In books, the fantasy genre is one that can immerse you in a
wondrous world limited only by the imagination of the author (and your ability to suspend disbelief). But it’s also a genre that is notoriously
difficult to believably translate into films and television. But thanks to box office hits like Lord of the Rings and Harry
Potter, and cable series Game of Thrones, Spartacus and True Blood, networks are dipping their toes the fantasy genre – and finding success.
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| The fairytale characters inhabiting Storybrooke, Maine have forgotten their true identities. |
The most surprising of these is ABC’s
Once Upon A Time. It’s hard to imagine network executives green-lighting an
idea after hearing the pitch, “Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Prince Charming and
a whole slew of fairytale characters are transported to a little town in Maine
where only the Evil Queen and Rumpelstilskin know their true identities.” The
show cleverly exposes the parallel worlds of the “real” storybook land (where
magic is common and true love conquers all) and our world (where love is messy
and the bad guy is usually a politician). The key to solving the series’ main
mystery is a little boy, Henry, who knows the truth and is desperately trying
to get the town’s new sheriff to believe him. Of course, Henry is the boy that
the sheriff gave up for adoption years ago (he’s now the adopted son of the
Mayor/Evil Queen) and the sheriff is really the daughter of Snow White and
Prince Charming who was sent to this world in an attempt to escape that curse
that doomed them all. As you can guess, the show is really a nighttime soap
dressed in a fairytale costume. And as cloying and silly as it sounds, somehow,
it works.
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| Detective Nick Burkhard and his partner, Hank Griffin investigate supernatural crimes and mysteries in Portland, Oregon. |
As fun as Once Upon A Time is, NBC’s Grimm is even better.
Grimm is part cop show, part X Files (before it got lame) and part horror
story. In this reimagining of Grimm’s Fairytales, Detective Nick Burkhardt is the latest
in a long line of Grimms – this world’s monster hunters. Orphaned at an early
age, and a upstanding cop, Nick was told of his true heritage by his aunt just
before she died. She also left him a trailer full of books and some kick-ass
medieval weapons. Like all good cop shows, on Grimm, not every “monster” is bad
and not every “good guy” is really good. This is a lesson that both Nick and
the community of monsters are learning.
Each episode is a stand-alone “monster of the week” mystery
with a season-long arc about the forces trying to wipe out the Grimm. To help
in his quest, Nick has two crime-fighting partners. One is his police partner Hank, who has no idea that some of the criminals they’re searching for are really
witches, dragons or demons in human form (only Grimms and other creatures can
see their true shapes). His other partner is Monro,e a Blutbad (werewolf) who
reluctantly (at first) gives Nick the inside track into the otherworldly
underworld. The show is in turns exciting, funny and, frequently, genuinely
scary.
This first season of both Once Upon A Time and Grimm are quickly coming to a
close, but you can catch up online, on iTunes or via On-Demand.
