It’s that time of year again. Yes, the current round of shows are ending, while the networks plan the upcoming season.
First up, NBC has decided to renew its hit fairy tale crime procedural Grimmfor a second season. This show has been tracking well with a wide range of fans, and despite a slow start, surely deserves this order. Unfortunately, the network has not seen the same potential in the new cerebral mystery drama Awake, which is a grand shame, as that one was really starting to get interesting, and is still only half-way through its freshmen season.
Fox has been just as harsh on their big-mystery detective drama, canning the cliffhangered Alcatraz, much to the disapointment of the fans who wanted to know what happens to the protagonist in her hospital bed. The network has decided to keep the extremely evocative Touch on for another year, however, which is rousing. And, last week they announced that Fringe would be back for another half-season to tie up the story which we’ve been following for the last four years.
It’s not a surprise that ABC is bringing back Once Upon A Time, as that show seems to have found the formula to bring the mainstream audience clambering for fantasy content. As much as I might disparage the series for being too Disney, it really resonates with the audience in a way that we haven’t seen from any genre franchise in a long time, appealing to the secret fairytale royalty inside each of us.
It also comes as little surprise that The CW has ordered full seasons for both Arrow, the television adaptation of the Green Arrow comics, and Beauty and the Beast, the remake of the 1980’s series which brings the tale into the big city. Meanwhile, the other Beauty and the Beast series, which more directly adapts the fairy tale, is over at ABC, and they haven’t made a decision about it yet. The CW also renewed Nikita, but had to drop something to make room for these new shows, so The Secret Circle didn’t make the cut for next year.
CBS has yet to report in at all, and there are still several genre shows on the other networks for which decisions have not been made. Keep checking TG Daily over the next couple weeks, and we’ll keep you informed as the decisions roll in about what’s going to be on our televisions next year.
