Post by gamedave on Nov 6, 2011 22:05:57 GMT -5
So, two fairy tale series this TV season.
ABC has "Once Upon a Time", which is easily the more original of the two. The Evil Queen has cast a powerful curse, sending herself and various iconic fairy tale characters to the real world, where only she can remember who she really is, and where she can finally have her own happy ending. Now, however, Snow White and Prince Charming's long-lost daughter has come to Storybrooke, Maine [Geddit? Storybrooke = story book], and the old Stories are starting to break through the Evil Queen's curse.... This being a Disney co-production, the "classic fairy tales" prominently include (at least in the pilot) Pinocchio, which is actually novel from 1883, but oh, well. I'm actually enjoying it, but it's hard to see how they're going to keep this premise going for more than one season (even a full 22 episode season seems a bit of a stretch). They do seem to be setting up the Evil Queen as a somewhat sympathetic, perhaps redeemable villain, with Rumpelstiltskin as the real evil, so maybe future seasons will see the reformed Queen teaming up with the good guys against him.
NBC, meanwhile, has "Grimm". I'm not saying the premise is cliche, since I've never seen this exact set up before, but...let's play a game. I'll leave blanks in the synopsis, and see if you can fill them in.
Our hero was orphaned when his parents _____. He has grown up to be a homicide detective, when he is contacted by his aunt, who tells him they are direct descendants of the Brothers Grimm, who were actually _____. Now, he is _____, which gives him the ability to _____. He uses this ability to _____.
I actually kind of liked the pilot, but the tone was a little uneven. I think they are trying to go for PG horror, skewing a little younger and more family friendly than the competition. Also, all the "monsters" apparently are humans with CGI monster faces, even the monsters that aren't humanoid in the fairy tales. Budgetary necessity, I suppose ("Supernatural" does the same thing, but with less CGI and more prosthetics - even "dragons" and "the Phoenix" were humanoid).
On a side note, I don't understand TV scheduling. "Grimm" is on Friday night (not a good night to begin with), opposite "Supernatural" and "Fringe", which had their season premiers almost a month earlier. I sort of get counter-programming, but really? Putting your new adventure-horror monster-hunting show up against the two established adventure-horror monster-hunting shows on the major networks? And premiering it almost a month later? Are they trying to make sure no one interested in an adventure-horror monster-hunting show will actually watch "Grimm"? It could be worse, I suppose. At least "Sanctuary" (SyFy) comes on an hour later.
ABC has "Once Upon a Time", which is easily the more original of the two. The Evil Queen has cast a powerful curse, sending herself and various iconic fairy tale characters to the real world, where only she can remember who she really is, and where she can finally have her own happy ending. Now, however, Snow White and Prince Charming's long-lost daughter has come to Storybrooke, Maine [Geddit? Storybrooke = story book], and the old Stories are starting to break through the Evil Queen's curse.... This being a Disney co-production, the "classic fairy tales" prominently include (at least in the pilot) Pinocchio, which is actually novel from 1883, but oh, well. I'm actually enjoying it, but it's hard to see how they're going to keep this premise going for more than one season (even a full 22 episode season seems a bit of a stretch). They do seem to be setting up the Evil Queen as a somewhat sympathetic, perhaps redeemable villain, with Rumpelstiltskin as the real evil, so maybe future seasons will see the reformed Queen teaming up with the good guys against him.
NBC, meanwhile, has "Grimm". I'm not saying the premise is cliche, since I've never seen this exact set up before, but...let's play a game. I'll leave blanks in the synopsis, and see if you can fill them in.
Our hero was orphaned when his parents _____. He has grown up to be a homicide detective, when he is contacted by his aunt, who tells him they are direct descendants of the Brothers Grimm, who were actually _____. Now, he is _____, which gives him the ability to _____. He uses this ability to _____.
I actually kind of liked the pilot, but the tone was a little uneven. I think they are trying to go for PG horror, skewing a little younger and more family friendly than the competition. Also, all the "monsters" apparently are humans with CGI monster faces, even the monsters that aren't humanoid in the fairy tales. Budgetary necessity, I suppose ("Supernatural" does the same thing, but with less CGI and more prosthetics - even "dragons" and "the Phoenix" were humanoid).
On a side note, I don't understand TV scheduling. "Grimm" is on Friday night (not a good night to begin with), opposite "Supernatural" and "Fringe", which had their season premiers almost a month earlier. I sort of get counter-programming, but really? Putting your new adventure-horror monster-hunting show up against the two established adventure-horror monster-hunting shows on the major networks? And premiering it almost a month later? Are they trying to make sure no one interested in an adventure-horror monster-hunting show will actually watch "Grimm"? It could be worse, I suppose. At least "Sanctuary" (SyFy) comes on an hour later.