The Adventures of Sinbad
The Adventures of Sinbad is roughly a retelling of the adventures of Sinbad from "The Arabian Nights." It started in 1996, hoping to follow in on the popularity of Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. It did not, lasting only two seasons. Ending in 1998. A total of 44 episodes.
The story followed the adventures of a Caucasian Sinbad, his older brother Doubar, Firouz the alchemist, the mute Rongar, and Celtic sorceress Maeve.
This series provides examples of:
- Anyone Can Die: Attempted. Mustapha, who featured prominently in the first episode only to die in the second. However, since he wasn't in the opening credits, it was obvious from the beginning he was only a Sacrificial Lamb.
- Arbitrary Scepticism: Firouz. He's not fazed by sorcerers, magic, the devil, demons, or Olympian-style gods, but ghosts? They don't exist even when they're standing right in front of him.
- A Day in The Limelight: At least everyone on the team got one.
- Bald Black Leader Guy: Rongar was a prince in his home realm. He remains both bald and black.
- Big Bad: Turok, only for the first two episodes, and he made a dismembered guest appearance in the Season 1 Finale.
- Bond One Liner: During the second season, Sinbad throws a mook into a pit of spikes, then quips "I think he got the point".
- Bound and Gagged: Maeve in one episode when she was captured by vikings (one of whom was Bret Hart. No seriously) as a sacrifice to free their ship from a bad special effect.
- Dark Action Girl: Rumina, despite being a Vain Sorceress, has more in common with this than Dark Magical Girl.
- Darker and Edgier: The entire selling point of the second (and last) season.
- Dropped a Bridge On Him: Maeve fell off the ship at the beginning of Season 2 and was pulled away in the tide. We later found out that A Wizard Did It to protect her from Rumina.
- Mr. Fanservice: Rongar. The actor who portrayed him, Oris Erhuro, is pretty much a real life example of it.
- Evil Sorcerer: Turok and Rumina
- Five Man Band
- The Hero: Sinbad
- The Lancer: Doubar (although he overlaps with The Big Guy)
- The Smart Guy: Firouz
- The Big Guy: Rongar
- The Chick: Maeve, later Bryn
- Foe Yay: Rumina hates Sinbad for killing her daddy, but we all know she wants to get into his pants.
- Follow the Leader: This show mainly existed because of Hercules and Xena's shows.
- Get On the Boat: The boat was pretty much the plot device to get the group from episode to episode.
- Heroic Fantasy
- Hey Its That Voice: Doubar is portrayed by George Buza who voiced Beast in the X-Men Animated series.
- One Shot villain Malek is portrayed by Anthony De Longis who would later voice Deke and (much later) Marshall Johnson and General Sarrano.
- Hotter and Sexier: The show tried to advertise Season 2 as this, mostly by lots of fanservice shots of Bryn in the commercials.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: "the Beast Within".
- Les Yay: Rumina, while she was disguised as Sinbad to seduce Maeve in Basra.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Sinbad and Maeve are arguing, and Caipra tells them to "Stop acting like an old married couple."
- Non Action Guy: Firouz
- Put On a Bus: Maeve, Rumina and Turok were nixed in Season 2, but could have been brought back easily, had the show not been cancelled.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Of course, Maeve couldn't return at all because Jacqueline Collen, the actress behind Maeve, had to deal with being a full-time mommy.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Mustapha, see above.
- Satan: Old Scratch.
- Sexy Silhouette: Rumina pulled this once, deliberately, in an attempt to seduce Sinbad.
- The Speechless: Rongar couldn't talk because his tongue was cut out, but on very rare occasions he would scream. Usually he communicated through facial expressions and pantomime.
- Stripperiffic: Maeve wasn't too bad - she wore a pseudo-traditional dress with a not entirely unreasonable amount of cleavage, and aside from the aforementioned midriff baring, Rumina usually wasn't unreasonable either. One episode had her showing off her cleavage, and in the season 1 finale she put on a black floor length gown. Bryn, however, ...yeah.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Bryn replaced Maeve.
- Tricksters: The eponymous Trickster disguised as an old man named Raynard to trick Sinbad's crew and Rumina while they were powerlessly stranded in an island.
- Token Minority: Rongar
- The Vamp: Rumina
- You Killed My Father: Rumina's definitely mad at Sinbad for killing her father Turok.