Wizards and Warriors

This short-lived series was clearly inspired by the sword-and-sorcery games that were gaining mainstream attention at the time.  Also known as Greystone's Odyssey (a reference to the name of the protagonist), the show was directed by Bill Bixby and Richard Colla, and starred Grease alum Jeff Conaway.  It debuted on CBS as a midseason replacement and ran from February to May of 1983.

Prince Erik Greystone has a promising future: he is engaged to King Baaldorf's daughter, the somewhat spoiled Princess Ariel (played by Julia Duffy) and is in training to eventually become king.  However the neighbouring kingdom's Prince Dirk Blackpool (Duncan Regehr) holds a deep grudge and plots with his evil wizard Vector (Clive Revill) to destroy Prince Erik and his squire Marko (Walter Olkewicz).

What made the show good was that it never really took itself seriously and it injected a lot of humour and over-the-top acting, particularly by the villains.  However its mix of comedy and adventure was ahead of its time and it had trouble finding an audience.  Plus, creating a convincing fantasy setting was expensive and the network wasn't willing to continue a show without the ratings to back it up.  Only eight episodes were produced.

Despite its brief life it gained some recognition.  Critics praised the series as being "witty" and having solid directing and writing.  Costume designer Theadora Van Runkle won the 1983 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Series and hairstylist Sharleen Rassi was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling.  There is a "manufacture on demand" DVD release available through the Warner Brothers online store and Amazon.