NBCs “Kings” may now cause me to devote one more hour a week to a television drama (in addition to the one hour a week I already commit to Fox’s “24”). Last week Twitter began to buzz about “Kings” but I ignored it for the most part. Then my nephew texted me last night at about 8:30 pm and asked if I were watching it, so I thought I had better see what all the hype was about.

If you are not familiar, as I wasn’t, with what this new drama is all about, stop by the website. As far as I understand it the series is a modern retelling of David and Saul. I tuned in about 30 minutes late, so it took a bit to get acclimated to the characters. But once I figured out who was who, it was quite intriguing.

My guess is, based on hints left in the premiere, the producers may portray Jonathan and David (“Jack Benjamin” and “David Shepherd – the characters in Kings) as having a gay relationship. We’ll see.

But last night’s premiere seemed to otherwise have some fairly accurate parallels to the Old Testament story of David, complete with David operating from a city named “Shiloh” against an enemy named “Gath” who has a military code named “Goliath.” Placing the story in a present context gives it a pathos one might have missed in the typical flannel graph telling of David and Goliath.

It will be very interesting to see how it all plays out. The series has my attention, and will be appointment television for me on Sunday nights at 8:00 pm.

BTW, I have a request in to schedule the Creator/Executive Producer of Kings, Michael Green, on an upcoming program. Stay tuned.

If you missed the first episode of “Kings,” see it here.