The Glade 4.0

There are two fairy-tales-in-the-modern-world series coming out within a week of each other: ABC's "Once Upon A Time" and NBC's "Grimm." Digital outlets have a 20-minute preview of "Grimm" available and "OUaT" debuts tomorrow night, but IMDb.com has the full pilot up a day early.

I enjoyed what I saw of "Grimm." It's co-created and overseen by David Greenwalt (who performed the same duties on "Angel") and has a very similar feel (detective finds out that he can see fairy-tale monsters who walk amongst us causing trouble, a skill passed down to him through his family and dubbed a "Grimm"). "Once Upon A Time" touts itself from being 'from the writers of "Lost," and I can't say I was thrilled by it. The plot is familiar (comic's "Fables," "The 10th Kingdom" miniseries, etc.) but that's no slam..."Grimm" is well-worn territory as well. But "OUaT" is poorly done. Campy without being enjoyable, terribly acted, unfocused and front-loading the story with unnecessary (and unenjoyable) exposition, and bereft of wonder or mystery (both of which they were clearly aiming for), it feels rather DOA to me. Phe wanted to watch it (hence the viewing), because she loved "The 10th Kingdom" so much, but even she wasn't thrilled. She (and I) will give it a few more episodes in which to find its stride, but so far...not impressed.

Sadly, I see it staying on for a few years and "Grimm" not making it a full season (fairly expensive, on a network [NBC] with a lot to lose, etc.). As always, we'll see, though.

And they seem to think it's a good thing. When I saw "from the writers of Lost" I completely lost any interest I had in the show. **** the writers of Lost. Those guys suck.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

If "from the writers of Lost" meant J.J. Abrams was involved, I'd be somewhat interested. I hated Lost, but Fringe is outstanding. The last Trek movie was pretty darn good, as well. Alcatraz looks like it will be fantastic. However, Abrams isn't involved in this. So yeah, I agree.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
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Yeah, it's a couple of names I don't recognize, and Damon Lindelof had some unofficial input. No Abrams around. Hence the "from the writers of 'Lost'" to keep the confusion open and helpful in publicity.

Oh, cool...follow the official "Grimm" Twitter page and they send you a code to watch the full pilot ep now. http://twitter.com/NBCGrimm

Yeah, OUaT pilot was a bit meh, I'm going to give it a couple more episodes to see, since like Phe, I really like 10th Kingdom, and a lot of pilot episodes struggle. We'll see...

Looking forward to Grimm as well, just hope it doesn't turn into another "The Cape" though, lots of promise, but completely botched.

I am now watching five different shows competing in the "Friday Night Death Timeslot." This cannot end well.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Grimm was very good.

Cross between Buffy (the first season) and Van Helsing, but in a good way.

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In time, this too shall pass.

I sorta liked them both. Willing to stick around and see where they go.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

This...but I am easy to amuse.

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Raell Kromwell

Phe and I watched the second episode of Once last night, as well as the full pilot of Grimm.

I came away even more intrigued than before by Grimm, while Once got even worse. Advance reviews say the third episode dials back some of The Campiness That Swallows the Series Whole, but right now they've got it cranked up to 11.

Heheh, I liked it as well. I got more of a Dresden Files (sans Wizard) and early Supernatural cross.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Okay, I'm actually a bit...surprised.


I just watched Once Upon a Time (episode 1). I had low expectations, of course. And...as much as I liked Grimm, I actually...liked the first episode of OUaT better, down to very bit of fairy tale imagery.

Different types of shows, of course. Grimm is more Buffy/X-Files, while Once Upon a Time might as well actually be a fairy tale.

But I love fairy tales...and that's without taking into account OUaT's spectacular cast.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I watched the first Grimm, which I thought was pretty good. I'll continue to watch it for now, though I hate that it's on at the same time as Fringe. Many times we don't actually watch Fringe as it airs, so it gets DVR'd. And our DVR can't record two shows at once. Anyhow...

I listened to Once Upon A Time (was helping my wife do some baking and the TV doesn't face the kitchen). From what I heard, I thought it was way too cheeezzy. Yes, cheeezzy with three e's and two z's. And not the good kind that can be fun, but the groan-inducing kind. Will not watch.

I'm still watching both. Anybody who's watched Once Upon a Time so far pleased to see Carth Onassi/Kaidan Alenko in person for a change? Such a distinctive voice...

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I've only seen Grimm, but it's been fun to watch so far.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

I'm really trying to like Grimm. Really I am, but it is missing a mark with me for some reason.

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Grimm's been fun. OUaT is not holding my interest. Too campy, too cheesy, not in good ways. The third episode was...better (Snow White's much more interesting as a roguish cutpurse than a dowdy schoolmarm), but still not good.

It finally struck me that they're structuring it a la Lost: one story going on and then the bulk of the time is filled up with flashbacks of "how did we get to this point." I don't care for that as a structural mechanism. It annoyed me with Lost and it annoys me here as well.

I hated Lost, but not for that reason, per se. The main reason I don't like the flashback structure has nothing to do with personal taste and more to do with having my 6 year old daughter understand what's going on. (I think she's starting to get it.)

I was a bit confused at first how OUaT was using all the Disney names not from the original fairy tales (eg. Jiminy Cricket, Maleficent, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy & Sneezy) - until it occurred to me that Disney owns ABC, so they probably gave permission without any hassle.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Yeah, they (the producers) said that they spoke with Disney and got the (protective) go-ahead. So I would say it's a fair bet you won't see anything too terribly adult going on in Storybrooke.

Okay, so I've watched the first two episodes. Is that a Cat Stevens song they're using for the intro to the second episode (and presumably as the opening theme to the show)?

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

I just discovered On Demand. Watched all the episodes of Grimm. I really liked it! Well made, hope it has more episodes to come!

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Dream as if you'll live forever...
...Live as if you'll die tomorrow

Vivere Senza Rimpianti

Both shows have some horrible FX going on. Other than that...I am easy and enjoy both.

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Raell Kromwell

Both are fun entertaining rides that don't seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere. Both are finally trying to take it up a bit.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Those are TV shows?

I may start watching again someday. Last time I checked the writing on pretty much everything sucked.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones