Sometimes, I suppose, someone has a fair idea for a story but fears they can't sell it unless they borrow elements of someone else's work -- something more familiar, perhaps, or already popular. Something timeless and potentially profitable. The Arthurian legends are a source of material that have been used countless times before, sometimes more successfully than others. Cursed, a Netflix series that ran for one season and did not warrant renewal, is yet another attempt to make something new from those stories.

Unfortunately, despite the nut of a good story set in a medieval fantasy world, Cursed bears little resemblance to its roots and never manages to stand on its own. Worse, it's at times quite dull in its execution.

Spread over 10 one-hour episodes, the series owes nothing to Arthurian lore but the names of some of its characters. Arthur, of course, as well as Merlin, Uther, Morgana, Gawain and Percival. There's a sword with mystical origins (although never called Excalibur). And there's Nimue, who in Arthurian legends is a fairly minor character but here is the linchpin of the plot (and Arthur's love interest).

No one in this series does anything remotely similar to the original tales, and even basic biographies and family relationships are hugely altered. Uther is king, and Merlin is his adviser, but Arthur is already fully grown, a mercenary and thief with a good heart, whose father (not Uther) is dead. Nimue and Morgana are members of the fey, magical faery-like beings who are fighting to survive. Merlin and Nimue, who in the legends are usually depicted as lovers, here are father and daughter, while Igraine and Morgana -- who are traditionally Arthur's mother and sister/lover, respectively -- are now one and the same. Gawain, who in the famous tale vies against the Green Knight, here is the Green Knight.

Meanwhile, the Red Paladins are a brutal army of Christian clerics and soldiers sworn to wipe out the fey once and for all, while the Weeping Monk, aka Lancelot, is secretly fey but fights and kills for the Paladins.

Arthur, disappointingly enough, is the least interesting character in the main lineup.

The series is based on a young-adult graphic novel by the infamous writer/artist Frank Miller and, to a lesser extent, Thomas Wheeler (the latter of whom I have never knowingly heard of before). It attempts, from what I can tell, to capitalize on the Game of Thrones vibe that everyone was doing a few years ago, but without the sex, shocking violence or the charismatic performances of Dinklage, Clarke, Williams and Harington. Unfortunately for the Netflix series, that cachet didn't last, and this series adds nothing new to reinvigorate the genre.

Although the series fails as an Arthurian saga, it had gained some footing near the end of its 10-episode run. I actually started to care about some of the characters, and to wonder what would happen next. And, of course, that's when Netflix -- which has been making a lot of bad programming decisions lately -- decided to let fall the ax. It's a shame, really. Given a little more time, Cursed might have made something of itself.

The short-lived series starred Katherine Langford as Nimue, Devon Terrel as Arthur, Gustaf Skarsgard as Merlin, Daniel Sharman as the Weeping Monk, Sebastian Armesto as Uther, Lily Newmark as the fey healer Pym, Shalom Brune-Franklin as Igraine/Morgana, Peter Mullan as the vile Father Carden, Emily Coates as the evil Sister Iris, and Matt Stokoe as Gawain.

Maybe I'll finally try the Merlin series that ran for a few seasons, several years back. I've heard it also plays loose with the legend, but more successfully.