![\"ofkingsandprophets-saul\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/227\/2016\/03\/ofkingsandprophets-saul.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOf Kings and Prophets<\/a><\/i> didn\u2019t quite find the audience it was looking for when it premiered the other day, but there are still several episodes to come. The network has released a new featurette on the series, a sneak peek of next week\u2019s episode, and some clips from the premiere that aired two nights ago. Check \u2019em out below the jump.<\/p>\n First, here\u2019s the sneak peek, in which Joab cautions David not to fall in love with Saul\u2019s daughter, and to avoid getting tangled up in Saul\u2019s dynasty altogether:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A shepherd is the definition of an unworthy suitor for a princess.<\/p>\n Posted by Of Kings and Prophets<\/a> on Friday, March 11, 2016<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Second, here\u2019s a new featurette, which features soundbites from producers Chris Brancato and Reza Aslan, and from co-stars Ray Winstone (Saul), Olly Rix (David), Simone Kessell (Ahinoam), Jeanine Mason (Merav), Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Michal), James Floyd (Ishbaal) and Nathaniel Parker (who plays the Philistine king Achish in this series, and previously played David in a 1997 TV-movie<\/a>):<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n So much goes into making #OfKingsAndProphets come to life!<\/p>\n Posted by Of Kings and Prophets<\/a> on Thursday, March 10, 2016<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Speaking of which, there have been some other text interviews with the producers.<\/p>\n Brancato talked to NJ.com<\/a> about expanding the biblical narrative, and about the possible controversy over the show\u2019s strong sexual elements:<\/p>\n \u201cFrom my experience, faith-based people like sex as much as anybody else. I don\u2019t know that that will necessarily be an impediment. I\u2019m hoping this show doesn\u2019t live and die by the violence or the sex, but on the attracting and hooking into the characters.\u201d . . .<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a true-to-life story. It\u2019s real people who existed. The Bible, as you know, it was written thousands of years ago. It was revised along the way, and there\u2019s a lot of what we call negative space, which is to say, you have to fill in and understand character motivations \u2026 We try to give the characters psychologically complex motivations that we believe they would have had if the men or the women who wrote the Bible took Robert McKee\u2019s story structure class.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Winstone talked to the Albany Herald<\/a><\/i> about playing King Saul:<\/p>\n \u201cWas I looking to play a biblical king? No,\u201d Winstone recently told a gathering of TV critics in Pasadena, Calif. \u201cWhat interested me in Saul was looking into the records of him. The only thing I knew about Saul was he was one of the first kings of Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cBut for me, what was more interesting in Saul was the stress of the man, the illness of the man, a man who was a normal guy, a shepherd, who was labored with the weight of running the nation and how it affected him and how it affected his family. So, as in any drama, you look for what you can bring to a character. And that\u2019s what it was for me that interested me in King Saul.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Executive producer Mahyad Tousi talked to Huffpost Religion<\/a> about the appeal of the story for him as a Muslim:<\/p>\n Q. This is an epic Biblical saga about David, so what drew you to this story when you\u2019re of Muslim background?<\/p>\n A: For me, it\u2019s that David is a true example of an Eastern hero motif \u2013 complex, conflicted and human \u2013 unlike most heroes we are used to seeing on screen, who are often modeled after the Greek mythological motifs: absolute in their resolve and super human. Even though he may have lived 3000 years ago, David is arguably one of the most contemporary figures in any mythology, religious or otherwise.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth noting that David is a rare religious figure revered by all three Abrahamic faiths. He is the central figure in the Hebrew Bible; his direct lineage to Jesus Christ is paramount in the New Testament; and he is celebrated as both a Prophet of God and a King of Israel in Islam.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Aslan told the Jewish Journal<\/a><\/i> the producers have already mapped out four seasons\u2019 worth of storylines: \u201cThis story lends itself to a gradual telling.\u201d<\/p>\n And The Fresno Bee<\/a><\/i>, The Salt Lake Tribune<\/a><\/i> and the Sioux City Journal<\/a><\/i> have lots of similar\/familiar-sounding quotes from the producers and co-stars as well.<\/p>\n Finally, here are some clips from last Tuesday\u2019s series premiere.<\/p>\n \u2018David\u2019s Task: Kill or Be Killed\u2019, which expands on an earlier clip<\/a>:<\/p>\n