Erstwhile

Fairy tales seems to be the next big thing. The last few years it was all about vampires, but this year is definitely the start of the fairy tale fad. In the last year we had the Red Riding Hood movie and coming soon are TWO takes on Snow White. I’ve also read about Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. And now we have TWO new television series looking at the world of fairy tales, Once Upon a Time and Grimm. I checked out the first episode of each series this past week and they are as different as cats and dogs.

Once Upon a Time comes on the ABC network, Sunday nights at 8pm. The inhabitants of the fairy tale world are cursed by the evil queen so that they lose their happily-every-afters. The characters are trapped in the our world with amnesia and the daughter of Snow White is the chosen one meant to come back and save them all.

Grimm comes on the NBC network, Friday nights at 9pm. This television series is a cop drama with a twist. The main character is a homicide detective who discovers he descends from a line of Grimms. The Grimms are hunters who fight supernatural forces in the form of fairy tale creatures. The catch is that while the creatures look human on the surface to people, the Grimms can see their true nature.

So far, I really prefer Grimm over Once Upon a Time. I find it a lot less cheezy and the acting feels more natural. In Once Upon a Time it feels a lot more hammed up, but it might be aimed at a younger audience. Grimm is definitely a much darker take on the source material and makes it feel more like a “real” look at the darkness of fairy tales. Then again, I’m a fan of shows like Castle and House. I like the witty, wise-cracking characters and mystery solving drama. I’m going to give both shows a few more episodes before I can truly choose a favorite, though. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the shows.