NBC's Grimm - Pilot episode

Whoever schedules shows on NBC needs to take a look at Friday nights. The 9 o'clock slot already has Supernatural and Fringe. Most of Grimm's potential audience will be tuned to FOX or the CW, but that's okay. That's why we have Hulu.

I don't want to spoil the pilot episode, so I'll say it is a re-imagining of Little Red Robin Hood. The main character, Nick, is a policeman and he inherits the family gift/curse: he sees monsters who are blending in as humans. Everything has a Buffy feel (but the dialogue isn't as good) and the original Grimm fairy tales will offer great episodic material.

Grimm has the potential to be a great series, a mini scary movie each week, much like how Supernatural started out. But Fridays nights are Fringe nights for me, so I'll be watching on Hulu.

Did you watch the Grimm pilot? What did you think of it?

Sidebar: A higher caliber of children's TV

If networks took children's programming as seriously as some adult programming, I can't even imagine the quality of work that would come out of that line of thinking. Imagine a Jason Katims, Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, or Steven Moffat for kids' TV. Imagine if we had storytellers of that caliber who wanted to make shows children would enjoy.

We'd get something like what J.K. Rowling did for children's literature, but this time for children's television. That's what we need.

Sidebar: McGonagall and the Slytherins

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Professor McGonagall sent all the Slytherins to the dungeons after the Death Eaters attacked Hogwarts. The scene is the same in the book and in part two of the film. Some fans made a fuss about it, saying McGonagall assumed all the Slytherin students were untrustworthy. I don't see it that way.

Many of the Slytherin students' parents were Death Eaters and supporters of Lord Voldemort. Chances are, many students' parents were part of Voldemort's followers who attacked Hogwarts. By ordering all the Slytherin students to the dungeons, McGonagall took them out of the fight. Those students didn't have to choose between fighting against their parents or against their peers. They didn't have to make a difficult decision in dangerous circumstances. McGonagall's decision kept students safe and minimized unpredictability among them. That's good for the students and good for the school. Sending the Slytherins to the dungeons was the best decision McGonagall could have made.