News: GRIMM Picked Up for Full-Season

News broke that NBC gave its fairy tale-based procedural, Grimm, a back-nine order. We briefly talked about the development during our podcast, but I wanted to share my thoughts for those who just cannot wait.

I should be surprised that Grimm was given a full-season order because it was one of the shows that almost no one gave a chance to survive. Most critics hated the pilot, NBC didn't show much faith in it since it was put on Friday nights after Chuck and against Fringe/Supernatural, and it wasn't getting a ton of press. Yet somehow it was able to establish itself on a night that's unknown to be the death slot for genre shows.

It's premiere numbers were strong but started to dwindle, but the last couple of episodes have done better than the established veteran Fringe. Now, it could be argued that the two shows share the same audience, I could go either way on that one, but Grimm's been able to defy the odds by carving out a niche for itself. It will never be a ratings monster, but hopefully it'll do enough to keep it on NBC's schedule.

From a creative stand point, Grimm's still trying to figure itself out, but I've been happy with its progress. It's bread-and-butter is the Monster-of-the-Week structure, but it has also taken the wise step of incorporating an underlying mythology to keep the audience interested. We don't just get random fairy tale characters committing crimes, but we also get to know what Grimms are and why Reapers are out to get them. If Grimm can keep up this combination, then it has a ton of potential despite it's weak leading man.

Speaking of David Giuntoli, it's easy to make fun of him for his performance, but he's not why I watch the show and there's enough good things going on around him (like his partners Eddie and Hank) that I'm willing to give him a pass for now. Who knows, maybe he'll come into his own and make Nick more interesting now that he has 9 more episodes.

I know that I'm going to sound like a broken record, but Grimm's still not a good show (and probably not deserving of a Thursday night tryout) yet it has a ton of potential so I'm happy that NBC's sticking by it. Who says the Peacock doesn't stick with its low-rated shows...oh wait.