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Mishmash that is ‘Kings’ often overpowers an interesting idea

Better a regal mistake than a plebian mediocrity.

That’s particularly true at NBC, where the artistic ambitions of late have been far less than royal. Kings doesn’t quite work and probably won’t last, but it’s not recycled trash like “Knight Rider” and “Kath & Kim,” or cheap flotsam like “Crusoe.” “Kings” (8 p.m. Sunday) may have manifold flaws, but being run-of-the-mill is not among them.

Created by “Heroes” writer Michael Green, Kings takes the biblical story of David and King Saul and puts it through a Shakespearean/sci-fi/soap-opera wringer. Much is lost in the multiple washes, but something is gained as well, most notably the sense that you’re watching something that isn’t like everything else you’re watching.

Set in an alternate universe where Franz Liszt and a celebrity-obsessed media exist but America, apparently, does not, “Kings” centers on tween-magnet Chris Egan as David Shepherd (get it, shepherd). A soldier in the Gilboa army, David destroys the enemy’s unstoppable weapon, a tank called Goliath, and is called to the capital Shiloh to meet his God-appointed king, Silas.

And what a king: Ian McShane of “Deadwood,” in a role that once again showcases his ability to seem ruthless yet charming, and tightly coiled yet only barely under control. A king this impressive deserves an equally wonderful queen, and “Kings” has one in the shimmeringly icy Susanna Thompson of “Once and Again,” whose cold control perfectly balances McShane’s hot fury.

There is some humor (most provided by a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern type pair of guards) and much “Dynasty”-style wrangling for power. Among the wranglers are a devious prince with a secret (Sebastian Stan), a beautiful princess with a secret vow (Allison Miller), a duplicitous brother-in-law (Dylan Baker), and two more biblically influenced characters: the prophet Samuels (Eamonn Walker) and General Abner (Wes Studi).

As the show bounces between startling and startlingly pretentious, profound and profoundly silly, you can’t help but wish the writers had a firmer grasp on their allegory and their conceits. We’re told Shiloh is a city built entirely anew, but it’s clearly old New York with a few new buildings drawn in. Dialogue that is modern conversational one minute can switch to Elizabethan theatrical or worse, bad operetta, the next. (“Not invited to table? The crown prince?”). And while the crowns of butterflies and the bullet-stopping birds can be lovely, they’re also a little unnerving.

Consistency, fidelity and reality are not ironclad dramatic constraints. But we do have to feel that the diversions are not the random results of poor planning or sloppy execution. There are too many head-scratcher moments, and each one pulls you out of the story and lessens your confidence in the storyteller.

Still, that’s more a problem for the long run. “Kings” is a mess, but for a few weeks, anyway, it promises to be a fun, fascinating mess, the kind of “can you believe they’re doing it” show you want to discuss the next day.

Heaven knows nothing else new — and precious little old — on NBC can make that claim.