In a continent full of monsters and magic, the people desperately seek a hero to protect them. Humanity needs someone powerful and fearless to save them from the many dangers that threaten to destroy them all. They need someone strong and brave who is guided by moral compass. This champion of good must also be broad-shouldered, for they will surely carry a heavy burden on their journeys through an evil world. And it also helps if they have great hair. Flowing locks can instill confidence in even the most skeptical non-believers. Plus it looks great in a sword fight.
We speak of course of the mighty… uh, technically we could be talking about either Hercules or Geralt of Rivia. They have a lot in common, which is why we gave The Witcher its very own ’90s-style opening credits inspired by the classic Kevin Sorbo series.
Back then, the well-coifed hero who saved the people from monsters was Hercules. Just like Geralt he also wandered the land looking for adventure, fighting evil men and terrible creatures. Kevin Sorbo’s Hercules seemed to be having a lot more fun than the grim, tight-lipped Geralt though. We definitely don’t remember Hercules dropping many f-bombs.
What we do remember is Hercules: The Legendary Journeys‘ opening credits sequences. They might seem corny in retrospect, but trust us, it was also corny back then too. But that cheesiness was a big part of why we loved the show so much. But we make no apologies for loving the show’s theme song. It was amazing then and it’s amazing now.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ran for six seasons and 111 episodes from 1995 to 1999. The show even led to two popular spin-off series. Xena: Warrior Princess, which arguably became even more popular, and Young Hercules, starring Ryan Freaking Gosling. That one only ran for one season, but it did produce 50 episodes.
We’re not even sure The Witcher on Netflix will ever get 50 episodes. The streaming site isn’t exactly big on doing long runs of its original series. But we hope the adventures of Geralt of Rivia can overcome those odds and stick around for a long time.
Our obsession with fantasy shows goes way back. Great heroes wielding swords and finding new challenges as the travel strange lands every week is always fun. Especially when they are doing it with great hair. That looked worked in the ’90s and it still does now.
CREDITS
Produced by Jason Nguyen & Erik Kozura
Narration by Matt Caron
Edited by Matt Caron
VFX by Charles Shattuck
