her, complete with a brand new villain that no one cares about. [[spoiler: Until it comes abruptly to an end and she ends up [[HesBack as badass and angry as you'd expect.]] The villain sort of redeems himself by tying all plotlines together, allying with much more beloved characters]].

* BrokenBase: Many were upset that the show ends with zero closure and an open plea for a second season, when ABC had been advertising it from the start as a "four week event." Surprisingly to pretty much everyone the show did indeed pick up a second season.

* ClicheStorm: And sometimes it's on purpose.

* MagnificentBitch: [[FromNobodyToNightmare Madalena]] was a peasant woman and Galavant's girlfriend who dumped him to marry [[EvilOverlord King Richard]] and become his queen. Successfully collaborating with Richard in luring Galavant into a trap on the pretense that she’s Richard's prisoner, she overthrows Richard with the help of his treacherous brother Kingsley, only to stab Kingsley InTheBack, becoming the sole monarch of Valencia. When she learns of Galavant, Richard, and co. escaping her imprisonment and their whereabouts, she uses her vast army to declare war on them, while also obtaining the magical powers of the [[TheDarkArts Dark Dark Evil Ways]] to ensure her victory. Only loosing to Richard's [[LegendaryWeapon Sword of the One True King]], Madalena never looses her dark charm and only expands her ambitions to conquer the rest of the world, becoming the apprentice of the Dark Evil Lord to master her powers boldly claiming that nothing will stop her now.

* EndingAversion:
** While most people enjoyed the first 6 or 7 episodes, the fact that the show ends [[spoiler:on a rather dark cliffhanger, blatantly hoping for a second season despite originally being advertised as a MiniSeries,]] has left many people frustrated.
** Though very much averted in Season 2, which strikes the perfect balance between being a satisfying ending while leaving plenty of story possibilities if there's another season. Invoked InUniverse in the second-to-last episode with Jester suggesting they should end right there and piss everybody off like they did last season before being [[InterruptedByTheEnd cut off by the episode itself ending]].

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** Music/AlanMenken wrote the songs, AND is an executive producer. Are you surprised that it has some? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZvldziC134 Special mention has to go to the opening number.]] Apparently, ABC also loves the song, because every single trailer for an ABC show has a little ditty of its own, set to the same tune, with some rather nifty variations.
** "Love is Strange." Not only is this when Galavant and Isabella confess their feelings for each other, the musical accompaniment has some of the most complex orchestration heard in the soundtrack.
** The new opening for Season 2, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlZIeCjIL40 New Season (aka Suck It Cancellation Bear),]]" also is good. Justified; the song tries to replace the ''catchy'' precedent main theme InUniverse. It has a DarkReprise also.
** The tune of the main theme comes back for the awesome "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF0iIv0gdhI Galavant Recap]]" where the Jester breathlessly and flawlessly recaps the last few episodes for everyone, to the point where both armies applaud him in-universe.

* MagnificentBitch: [[spoiler: Madalena]]. Magnified by RewatchBonus and the triumph it represents on a meta-level.

* MoralEventHorizon: Even after everything else she's done, Madelena truly goes beyond the pale near the end of Season 2 when [[spoiler:she sells her soul for demonic powers, something even Gareth is against, and is fully prepared to ''kill a baby'' to get them, freaking out the guy who brought it up in the first place]].

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome:

* EarWorm: The AwesomeMusic, ''especially'' the opening number. Just listen to it once, and suddenly you'll want to start singing along any time you hear it again. Or even just see the lyrics.

-->'''Facebook commenter:''' I think I'm going to have to give my kids "TheTalk" after this.

* SpiritualLicensee: This is the closest we're going to get to a TV series of ''Theater/{{Spamalot}}''.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnSHFspT5G8 "Dwarves vs. Giants"]] takes multiple cues from ''Theater/WestSideStory'', specifically the whistling from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKqESnFmTmA "Prologue"]] and the single soprano contrasting the male gangs from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0TDtythc2o "Quintet"]].

** The AngryMobSong "Today We Rise" is very similar to "One Day More" from ''Theater/LesMiserables''. {{Lampshaded}} when Sid starts waving a giant red flag out of nowhere halfway through.
** "Jackass In A Can" sounds awfully similar to "Gee, Officer Krupke" from ''Theater/WestSideStory''.

* ArcFatigue: Isabella's storyline in the first half of Season 2, where she's nothing but a straight-faced DamselInDistress killing time until Galavant can save her, complete with a brand new villain that no one cares about. [[spoiler: Until it comes abruptly to an end and she ends up [[HesBack as badass and angry as you'd expect.]]The villain sort of redeems himself by tying all plotlines together, allying with much more beloved characters]].

** Hell, ALL the music qualifies in one way or another.

** Joshua Sasse and Music/KylieMinogue started dating after meeting on set, [[http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/6882824/kylie-minogue-engaged-to-boyfriend-joshua-sasse-galavant and are now engaged]]. Gives the whole "Off With His Shirt" number a whole new subtext, doesn't it?

** "When Will That Day Come" (the duet Richard sings with his younger self in the final episode) is similar to "Getting Tall" from ''Theatre/{{Nine}}''.

** Vincenzo, the king's tiny beleaguered chef, is a scene-stealer from episode 1. Towards the end of season 1 he gets his own sideplot and a love interest in {{GwynneCuteandPsycho}}, and their morbidly sweet duets are some of the best moments in the show.

** Vincenzo, the king's tiny beleaguered chef, is a scene-stealer from episode 1. Towards the end of season 1 he gets his own sideplot and a love interest in {{CuteandPsychoGwynne}}, and their morbidly sweet duets are some of the best moments in the show.

** Vincenzo, the king's tiny beleaguered chef, is a scene-stealer from episode 1. Towards the end of season 1 he gets his own sideplot and a love interest in {{CuteandPsycho Gwynne}}, and their morbidly sweet duets are some of the best moments in the show.

** Vincenzo, the king's tiny beleaguered chef, is a scene-stealer from episode 1. Towards the end of season 1 he gets his own sideplot and a love interest in {{CuteandPyschoGwynne}}, and their morbidly sweet duets are some of the best moments in the show.

** Vincenzo, the king's tiny beleaguered chef, is a scene-stealer from episode 1. Towards the end of season 1 he gets his own sideplot and a love interest in {{CuteandPyscho Gwynne}}, and their morbidly sweet duets are some of the best moments in the show.

** Vincenzo, the king's tiny beleaguered chef, is a scene-stealer from episode 1. Towards the end of season 1 he gets his own sideplot and a love interest in Gwynne, and their morbidly sweet duets are some of the best moments in the show.

** "When Will That Day Come" (the duet Richard sings with his younger self in the final episode) is similar to "Getting Tall" from ''Theatre/Nine.''

* GeniusBonus: Richard is conned into buying a lizard, thinking it's a dragon that will soon grow to full size. Thing is, he's actually right, as it's a Pogona, whose common name is the bearded dragon.

* BrokenBase: Many were upset that the show ends with zero closure and an open plea for a second season, when ABC had been advertising it from the start as a "four week event."
** Surprisingly to pretty much everyone the show did indeed pick up a second season.

** Isabella thinking Galavant has abandoned her due to essentially a crappy cell phone connection would usually be pretty groan-worthy, except what she thinks he says is ''so'' over the top horrible and contrived (including a cow showing up out of nowhere just so she'll think he's calling her a cow) that it becomes a hilarious parody of these kinds of PoorCommunicationKills shenanigans. It also helps that's [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]].
** Sid [[spoiler: accidentally impaling Galavant is so sudden and contrived after everything seemed to be going so well that it's just hilarious.]]
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Music/AlanMenken wrote the songs, AND is an executive producer. Are you surprised that it has some? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZvldziC134 Special mention has to go to the opening number.]] Apparently, ABC also loves the song, because every single trailer for an ABC show has a little ditty of its own, set to the same tune, with some rather nifty variations.
** "Love is Strange". Not only is this when Galavant and Isabella confess their feelings for each other the musical accompaniment has some of the most complex orchestration heard in the soundtrack.
** The new opening for Season 2 "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlZIeCjIL40 New Season (aka Suck It Cancellation Bear)]]" also is good. Justified why the song try to replace InUniverse the ''catchy'' precedent main theme. It has a DarkReprise also.
** The tune of the main theme comes back for the awesome "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF0iIv0gdhI Galavant Recap]]" where the Jester breathlessly and flawlessly recaps the last few episodes for everyone, to the point where both armies applaud it in universe.
* CultClassic: Despite a strong start at its premiere, Galavant never really crystallized as a successful "filler" show, and at only 8 or 10 episodes a season, it's not even the longest cult classic. However, the premise, the twists, the great music and fun characters all make for a combination that created a modest fanbase.

** While most people enjoyed the first 6 or 7 episodes, the fact that the show ends [[spoiler:on a rather dark cliff hanger and blatantly hoping for a second season despite originally being advertised as a MiniSeries]] has left many people frustrated.
** Though very much averted in Season 2, which strikes the perfect balance between being a satisfying ending while leaving plenty of story possibilities if there's another season.
*** Invoked InUniverse in the second-last episode with Jester suggesting they should end right there and piss everybody off like they did last season before being cut off by the episode itself ending.

** Vincenzo, the king's tiny beleaguered chef is a scene stealer from episode 1. Towards the end of season 1 he gets his own sideplot and a love interest in Gwynne, and their morbidly sweet duets are some of the best moments in the show.
** Also especially popular from the get-go was Gareth thanks to his ComicallySerious tendencies and over-the-top masculinity.

** Joshua Sasse and Kylie Minogue started dating after meeting on set, [[http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/6882824/kylie-minogue-engaged-to-boyfriend-joshua-sasse-galavant and are now engaged]]. Gives the whole "Off with his Shirt" number a whole new subtext, doesn't it?

* HollywoodPudgy: Gareth makes several jokes at the expense of Isabella's weight. This is lampshaded by King Richard, who points out that she's a hundred pounds soaking wet. It's then subverted when Gareth mentions that the "really skinny" women he likes are "really, really unhealthy." In fact, he also likes really fat women. He is just not fond of anything in-between.

* HoYay: Gareth’s UndyingLoyalty plus Richard’s TheDandy / CampStraight tendencies often push the duo's OddFriendship into this territory.

** Richard, his parents just ignored him [[spoiler: only giving their love and respect to his older brother, Kingsley.]]

* MemeticMutation: "I super believe in Tad Cooper"
* MoralEventHorizon: Even after everything else she's done, Madelena truly goes beyond the pale near the end of Season 2 when [[spoiler:she sells her soul for demonic powers, something even Gareth was against, and is fully prepared to ''kill a baby'' to get them, freaking out the guy who brought it up in the first place.]]

** The people of Sidneyland are not very popular, with their entire joke being just "Jewish people exist" or that it's a joke that a black guy was adopted and raised by a village of jews.
** Kingsley, with critics noting that Rutger Hauer didn't seem to quite get the show's tone and plays the whole thing completely seriously. Plus, he's the primary reason we don't get any closure on the story.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Many songs on the soundtrack are clearly inspired by previously-recorded music. Alan Menken even self-plagiarizes his past Disney soundtracks.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B9rjRzlWtU "Let's Agree to Disagree"]] is a take on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2oEmPP5dTM "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"]]

** "Do the D'Dew" is an evil version of [[Disney/{{SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs}} "The Silly Song"]].
** "My Dragon Pal and Me" is a lot like the theme song from ''Series/ThatGirl''
** The AngryMobSong "Today We Rise" is very similar to "One Day More" from ''Theater/LesMiserables''.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: After a terrific introduction showing her ActionGirl and UndyingLoyalty sides, Roberta spends the rest of Season 2 doing nothing but mooning over Richard, even sitting out the climax entirely.

** Both the show's major actresses were given roles on other ABC shows after the cancellation, with some striking similarities to their ''Galavant'' characters. Karen David plays a princess who's lost her kingdom and searches for outside help to get it back on ''Series/OnceUponATime'', and Mallory Jansen plays a coldly unemotional android who gains access to dark magic on''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''.