Grim.

(Long post ahead...)

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but television has not one, but two, new shows coming out this fall based on fairy tales.  Thankfully, neither of them are on Fox, so there’s a chance (however small) that one of them might last a season.  Maybe even two.  Seeing as I like sci-fi and fantasy offerings on TV, I figured I’d give them both a fair shake and make some predictions as to which one will last longer.

Debuting first was ABC’s Once Upon a Time.  It opens with an awkward first date.  Our heroine, Emma Swan, seems to be meeting a rather nice looking fellow for the first time.  Things turn ugly, though, when she starts rattling off his failed financial ventures, the fact that he has a very loyal wife, and how many children he has.  Turns out she’s a bail bonds collector.  A great character introduction and a great character.  How many times have we seen a female bonds collector? 

Long story short, the kid she put up for adoption shows up, tells her that she’s the princess of a kingdom that was cursed to be in the normal world, and persuades her to stick around the town of Storybrooke, Maine long enough to find out if he’s loved – but really to rescue the cursed Enchanted Forest.

Honestly, this show gets big time originality points with me.  A bail bonds collector?  That tells us so much about her character right there!  And she’s supposed to save the magical fairy kingdom!?  From the pilot, there is no formula to the episodes that I can tell.  Heck, she still hasn’t accepted that she is the prophesied hero of these people.  She, motivated by guilt, just wants to make sure that her biological son isn’t being secretly abused by the mayor of this picturesque little village.  There’s so much room to go as we continue to learn about the town, its citizens, and, ultimately, how Emma could possibly be the woman to save the day. 

Despite the similarity in setting, Grimm is a very, very different show.  Rather than being a serialized story about a fantastical world, it is a procedural cop show with fantasy trappings.  The big hook is, simply, that all of Grimm’s fairy tales were true and there is a lineage of people who can get to the bottom of these supernatural mysteries.  Naturally, our hero is one of these Grimms. 

Where Once Upon a Time began cleverly, Grimm begins like all cop shows: showing us a bit of a crime.  Our main character, Nick, is introduced as he shows off an engagement ring to his partner.  And then, off to the crime scene.  And then the creepy, mystical family member (this time an aunt) shows up.  Then, the creepy, mystical family member is almost killed by something supernatural, leaving our hero to cling to her last words: your parents were not killed by a car accident.  They were murdered.  Presumably by a similar creature.

I’d continue, but you really don’t need me to.  The show unfolds exactly like you’d expect it to.  (With the exception of meeting a surprisingly friendly werewolf/big bad wolf/some weird German(?) word that I never quite understood.)  He gets the bad guy by trusting his newfound powers/instincts, then goes back tells his comatose aunt that he will accept this new responsibility.

You know, for a cop, he certainly doesn’t respect due process.  He breaks into his first suspect’s place alone.  When he finds the real killer (who, by the way, is your stereotypical cardigan-wearing, log-home-owning, soft-spoken serial killer whose actor I think I actually have seen play a serial killer before...), he only calls his partner.  Something about after calling wolf, backup wouldn’t come anyway.  After interrogating their suspect, they leave.  But wait!  The partner hears the killer whistling a tune from the first victim’s iPod.  Clearly evidence enough for them to kick in the front door with guns drawn.  When the bad guy runs, Nick’s partner shoots him.  In the back!  Kills him dead.  Like that’s something a cop does when a suspect runs.

Needless to say, I found Grimm to be entirely cliché.  Every choice is expected.  Except, of course, when the characters act completely insane.  That’s sort of a surprise, I guess. 

The question, to me, is which one has a better chance of surviving.  I’ve watched a lot of great shows that got cancelled.  Pushing Daisies comes to mind as an analogous show.  It got cancelled halfway through their second season, but had some of the best writing and production design on television. 

From just the pilots, I think Once Upon a Time is a better show.  It’s more imaginative.  There’s more complexity to it.  The writing was better.  The characters were more interesting.  Plus, they act with some manner of realistic sense.  Our 28 year old bail bonds collector with a near supernatural internal lie detector is not going to just start believing that she’s a fairy princess and begin awakening the town of Storybrooke.  And honestly?  I have no idea how the writers will get her there.  No clue.

The mystery of that compels me to keep watching.  Plus the curiosity of how all the characters have been transformed.  We’ve seen fairies, Gepetto, Snow White, a couple of dwarves, and even Giminy Cricket!  I really want to see who they’ve become in this real world. 

Unfortunately, I think the American people will favor Grimm.  It’s easily understood.  It’s a cop drama that just so happens to have fantastical elements.  Just enough for it to be different than all 50 CSI series while retaining the formula of those shows.  But it’s still fantasy!  As a rule, American audiences have not jived with fantasy.  Combine that with such cliché characters and uninteresting writing and all you’re left with is a “Well, I wonder what fairy tale they’ll use next week?” to keep viewers interested.

Frankly, that’s not enough.  Characters run television, not high concept hooks.

My predictions?  Once Upon a Time gets renewed for a second season (if critics like it), but gets cancelled before it finishes.  Depending on how Grimm evolves in the next four episodes, it might last a season.  Maybe. 

Have you seen these shows?  I’d love to hear what you think of them in the comments.  Honestly, I went in to watching Grimm with a pretty strong bias against it.  Anyone really love it?