AirLockAlpha.com

American networks have a habit of recreating any ideas it imports from other countries, but not "Merlin."

The magical series starring Colin Morgan in the title role as well as Bradley James as Prince Arthur, Richard Wilson as Gaius, and former "Bionic Woman" star Michelle Ryan as the sorceress Nimueh, premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. It was produced by Shine Television and originally commissioned by BBC, airing in Great Britain last year to huge audiences.

And now NBC hopes that success will carry over across the pond in the United States.

"It's just exciting to see how this show has been snapped up worldwide," Anthony Head, one of the former stars of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," recently told Airlock Alpha. "It's already been a huge success in other places like Australia, and I hope that America follows suit."

Head plays Uther Pendragon, the current king of Camelot and the father of Arthur. Taking a page out of "Smallville's" book, producers wanted to shed the pointed hat and long grey beard commonly associated with Merlin, and instead create sort of a prequel ... even if it changes the overall King Arthur and Camelot story as we know it.

"I shouldn't think it would be hard to get into despite all that," Angel Coulby, who plays Guinevere in the series, told Airlock Alpha. "What we've done is give it a fresh new reimagining in a way where we're not trying to be factual. There have been a lot of different versions of Merlin, and this is just a new one."

Merlin as a character has indeed popped up in many forms in American culture despite being a British fairy tale. The most recent was with the SciFi Channel series "Stargate SG-1" where Merlin was actually an Ancient with the ability to defeat a powerful enemy plaguing that show's later seasons.

In the end, however, audiences seem willing to embrace a medieval, almost more traditional take on Merlin. When the series premiered on BBC last September, it grabbed nearly 7.2 million viewers, considered blockbuster numbers in that country. While audiences did eventually dip closer to the 5 million viewer range, it closed out its season just before Christmas with nearly 6.3 million viewers, enough for BBC to order a second season.

"It's so rich, the tapestry is so rich," Head said. "There is just no shortage of story here and we're filming scenes fast and furious."

NBC reportedly picked up the broadcast rights for "Merlin" after seeing nothing more than a couple scripts and a basic premise, Head said.

"But still, you wonder why no one else has made this before," he said. "It's just so beautiful to look at."

"Merlin" premieres June 21 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, and will continue airing Sundays in that timeslot throughout the summer.