New Grimm Episode Tonight: "Of Mouse and Man"

Above is a sneak peek for tonight's episode, "Of Mouse and Man" (TV-14). "When a man is found dead in a dumpster, the investigation leads to a sly snake and a timid mouse."

And, no, I am not sure which fairy tale is the inspiration this time. I have speculations, but the pre-press isn't helpful enough to be sure. The last several weeks have been much easier to know and have even outright stated in their preview materials.

In my online world, many of you readers here seem to be equally divided between Grimm and OUAT on ABC. In my real world, no one watches Grimm but just about everyone is telling me about their love for OUAT but that Grimm is too, well, grim, especially if they know about my connection to fairy tales.

And for those of you who are Monroe fans (the best character on the show by far, the one who is keeping me the most interested, I admit), there is a Best Monroe quotes section on NBC. I think they could kill off almost any character and no one would care except about Monroe. He'd probably spur a letter campaign.

Grimm Tonight: Game Ogre (Episode 8)

Now isn't it rather fitting that Grimm returns from hiatus tonight on Friday the 13th? Yes, it is. Tonight's episode is "Game Ogre" (TV-14):

A string of brutal murders lead Nick and Hank to a man who recently escaped prison.

And this promo tells us right away that Jack and the Beanstalk is the inspiration. Should be interesting...

And an extended preview:

Infernal Violins, Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns and Death!

Ever since we watched episode 5 of Grimm on NBC, "Danse Macabre," the music has been echoing through John's head. He has a strong knowledge of classical, mostly from tuba playing, but didn't know much about this one, so I went researching to see if his educated guesses were correct--he predicted the decade of composition and country of origin (although the name strongly hints at that one). Fun husband! It's a common roadtrip game with us--I can pick almost anything on my 80GB iPod and see how long it takes for him to identify it.

First of all, I already had two versions on my iTunes which lead us to reexploring a fascinating collection I have, Infernal Violins by Angele Dubeau & La Pieta. Highly recommended and not at all December holiday spirited, but if you, too, have Danse Macabre haunting you, check this out. Yes, it's a collection of music inspired by the Devil. But it's not nearly as "evil" as that sounds, after all, most of these are folklore devils which tend to be much more sympathetic and the equivalent of "Death" than many religious outright evil ones. And the music is invigorating but not as dark as one would guess--not Wagnerian as one would assume, that is. Most of it is straight classical although there is a fun classical mash-up of Paint It Black and Sympathy for the Devil on it, too.

Anyway, courtesy of Wikipedia, some highlights about Danse Macabre, too:

Danse macabre, Op. 40, is a tone poem for orchestra, written in 1874 by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. It started out in 1872 as an art song for voice and piano with a French text by the poet Henri Cazalis, which is based in an old French superstition. In 1874, the composer expanded and reworked the piece into a tone poem, replacing the vocal line with a solo violin.

According to legend, "Death" appears at midnight every year on Halloween. Death calls forth the dead from their graves to dance their dance of death for him while he plays his fiddle (here represented by a solo violin). His skeletons dance for him until the rooster crows at dawn, when they must return to their graves until the next year.

And the vocal lines, translated into English:

Zig, zig, zig, Death in cadence,
Striking a tomb with his heel,
Death at midnight plays a dance-tune,
Zig, zig, zag, on his violin.
The winter wind blows, and the night is dark;
Moans are heard in the linden trees.
White skeletons pass through the gloom,
Running and leaping in their shrouds.
Zig, zig, zig, each one is frisking,
You can hear the cracking of the bones of the dancers.
A lustful couple sits on the moss
So as to taste long lost delights.
Zig zig, zig, Death continues
The unending scraping on his instrument.
A veil has fallen! The dancer is naked.
Her partner grasps her amorously.
The lady, it's said, is a marchioness or baroness
And her green gallant, a poor cartwright.
Horror! Look how she gives herself to him,
Like the rustic was a baron.
Zig, zig, zig. What a saraband!
They all hold hands and dance in circles.
Zig, zig, zag. You can see in the crowd
The king dancing among the peasants.
But hist! All of a sudden, they leave the dance,
They push forward, they fly; the cock has crowed.
Oh what a beautiful night for the poor world!
Long live death and equality!

And, so, some Death inspired music for this December Monday! Thanks, Grimm!

Grimm Producers: 4 Things That Make a Fairy Tale Ripe for Adaptation

From a new article: 'Grimm' EPs Reveal 4 Things That Make a Fairy Tale Ripe for Adaptation (Exclusive Photos) at the Hollywood Reporter:

The EPs say there are specific characteristics that they look for in the myths that ultimately make it on to the series. Here are four things that make a fairy tale ripe for adaptation.

1. Fairy tales that include a crime.“We look for something where there could be a crime and that we can really twist it,” says Greenwalt. Being a procedural, each episode needs some foul play as its basic story line, such as in the pilot episode that adapts the classic tale, “Little Red Riding Hood.” Nick and Hank are called to investigate after the remains of a college student wearing a red hood is discovered in the woods and they realize it seems to be a part of a string of similar crimes. The EPs say there has to be a “criminal element,” such as “Hansel and Gretel,” which the series tackles next year. But not all tales have one, though that doesn’t mean a fairy tale can’t be used. That brings us to characteristic No. 2.

2. The tale lends itself to modernization.On Thursday’s special airing, the series tackles “The Pied Piper.” “There’s something fantastic [there] that can translate to our world today like how would somebody get wronged and want to seek revenge using rats? How would you modernize that story?” says Greenwalt. For example, the guys explain that their version of the story will take place in a high school and the musical element will switch between techno (which the students party to) and classical music (what they have to play while at school).

3. There’s a character or detail that stands out.“Not all the stories have crimes. But sometimes there’s a character that is interesting enough and other times it’s a setting,” Kouf tells THR. In the episode airing Dec. 16, the series takes on “Rapunzel.” And what fascinated them about the tale was her hair and how it could be used as a weapon. In another example, the guys point to a story they’re still working out.

“One story has a bunch of suitors caught in a hedge of thorns,” Greenwaltsays. “And they die and they’re caught in this hedge. And we love the idea of doing the hedge that surrounds the castle that catches all the people that try to get through it. It’s a little tough to figure out how to move that into a modern context without getting too fantastical or too magical, but we’re working on it.”

4. A story can be retold from a different point of view.Many times, the series looks to myths, including popular ones, and tries to re-imagine them from a different perspective. “The Three Little Pigs,” which appears on Friday’s episode, is one example.

“Well, everybody knows the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs,’ but this particular story is ‘The Three Bad Wolves,’” Kouf explains. “And there’s a twist in the story of pigs actually getting revenge, or trying to get revenge, on wolves that have hunted them for all this time. So, it’s the fun of turning a well-known fairy tale on its head.”

Two New Grimm Episodes and My Thoughts on Both Shows

Don't watch that if you don't want to see autopsied rats. Really. You've been warned.

If you are a Grimm fan, don't forget that we get two new episodes this week, one tonight and one tomorrow night. Tonight's is "Danse Macabre" with a Pied Piper inspiration. Tomorrow's is "Three Bad Wolves" which I would assume draws inspiration from Three Little Pigs although I haven't confirmed that.

I am enjoying the extra content on NBC's site, such as the Bluebeard tie-in for the Lonelyhearts episode that has a slide show of real life Bluebeards, i.e. serial killers of women. I can't argue with that since I have always leaned to the belief that all of the Bluebeard tales derived more from serial killers in general than a specific historic figure. No proof either way, but there's been too much violence against women in history for it not to be a strong argument.

Also, just to let you know, Grimm has about half the viewership numbers of ABC's Once Upon a Time in the Nielsen ratings. I spent almost an hour last week trying to get the solid numbers for the post but gave up when there were too many inconsistencies. "OUAT" is safe and will most likely see a second season. "Grimm" is doing well for NBC, but to put that in perspective, NBC rarely has a show in the top 25. Grimm's numbers anywhere else would have it on the cancellation bubble and even now a second season is chancy. So watch and talk it up here and elsewhere if you are in love. Roughly, if you like numbers, OUAT gets about 10-13 million viewers while Grimm gets 5-6 million on its best weeks. That's a considerable difference.

As for me, there are many things I enjoy about both shows and I am thrilled to have both of them around with full seasons picked up for both. But I admit that as time passes I am more drawn to "Once." I know my own bias is towards strong female leads and Grimm is missing that element for me. I wish--and my friends would laugh because I am not an X-Files fan--that Nick's partner had been a woman and we'd been given more of a Mulder/Scully relationship. That said, I like Hank. It's nothing against the actor or character--I just feel something missing. For me, fairy tales are primarily the stories of the disenfranchised with much exploration of women and children's stories. If we have a hero for the lead in fairy tales, they are often beta males or noodles, disenfranchised third sons, for example. Grimm, with all of its great research and the creators' history with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, seems to forget that.

Another problem is that I am just not much into horror and Grimm is definitely delivering more and more of that. So I am not the ideal audience. If it wasn't using fairy tales, I wouldn't be there. That's taste and it doesn't keep me from appreciating what the show is doing. I have seen every Buffy episode made so I can overcome my preferences if I am entertained and engaged. And I was never a Lost fan--gave up after a few episodes--so I am rather surprised at which group of writers and creators has engaged me this round.

And don't think I don't have my quibbles with OUAT, either. I am not a Disney hater, but I am not enjoying the Disney influenced characterizations. The best characters are the ones created wholesale from the original tales, not the Disney versions. The episode about Jiminy Cricket made me swallow my revulsion because I thought it was better done than I expected. Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold is a favorite for me. I want HIS story, don't you? I am very wary of the Belle/Gaston/Beast episode that is upcoming though. I haven't read much about it, just know it exists, but I am going to be a hard sell, I admit.

Fairy Tales Showdown

I just opened up my laptop and found this tab open and realized I hadn't shared this yet. So in the theory better late than never, here is a link and excerpt from TV.com Throwdown the Results Show: Once Upon a Time vs. Grimm by Tim Surette:

Last week we asked you to tell us which new fairy tale drama does a better job of bringing the classic stories to life—Grimm and its real-world fairy tales, or Once Upon a Time and its dual universes that keep fairy tales intact and separate from our world—and boy, did you respond! Pat yourselves on the backs, guys, because the story received more than 200 comments and many of you showed real passion for the topic.

The results are obviously in favor of Once Upon a Time. The article shares some comments from viewers, too, in favor of each. Quite interesting.

So which one is your favorite so far? Is TV.com's small sample accurate to SurLaLune readers too?

Grimm Guide for NBC Series

It's Grimm Friday!

Well, not really, because there is no new episode tonight due to the holiday weekend. So I thought I would play catch up for anyone out there who hasn't discovered the Grimm Guide on the NBC site. The Grimm Guide is an episode guide as well as key to learning about the original tales and creatures that inspired each episode. With 4 episodes so far, I thought I would share them all for now and try to update for each upcoming episode in the new season. (Also it's a backup in case the NBC area is redesigned or the show is canceled anyway. I don't trust networks.) I will include links to the source tales in the quoted text which may be particularly helpful for more obscure tales like The Queen Bee.

Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot
Posted by NBC Community Team
Posted October 26, 2011 at 16:58

"The wolf thought to himself, what tender young creature. What a nice plump mouthful..." -Little Red Riding Hood

The original Grimm tale follows Little Red Riding Hood, who walks through the woods to deliver food to her sick grandmother. On her journey, a friendly wolf approaches Little Red Riding Hood and suggests the girl pick some flowers for her grandmother.

In the meantime, the wolf goes to the grandmother's house and gains entry by pretending to be the girl. He swallows the grandmother whole, and waits for the girl, disguised as the grandmother.When the girl arrives, she notices that her grandmother looks different. This eventually culminates with Little Red Riding Hood saying, "My, what big teeth you have!" to which the wolf replies, "The better to eat you with" and swallows her whole as well.

A hunter, however, comes to the rescue and cuts the wolf open. Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother emerge unharmed. They then fill the wolf's body with heavy stones. When the wolf wakes, he attempts to run away, but the stones are so heavy that he collapses at once and falls dead.

The Grimm tale also features a second part, in which the girl and her grandmother trap and kill another wolf, this time anticipating his moves based on their experience with the previous one. The girl does not leave the path when the wolf speaks to her; her grandmother locks the door to keep the wolf out; and when the wolf lurks, the grandmother has Little Red Riding Hood put a trough under the chimney and fill it with water that sausages have been cooked in. The smell lures the wolf down, and he drowns.

While the premiere episode of "Grimm" does not follow the tale of Little Red Riding Hood directly, it does introduce Blutbaden, wolf-like creatures that are attracted to the color red. We notice a pattern of girls wearing red hoodies being snatched from the forest and learn that the creature responsible for this is a Blutbad. While the Blutbad does intend to eat the young girl, he first seeks to fatten her up and hold her hostage, which deviates from the original tale of Little Red Riding Hood.

Season 1, Episode 2: Bears Will Be Bears
Posted by Joe Tolerico
Posted November 5, 2011 at 02:30

"She looked in the window and then peeped through the keyhole; seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch." -Goldilocks and the Three Bears

In the original tale, three bachelor bears live together in a house in the woods. The bears are described as very good-natured, trusting, harmless, tidy and hospitable. Each bear has his own porridge bowl, chair and bed. One day, an old woman discovers the bears' dwelling. The old woman eats the Wee Bear's porridge, then settles into his chair and breaks it. Prowling about, she finds the bear's beds and falls asleep in Wee Bear's bed. The climax of the tale is reached when the bears return. Wee Bear finds the old woman in his bed and cries, "Somebody has been lying in my bed - and here she is!" The old woman starts up, jumps from the window and runs away never to be seen again.

The antagonist was later changed from an ugly old woman to a pretty little girl named Goldilocks. In addition, the bears changed from bachelors to a family of a mother and father bear and a bear cub. Goldilocks' fate varies in the many retellings: in some versions, she runs into the forest; in some' she is almost eaten by the bears but her mother rescues her; in some, she vows to be a good child; and in some, she returns home.

Episode 2, "Bears Will Be Bears," pulls clear themes from the original tale of Goldilocks. The young woman does escape from the home by jumping out the window after breaking in and indulging (although she's joined in "testing out the bed" by a young man, who gets kidnapped by the young male bear). However, the Jagerbar creature and the ceremony of Roh-Hatz is a concept original to the show.

Season 1, Episode 3: Beeware
Posted by Joe Tolerico
Posted November 12, 2011 at 02:30

"She'll sting you one day. Oh, ever so gently, so you hardly even feel it. Til' you fall dead." -Besty Palmer as Carol Lee Philips in the film "Queen Bee" (1955)

Episode 3, "Beeware," focuses on the role of bees in various fairy tales, particularly the reappearing Queen Bee character. The film "Queen Bee" tells the story about a family dominated by a ruthless woman, referencing our bee theme in a more figurative sense.

The episode can be connected to the Grimm world through the classic Grimm tale "The Queen Bee," in which the youngest of three princes, Simpleton, goes out to find his brothers in the forest. Simpleton finds the brothers attempting to wreak havoc on the nature they come across and stops them in their tracks, chastising their behavior. On one occasion, they come to a bee's nest, in which there is so much honey that it runs down the trunk of the tree where it is. The two brothers want to make a fire beneath the tree and suffocate the bees in order to take away the honey, but Simpleton again stops them saying, "Leave the creatures in peace; I will not allow you to burn them."

They then come across a castle inhabited by an old man, who offers them a place to stay. The old man gives the boys three tasks; if they fail to complete them, they will be turned to stone. While the older brothers fail immediately and suffer their fate, the youngest brother outsmarts the old man by using the creatures from the forest he saved earlier to complete the tasks for him.

Of particular interest is the third task, in which Simpleton must pick out the youngest princess from three sleeping princesses who look exactly alike. The only difference is that the oldest has eaten a bit of sugar, the second a little syrup and the youngest some honey. The Queen of the bees, who Simpleton had protected from the fire, comes to Simpleton's aid; she tastes the lips of all three and remains sitting on the mouth that had eaten honey. At Simpleton's success, the enchantment is broken and the brothers who had been turned to stone are brought back to life. The youngest son marries the youngest princess, and his two brothers, the other princesses.

"The Queen Bee" clearly carries a cautionary message present in the episode: don't create disruption where it isn't your place to do so.

Season 1, Episode 4: Lonelyhearts
Posted by Joe Tolerico
Posted November 19, 2011 at 01:53

"There she paused for a while thinking...but the temptation was so great that she could not conquer it." - "Bluebeard" by Charles Perrault

"Lonelyhearts" draws inspiration from the tale "Bluebeard," originally a French folktale written by Charles Perrault in 1697.

Bluebeard is an immensely wealthy aristocrat, who is feared because of his ugly blue beard. He has been married several times, but his wives continue to die off, the reason for their untimely fates unknown. Bluebeard announces to his current wife that he must leave the country for a while and gives all the keys of his castle to her. He says she may explore the rooms freely, except for one small room beneath the castle. Of course, immediately after he leaves, the young woman is overcome with the desire to see what the forbidden room holds. Despite warnings from her visiting sister, she looks inside.

The wife discovers that the room holds the murdered bodies of her husband's former wives hang from hooks on the walls. Horrified, she drops the key into a pool of blood and flees the room, but the blood staining the key will not wash off. She reveals her murderous husband's secret to her sister, and both plan to flee the castle the next day.

Bluebeard returns home unexpectedly the next morning and, noticing the blood on the key, immediately knows his wife has broken her vow. As Bluebeard is about to kill his wife for disobeying him, her brothers break into the castle and kill Bluebeard at the last minute.

There are clear parallels between the story of Bluebeard and "Lonelyhearts." Bluebeard in the tale has the ability to woo women repeatedly despite his ugly features (much like the Bluebeard in the episode, though it's the result of pheromones rather than riches). Also, both hide their victims in the basement, though the creature chooses to keep his victims alive for breeding, while Bluebeard kills his wives for reasons unknown.

Good News Grimm Fans!

NBC just announced that they have ordered a full season of Grimm. From 'Grimm' Gets Full-Season Order, Thursday Night Tryout:

NBC's new hit fairy-tale drama "Grimm" has been granted a full-season order, and will receive a special Thursday-night airing next month, the network announced Monday.

In what might be an experiment to test the waters for the series in a new time slot, NBC will air an original episode of the show Thursday, Dec. 8 at 10 p.m., followed by another original episode the next night in its regular time slot, Friday at 9 p.m.

Despite its less-than-desirable Friday night time slot, "Grimm" has performed well for the network, delivering a 2.1 rating/6 share in the adults 18-49 demographic for its Oct. 28 series premiere, a 62 percent improvement over the network's average in the time slot last season. Growing from there, "Grimm" has averaged a 2.3/7 in the demo and 6.9 million total viewers, improving the network's performance in the demo by 50 percent over the equivalent period last season.

That means BOTH fairy tale shows have been picked up for full seasons and are doing well, which I am sure followers here are some of the fans leading to this success. I finally caught up with Grimm over the past week and once again, I like it although I am not overwhelmed yet. Perhaps I feel this way since this past week's episode, Lonelyhearts, has been my least favorite. I like both of them for different reasons and am not going to compare them here, but I wondered if both would survive the first few episodes when I first heard about them, not because I doubted the shows, but the networks who are very fickle. But viewers are supporting the shows and it will be interesting to see where they go now with the knowledge they have 22 episodes to play with.

Set Your DVRs This Week: Once Upon a Time and Grimm Coming Soon

The time is fast approaching after a year of regular posts here on the blog!

If you have DVRs, by today you should be able to set them for both Once Upon a Time (ABC, Sundays) and Grimm (NBC, Fridays) which premiere next week. Here's a short video about both of them:

NBC's Grimm at Comic-Con

Highlights from NBC's 'Grimm' puts the gruesome back in Grimm's Fairy Tales by Mike Snider:

Grimm, which debuts Oct. 21 at 9 p.m. ET, will likely get a look from fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel as former Buffy writer/producer David Greenwalt and Angel writer/producer Jim Kouf are writing and executive producing the new series.

The series stars David Guintoli as Portland, Ore., police detective Nick Burckhardt, a modern-day ancestor of the Grimm brothers, who can sense the monstrous alter egos of some people. Crimes that he investigates with partner Hank Green (Russell Hornsby) have parallels to classic Grimm's Fairy Tales.

"Most of these fairy tales involve some kind of a crime," Greenwalt said. "In Cinderella, her sisters had their eyes plucked out. We try to find what the crime is and turn it on it's head."

This first episode is loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood. Future episodes will play off the tales of Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and The Three Bears.

Each episode will be self-contained "like opening a book and reading a fairy tale," Greenwalt said. "And we're going to solve a crime each week. But there are going to be all kinds of hidden messages and arcs for all the characters. Terrible things are going to happen to many of them."

Greenwalt said that Todd Milliner (Hot in Cleveland), who along with Sean Hayes (Will and Grace) is an executive producer for the series, "had an idea in the shower about six years ago. 'What can we do that's in public domain?' And he came up with Grimm and he came to Jim and myself and he said, 'Grimm in the modern world.' And we just went for that."

From Comic-Con 2011: GRIMM Panel Recap by Max Lichtig:

The pilot opens with said college girl as she begins an innocent jog through the woods while “Sweat dreams are made of these” blasts on her Ipod. She’s wearing a red jacket, so we already know it’s a Red Riding Hood tale. Everything seems peachy clean until she is violently killed. The tone is perfectly set as a twisted dark comedy, but as the episode continues, the lack in chemistry between the actors as well as inconsistencies in the strength of the dialogue begins to compromise the continuity. Thankfully, the comic relief offered by a couple characters and the strong plot carry it through until a very suspenseful and fulfilling conclusion that left me wanting more.

Here’s what I watched in detail. Our hero, detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), runs into his dying aunt Marie who raised him since his parents died in a mysterious accident. She tells him that he is one of the last remaining living descendents of the Grimm family: a group of hunters whose task has forever been to stop the crimes of supernatural creatures. In a run-in with a suspected culprit who turns out to be a friendly “big bad wolf” named Monroe, Nick learns that most of what he thought about the fairy tale was wrong. Monroe does have a heightened sense of smell and goes wild whenever someone passes with red clothing on, but he’s really just a wisecracking vegetarian who favors palates over the spilling of innocent blood (His character is hilarious and by far one of the highlights of the pilot, and I am very eager to see how his relationship with Nick unfolds). On his hunt to find a missing girl, Nick finds the real culprit who is holding the girl hostage and has plans to kill her. I don’t want to give too much away, but the pilot ends in a twist that left me in anticipation.

After the screening, the cast and executive producers sat down for an especially delightful Q and A headed by Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The show’s creator, David Greenwalt, mentioned that we should be expecting all kinds of creatures to pop up; some deriving from the Grimm universe, and some not. They emphasized the fact that they will be drawing from many fairy tales that do not only originate from the Grimm fairy tales. They already have plans to write retellings of classics like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Three Little Wolves (instead of pigs), as well as a new twist on the Cinderella classic. When asked what order they will arrange the fairy tales with the episodes, Greenwalt joked “We’ll pull it out of our ass”.

Grimm at ComicCon

From ‘Grimm’: Somewhere between ‘X-Files’ and ‘Buffy,’ and coming to Comic-Con:

JP: Where did the idea for “Grimm” come from?


DG: Well, our hero has the ability to see the big bad wolf in the child molester, and the three little pigs in the greedy people. He has the ability to see what others can’t. Much of the idea came from Mr. Jim Kouf …

JK: It was both of our idea.

DG: OK, it was both of us. But there was an original idea by Todd Milliner just to do a modern Grimm story. And this is what we came up with.

JP: The current “Grimm” references a longer history/mythology that we’ll learn more about, right?

DG: In the pilot, it comes out that the original Brothers Grimm were actually profilers. And what they were writing was all true — but it was handed down in oral tradition to warn people of certain kinds of creatures who live among us. Our hero, Nick Burkhardt [David Giuntoli], is a distant relative of the Brothers Grimm, and in the pilot discovers that he has this ability to see these creatures within certain humans — particularly when they are emotionally aroused or angered or frightened. His aunt, Aunt Marie, arrives in town to tell him that he’s getting this power because she’s passing out of this world. It’s also scary and funny. It’s somewhere between “X-Files” and “Buffy.”

JK: Our series should be something like the Grimm’s fairy tales. You open the book and you get a fairy tale every night.

NBC's Grimm Trailer

Well, here it is. Prepare to jump. The trailer for the new series, Grimm, that's the one picked up by NBC from the Buffy and Angel producers. What do you think?

Fairy Tale TV Series: Both Picked Up

How about this folks? I am curious about both, of course, and can't wait to try them both. And both have potential to be entertaining...

From ABC Orders Tim Allen Sitcom, 'Charlie's Angels,' 'Good Christian Belles' & More to Series by Chris Harnick:

In the wake of canceling 'V' and 'Brothers & Sisters,' ABC has ordered several new shows to series, including....Jennifer Morrison stars in 'Once Upon a Time' as a woman named Anna who is drawn to a world where fairy tales may be real. 'Big Love' veteran Ginnifer Goodwin also stars.

From NBC Picks Up Playboy Club, Inception-Style Awake, And Fairy Tale Cop Drama Grimm by David Wharton:

The Peacock Network's fall schedule is shaping up to be an interesting and eclectic one, with EW reporting NBC green lights for a period drama set in the infamous Playboy Club, a parallel-lives detective drama, and a gritty spin on Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Finally, Grimm is a cop drama set in a world inspired by Grimm's Fairy Tales. Sounds a lot like Bill Willingham's excellent Fables comic series, which was developed as a series by NBC a few years back but never made it further than a script. This might be one to watch, because the script was written by genre vet David Greenwalt, who has worked on everything from Angel to Eureka.

David Giuntoli Will Investigate NBC’s ‘Grimm’

From David Giuntoli Will Investigate NBC’s ‘Grimm’ by Kevin Yeoman:

Recently, the network announced it had found the man who would be leading Grimm’s charge into the world of real-life fairy tales. David Giuntoli, an actor whose major credits include MTV’s The Real World (obvious jokes please form a queue in the response section) and small roles on shows like Nip/Tuck and Grey’s Anatomy, has landed the role of detective Nick Burckhardt – an investigator of crimes in a fantastical world filled with real-life versions of familiar fairytale characters.

While the show is more than a little reminiscent of Bill Willingham’s Fables, it hasn’t gone so far as to cast a Bigby Wolf or Jack Horner, but rather a regular human who will learn to see fantasy aspects of the world (along with the viewer) – or so a tidbit about the program would suggest.

According to a recent statement, Giuntoli’s detective character begins to see humans as “beast/animals,” and discovers he has a legacy – to protect “humans” from these beasts. While that’s more than a little vague and a bit confounding, there’s no denying it could be interesting – if portrayed in a compelling way. If nothing else, at least we know the program will likely utilize a popular fairytale character or story as a central point for each week’s episode – provided the pilot receives the green-light to series.

The article is much longer and speculates about all of these high-concept shows coming up. I share the same questions. The networks are rather notorious for not letting these type of shows to find their audiences. (So says the person whose husband just finished watching Firefly again. I would have, too, but I'm on limited television due to projects.)

And while we're here I never shared this one, ABC’s Fables TV Show Is “Probably Dead” Says Creator by Graeme McMillan:

According to Bill Willingham: Through rumors of rumors of mistellings of legends, I understand that the new DC regime was very much interested in getting Fables going [as a television series]. The TV show that was prematurely announced is probably dead — don’t hold me to that, because I don’t know. Hopefully, I’ll know before it airs, but I’m kind of out of the loop.

'Buffy' writers sell Grimm's Fairy Tales pilot to NBC

When I first saw the new headline, I thought this was the same series I'd written about before (Once Upon a Time Coming to ABC) until I investigated further. Nope, different project and I don't know the status of the ABC one.

From 'Buffy' writers sell Grimm's Fairy Tales pilot to NBC by James Hibberd:

NBC has picked up another pilot mixing fantasy with a crime drama: The network has greenlit Grimm, described as a “dark but fantastical cop drama about a world in which characters inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales exist.” (Gotta love mining expired copyrights in the public domain!).

The project is from Jim Kouf (Angel) and David Greenwalt (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), with executive producers Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner.

So the real question is are you more interested in a series from the producers of Lost or one by the writers for Buffy and Angel?

And my question is: Will we actually see two fairy tale based series on two different networks? Hmmmm....