Finally, A Show About World-Saving Librarians

Watching mild-mannered librarians battling evil forces sounds pretty irresistible, and that’s just what TNT’s new show The Librarians looks like it’ll deliver. I hope.

Not that all librarians are mild-mannered and polite. See Parker Posey in the movie Party Girl if you want help obliterating that stereotype. But, let’s be honest, when most people think of librarians, they don’t immediately imagine Luke Skywalker or Wonder Woman or Katniss — although any of those characters would have done a killer job organizing a card catalog back in the day.

The Librarians looks like it’ll be part Buffy the Vampire Slayer and part Indiana Jones, except the heroes are librarians. Here’s the synopsis:

This new series centers on an ancient organization hidden beneath the Metropolitan Public Library dedicated to protecting an unknowing world from the secret, magical reality hidden all around. This group solves impossible mysteries, fights supernatural threats and recovers powerful artifacts, including the Ark of the Covenant, the Spear of Destiny and Excalibur.

Excalibur is pretty literary! Maybe in that episode one of the characters will be reading and quoting from The Once and Future King by T.H. White — how cool would that be? Or, when they throw a little romance into the mix (which you know they will) Rebecca Romijn will be deep into Love in the Time of Cholera. This is my fantasy version of The Librarians of course, but a girl can dream.

The trailer promises “a world where magic and reality collide.” ER hottie Noah Wiley wears a vest and a bowtie as he’s brandishing an ancient sword. There will be “ninjas, Minotaur, dragons, and flying swords,” and, because everyone knows librarians are hilarious, there will be humor. “I am here to do science and math, and occasionally hallucinate,” says a brainy character named Cassandra Cillian.

The Librarians premieres on December 7, and you can check out the trailer below. I’m all for battles involving Minotaur and dragons, but some bookish references would just take this thing to a whole new level.