Grimm (TV series)

Grimm is an American fantasy police procedural drama horror television series created by Stephen Carpenter, Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, and produced by Universal Television for NBC. The series premiered on October 28, 2011, and ended on March 30, 2017, after six seasons consisting of 123 episodes. The series' narrative follows Portland homicide detective Nicholas Burkhardt (played by David Giuntoli), who discovers he is a Grimm, the latest in a line of guardians who is sworn to keep the balance between humanity and mythological creatures, known as Wesen. The series features a supporting cast with Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz, Reggie Lee, Bree Turner, and Claire Coffee.
Grimm was originally developed for CBS, but did not end up moving forward due to the 2007–08 writers' strike. In January 2011, the series moved to NBC. It has been described as "a cop drama—with a twist ... a dark and fantastical project about a world in which characters inspired by Grimms' Fairy Tales exist", though the stories and characters inspiring the show are also drawn from other sources. The series initially garnered mixed reviews from critics, though reception grew more favorable throughout the series' run. The sixth and final season, which consists of 13 episodes, premiered on January 6, 2017, and concluded on March 31, 2017.
Homicide Detective Nick Burkhardt of the Portland Police Department learns he descended from a line of guardians known as Grimms, charged with keeping balance between humanity and the Wesen, or mythological creatures of the world (Wesen is the German word for being or creature). Throughout the series, he must battle against an assortment of dangerous creatures with help from his Wesen friend, Monroe, and his partner, Detective Hank Griffin.
Beginning with Season 5, Black Claw and Hadrian's Wall (HW) are two opposing groups repeatedly mentioned in the series where many characters belong to these creature (wesen) groups.
Opening: "There once was a man who lived a life so strange, it had to be true. Only he could see what no one else can—the darkness inside, the real monster within, and he's the one who must stop them. This is his calling. This is his duty. This is the life of a Grimm."
Many of the episodes are loosely based on stories published by the Brothers Grimm, albeit with considerable artistic license taken. For example, the pilot centered around a wolf-man who preyed on women who wore red. Other episodes are based on different sources, including fables and legends, not published by the Brothers Grimm.
In 2008, CBS canceled development on a drama called Brother Grimm, written by Stephen Carpenter and produced by CBS Paramount Television and Hazy Mills Productions, because of the 2007–08 writers' strike.
In January 2011, NBC announced that they had given a pilot order to a series titled Grimm, pitched by David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf. The series was produced by Universal Media Studios and Hazy Mills Productions, with Greenwalt and Kouf also serving as executive producers for the series, along with Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner. In May 2011, NBC picked up the pilot to series, eschewing another supernatural police procedural, Ronald D. Moore's 17th Precinct.
Filming on the series began in March 2011, in and around Portland, Oregon. Greenwalt and Kouf told Portland's NBC affiliate KGW that they chose Portland because of its plentiful forests in the city's two largest parks, Washington Park and Forest Park.
On September 30, 2011, NBC delayed the debut of Grimm by one month, moving the premiere to October 28, 2011, so it could premiere closer to Halloween. The series was slated on Friday nights for the majority of its first season. On November 21, 2011, NBC picked up the series for a full 22-episode season. NBC aired a special Thursday screening on December 8, 2011, at 10 pm to analyze whether the network's overall ratings could improve. The creation of the titular Grimm books that are used on the show and featured very prominently were drawn by Oregon artist Carly Sertic
On March 16, 2012, NBC announced that the series had been renewed for a second season; according to writers/producers David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf, they would continue to film the show in Portland, saying, "Rain or shine, Portland has been the ideal setting for fairy tales with its enchanting layout. It is its own character in our show with the perfect mix of urban and rural settings." The second season premiered on Monday, August 13, 2012, and continued on Mondays for four episodes, before returning to its original Friday timeslot on September 10. NBC moved Grimm to Tuesday nights beginning April 30, 2013, for the remainder of Season 2.
The series was renewed for a third season on April 26, 2013. The third season premiered on October 25, 2013, which returned the show to its original Friday timeslot. On March 19, 2014, NBC announced that Grimm had been renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on October 24, 2014.
On February 5, 2015, NBC renewed the series for a fifth season, which premiered on Friday, October 30, 2015.
On April 5, 2016, NBC renewed the series for a sixth season, consisting of 13 episodes. On August 29, 2016, it was announced that season six would serve as the series' final season. The series concluded on March 31, 2017.
David Giuntoli was the first to be cast in the series, in the titular role of Nick Burkhardt, in February 2011 He was followed by Silas Weir Mitchell as Monroe, the now-reformed "big bad wolf". Following him, Russell Hornsby and Bitsie Tulloch were cast as Nick's partner Hank and his girlfriend, Juliette, respectively. The following month, Sasha Roiz was cast as a series regular, in the role of Captain Sean Renard.
Bree Turner, who guest starred in four episodes of Season 1 as Rosalee Calvert, was promoted to series regular for Season 2. Claire Coffee, playing Adalind Schade, was also upgraded to series regular for Season 2.
The series' premiere received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 54% approval rating based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Moody and dark, Grimm gives supernatural fantasy a TV procedural sheen." On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 55 out of 100, based on reviews from 23 critics.
The Hollywood Reporter's Tim Goodman felt that "[i]t has chills and humor and the ability to take a procedural story and twist it." Mike Hale of The New York Times said, "Some of the jokes work, and some of the frights are actually scary, and on a repeat viewing the craftsmanship and attention to detail made more of an impression."
Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times wrote in a mixed review that she preferred other fairy-tale themed dramas, such as ABC's Once Upon a Time, stating that despite a good cast and setting, Grimm puts an "entertaining crime spin on fairy-tale monsters that's a little too pat ... [And] adds up to a nice, moody, entertaining-enough hour and the troublesome question of how interesting this will be by the third episode."
Daynah Burnett, who reviewed the program for PopMatters, felt "[a]s Grimm grasps for compelling analogues between fairy tales' villains and ours, its stories turn exceedingly literal: wolves urinate in the corners of their lawns to mark their territory, rather than lurk (and mark) in ways less obvious and more culturally meaningful. There's certainly room here for these archetypes to be explored as the series develops, but when Nick's prime suspect for the red-hoodie crimes turns out to live in an actual cottage in the woods, it doesn't bode well for how these stories might reflect the lives of viewers", before giving it a score of 4 out of 10.
The second season received a more favorable response, with a score of 75 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on four reviews. The season holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews. The critics consensus reads, "Grimm continues expanding upon its own mythology during a darker, thrilling sophomore season." The Los Angeles Times reviewed the second-season premiere as, "it's hard not to love a show with a comely apothecary, and it's impossible not to love the new season of Grimm."
Mike Hale of The New York Times said of season three, "Grimm is not a profound show (what is?), but few are more purely entertaining – engaging, clever, tense, funny, well paced and featuring a remarkably appealing cast as the friends and colleagues who help Nick."
A press release by NBC on November 11, 2011, stated, "Grimm and Up All Night Are the #1 New Drama and #1 New Comedy Among Top % Gainers Going from Live+Same Day to Live+7. Grimm is the #1 new drama on ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox in terms of percentage increase from L+SD to L+7 so far this season and also the #1 new series and the #2 show overall behind only Fox's Fringe (+57%), growing by +49% in adults 18–49 (to a 2.98 rating from a 2.00)" The series averaged about 6.4 million U.S. viewers during its first season, and was consequently renewed for a second season.
By Friday, September 28, 2012, "Grimm" had increased its adult 18-49 rating by 1.14 points going from "live plus same day" ratings to "live plus three day" results from Nielsen Media Research (from a 1.58 to a 2.72). The 1.14 increase was Grimm's biggest gain ever, going from L+SD to L+3. The 2.72 was Grimm's highest L+3 rating since the show's second-season premiere on Monday, August 13.
In May 2013, Dynamite Entertainment started releasing a monthly Grimm Comic Book series. The series ended with issue #12, which was released April 30, 2014.
Novelist John Shirley was hired to write the first novel based on the Grimm television show. Grimm: The Icy Touch was published by Titan Books on November 5, 2013, and book 2, Grimm: The Chopping Block, written by John Passarella, was published February 18, 2014. The third novel, Grimm: The Killing Time, was written by Tim Waggoner and was published on September 30, 2014.
On October 16, 2018, NBC announced that a spin-off of the series was in development. The potential new series would focus on another Grimm and would continue to build off the mythology of the original series. As of June 2021, the project is dead.
In January 2025, it was reported that a reboot film is in development at Peacock, with the show's co-creators Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt acting as executive producers on the project. It is currently unknown if it will share the same universe as the original series.
The series premiered in Australia on January 4, 2012, on FOX8, with season two returning on September 30, 2012, followed by season three on October 30, 2013, and season four on January 7, 2015. The series was replayed on free-to-air network Seven (as opposed to FOX8, which is a subscription television network), with season one premiering November 30, 2012, with season two returning on August 1, 2013, and season three on October 15, 2014.
In New Zealand, the series premiered on June 18, 2012, on FOUR.
The series premiered in Canada on October 28, 2011, on CTV, with season two returning on August 13, 2012, followed by season three on October 25, 2013, and season four on October 24, 2014.
The series premiered in the UK on February 13, 2012, on W (known then as Watch), with season two returning on October 22, 2012, and season 3 on February 5, 2014. The fourth season premiered on January 28, 2015. The fifth season premiered on November 3, 2015. The sixth and final season premiered on February 14, 2017.
The series premiered in India on June 30, 2016, on Colors Infinity, with the first five seasons being broadcast back-to-back on weekdays (Monday–Friday). The final season was aired as a part of the network's Instant Premieres programming block, with each episode of season six being aired within 12 hours of its US broadcast.
In the United States, Grimm aired from October 28, 2011, to March 31, 2017, on NBC. Grimm was added to TNT in 2015 and was removed in 2019. Grimm was added to Comet in 2023. All episodes of Grimm are available to stream on The CW's website.