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"The BBC&amp;#039;s Merlin managed to conjure up some magic before it hit UK television screens last year. For broadcaster NBC snapped up the first season to show on mainstream American television during primetime, which is almost unheard of for a British show. Even the revitalised Doctor Who is limited to the niche Sci Fi and BBC America channels across the pond. But has Merlin been slaying the American critics and viewers? Read on... Given its quintessentially British nature, Merlin always faced an uphill battle to make inroads into the cutthroat US market. Would appearances by the likes of Richard Wilson and Will Mellor serve up any postmodern thrills for non-Brits? I don&amp;#039;t believe it, as Victor Meldrew (aka Gaius) might say. The recurring presence of Michelle Ryan as the wicked sorceress Nimueh might also put off viewers, given the star&amp;#039;s part in the recent US megaflop remake of the Bionic Woman. (Mind you, perhaps this was counterbalanced by Anthony Head&amp;#039;s involvement, given his cult status as Glies from Buffy). In addition, the series took several episodes to hit its stride on BBC One - a luxury often not afforded Stateside, with several shows unceremoniously yanked out of the schedules after only a couple of episodes.  Premiering with a double bill on NBC on Sunday, June 21, Merlin&amp;#039;s debut &amp;quot;didn&amp;#039;t exactly put a spell on viewers&amp;quot; in the words of entertainment website Hitfix. It picked up 5.3 million viewers according to overnight estimates, which was 1.3 million down on its equivalent UK figure. However, the figure was not too shabby given the context, as audiences traditionally slump during the summer months. Specialist science fiction website Airlock Alpha (formerly SyFy Portal) took those considerations into account, as well as the fact that NBC would have saved money on acquiring the show rather than making it, when it stated that Merlin &amp;quot;pulled in decent audiences&amp;quot;. The New York Times deemed that &amp;quot;although both Merlin audiences were relatively small, they were enough to propel NBC to second place on the night&amp;quot;. Repeats of Million Dollar Password and Cold Case won the evening for CBS. It also didn&amp;#039;t help that a family-orientated show like Merlin was shown between 8pm to 10pm when much of its target audience would be tucked up in bed, which perhaps explains why the double bill shed viewers during its second hour. The following week, another Merlin double bill cast its spell on one million fewer viewers - a very worrying development. Yet since then, ratings have mostly remained above the 4.2 million mark, which is testament to the improving quality of the episodes during the season. The fact is, the show is still on air and in its original 8pm time slot, which is a feat in itself.   As for the critical response, the immediate consensus was largely positive and it was felt that NBC had breathed fresh life into the usually stale and repeat-filled summer schedules. Writing for The New York Times, Alessandra Stanley branded the programme &amp;quot;a lighthearted, quite charming medieval adventure series... tailored to the age of Obama&amp;quot;. She also remarked that &amp;quot;the show may seem a little too PG for its slot, and better suited to Saturday morning children\u2019s programming&amp;quot;. The Monsters And Critics website labelled Merlin as a &amp;quot;wonderful gift&amp;quot; from the BBC as &amp;quot;the quality of the casting, production and writing make it one of the summer&amp;#039;s best series to enjoy&amp;quot;. Adam Markovitz from the highly influential Entertainment Weekly delivered a rave review, saying that &amp;quot;there&amp;#039;s enough sword-clanging action - not to mention homoerotic tension - to keep viewers happily entertained for a spell&amp;quot;. However, both Variety and The Washington Post clouded the waters with venom, much like Nimueh&amp;#039;s fiendish scheme in the third episode of the season. The former publication felt that the &amp;quot;rather tepid&amp;quot; show would soon &amp;quot;disappear without much lamentation&amp;quot;, while the latter surmised that it &amp;quot;takes the stuff of legend and imagination and makes it dry and commonplace. You look forward not to the next exciting chapter, but for the whole enterprise to go &amp;#039;poof&amp;#039; and disappear&amp;quot;. The final word should go to The Hollywood Reporter&amp;#039;s rather amusingly-named reviewer Randee Dawn, who wrote: &amp;quot;How this ever made it on to American primetime I&amp;#039;ll never understand, but maybe that&amp;#039;s just one of Merlin&amp;#039;s magical mysteries. We should all be so enchanted.&amp;quot; &amp;gt; Click here for our verdict on Merlin&amp;#039;s first season "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/merlin/news/a168997/how-is-merlin-faring-in-america/>