Exit the warrior, today's Tom Sawyer

So if you're ABC, and you have a smart new comedy that walks the line between Arrested Development's cleverness and My Name is Earl's populist approach, what do you do with it to make sure it grows an audience? If you said put it up against American Idol and let it sink or swim, I'm sure the network has bathroom key with your name on it.

While everyone else was watching wannabes butcher song after song in American Idol auditions, a select few of us watched the cast from The Knights of Prosperity butcher Rush's "Tom Sawyer" in hilarious fashion. The Knights were debating what should be their theme music when Eugene (Donal Logue) broke into that Rush classic. In reality, they have a theme song, composed by long time Letterman sidekick Paul Shaffer (Letterman's a producer.) It features actor Kevin Michael Richardson (pictured) on vocals and is a fine Isaac Hayes spoof:


As expected, though, the show was summarily trounced in the ratings by that 500 lb gorilla AI. So I guess that means we're on a Knights death watch from here on out, unless ABC decides to save it by giving it a chance in another time slot. In the meantime, you owe it yourselves to watch the first three episodes, streaming for free (ABC.)

Knights of Prosperity - Episode 1.03
1. "Tom Sawyer" - Rush
2. "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" - Poison

Previously: Breakbeat backdrop (Episode 1.01)

tags: music, television, soundtrack, rush, american idol, abc, letterman, paul shaffer, donal logue, knights of prosperity, rhapsody