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Shawn Van Horn is a Senior Author for Collider. He's watched way too many slasher movies over the decades, which makes him an aficionado on all things Halloween and Friday the 13th. Don't ask him to choose between Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees because he can't do it. He grew up in the 90s, when Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and TGIF were his life, and still watches them religiously to this day. Larry David is his spirit animal. His love for entertainment spreads to the written word as well. He has written two novels and is neck deep in the querying trenches. He is also a short story maker upper and poet with a dozen publishing credits to his name. He lives in small town Ohio, where he likes to watch professional wrestling and movies.
No matter how advanced our modern world gets, audiences will always crave entertainment which takes them back to another time. As proof, you only have to look at how popular Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande's Wicked is, as it brought in an audience craving nostalgia from The Wizard of Oz while also exploring different parts of the world.
Wicked isn't the only example of this, of course. One of the best has been forgotten, but thanks to Tubi, you can now see it for free. In 2000, the NBC miniseries The 10th Kingdom took place in a world where popular characters like Snow White and Cinderella exist in the same story, and one of the few who can stop the Evil Queen (Dianne Wiest) is a waitress from New York City named Virginia (Kimberly Williams-Paisley).
What Is 'The 10th Kingdom' About?
The 10th Kingdom starts out being about the nine kingdoms, which are the ones inhabited by impossible magic. It's where familiar fairytale heroes and villains live, like trolls, Cinderella, the family of Snow White, or the ancestors of Little Bo Peep. Among them is Prince Wendell (Daniel Lapaine), the full-of-himself grandchild of Snow White and the heir to the fourth kingdom's throne. However, with help from the Troll King (Ed O'Neill), the Prince is caught by his stepmother, the Evil Queen, a murderous woman held in prison. She escapes, turns Wendell into a dog, and takes over the kingdom.
Wendell, now cursed to be a golden retriever, flees through a magical mirror, only to end up in the titular 10th Kingdom: New York City in the year 2000. While he's pursued by the Troll King and his family, Wendell is saved by a brave Manhattan waitress, Virginia Lewis, her father, a janitor named Tony (John Larroquette), and another escapee, Wolf (Scott Cohen), a prisoner who must decide between helping the Evil Queen and his love for Virginia. Will this band of misfits be able to get Wendell back to the fourth kingdom, return him to his human form, and put him on his rightful throne?
'The 10th Kingdom' Brings Together Some of the Best Actors of the Era
Image via NBCThe 10th Kingdom aired on NBC in early 2000, with two-hour episodes taking place over five nights. The TV landscape was quickly changing in the first days of the 21st century as reality TV crept in, and long miniseries quickly became a thing of the past. When The 10th Kingdom's first episode aired, ABC's very popular Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, hosted by Regis Philbin, was the talk of TV, and although someone made the unwise choice to put The 10th Kingdom up against it, the fantasy story still took in a decently impressive 11 million viewers in its initial airing — a figure networks would kill for today.
The 10th Kingdom is not only helped by its expansive story of suspense, intrigue, mystery, comedy, and romance, but a stellar cast. At the time, Kimberly Williams-Paisley was most well known for her role in Father of the Bride. Still, she had the charm and talent to carry the miniseries as its lead. Co-leader Scott Cohen's lack of name recognition is wiped out by his own charisma and chemistry with Williams-Paisley. However, because this was network TV, some big names were needed too, and The 10th Kingdom has them.
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John Larroquette was coming off the very popular Night Court. Dianne Wiest was well known for her film roles like The Lost Boys and Edward Scisshorhands, and Ed O'Neill, under heavy makeup as Relish the Troll King, had already conquered TV before as Al Bundy in Married... with Children. The impressive star power was spread to smaller parts as well, with Rutger Hauer as the Huntsman, Camryn Manheim as Snow White, and in a bit of perfect casting, Ann-Margret as Cinderella!
From the stunning visuals of its main intro titles, which shows a magical kingdom rising up in Manhattan, to its infectious modern weirdness (there is a Saturday Night Fever sing-a-long from the trolls, for example), and the contrast of such different heroes rising up to work together and fight against evil, The 10th Kingdom is a compelling watch, no matter the decade you view it in. So much thought is put into the setting and costumes, as well as the unique story. If you grew up in the '90s and 2000s, The 10th Kingdom is warm nostalgia. It's a feel-good watch with a heartbreaking twist, one that was smartly written and beautifully filmed. If you missed it the first time around and need an escape, check out The 10th Kingdom on Tubi now. It won't cost you anything, but you'll gain so much.
English (US) ·