NBC’s fairytale-tinged police series Grimm started out last year in a grim spot in the schedule (Friday nights, to which it will return in September), one of many supernatural shows popping up just about everywhere.  It seemed at first a direct competitor to ABC’s Once Upon A Time, which quickly gained a rabid following.  But besides their supernatural tints, the shows are extremely different in execution.

I reviewed the first three episodes of Grimm last year and found it diverting but not exceptional, especially in such a jam-packed fall lineup of great shows.  But as things went on the show started coming more into its own, moving away from its procedural roots to more of a wholly supernatural show (that borrows from quite a number of other fantasy series, including Lord of the Rings), and left its first season with a number of cliff hangers.  For more on what’s in store for the upcoming season (as well as a helpful video reminder of the past one) hit the jump.

Grimm, the fantasy/horror/detective show hybrid is the sort of show that’s just entertaining enough. If Breaking Bad, or The Wire, or whatever else elevates television to a great art form, Grimm is more in line with serials in that it keeps you coming back for more, even if momentum is more important than how the pieces fit together. David Giuntoli starts the show finding out he’s a Grimm, a legendary hunter of mythic creatures, who – surprise – are living amongst us. Our review of season one of Grimm on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

The cast and creators of Grimm, the mish-mash procedural monster fairy tale cop show, took to Comic Con to discuss the making of the hit show and to preview its upcoming second season.  Amongst the panel: Writer/Creators David Greenwalt & Jim Kouf, director Norberto Barba, executive producers Todd Milliner & Sean Hayes, and cast members David Giuntoli, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Bree Turner, Russell Hornsby, Reggie Lee & Sasha Roiz.  For a recap of the panel, hit the jump.

Already renewed for Season 2, the NBC drama series Grimm, inspired by the classic Grimm’s fairy tales, follows Portland homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), who discovers that he is descended from an elite line of criminal profilers known as “Grimms.”  Charged with keeping balance between humanity and the mythological creatures of the world, he tries to hide the dangers of his new found calling from his girlfriend (Bitsie Tulloch) and his partner (Russell Hornsby), while getting help from Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell), a reformed Grimm creature known as a Blutbad.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor Silas Weir Mitchell (Prison Break) talked about how he came to be a part of Grimm, how much he enjoys playing such an interesting and cool character that’s unlike anything else on TV, that the level of peril will definitely amp up as the underpinnings of the world come to a head, that playing Monroe is all about focusing on the humanity, and that he hopes to never lose touch with the violent inner nature of the character.  He also talked about what draws him to specific characters and what it is about acting that appeals to him.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

While on the set of Grimm, we walked by a trailer where it looked like someone was lying down, getting an extensive amount of make-up applied. Mostly naked, it was hard not to look up with curiosity and then look away out of modesty. A big make-up wouldn’t be that surprising for the show, as it definitely deals in the fantastical and the macabre. Grimm stars David Guintoli as a cop named Nick Burckhardt who discovers he comes from a long line of Grimms – those that hunt and protect the world from the fantastical creatures of yore. To help him, he’s got his cop partner (Russell Hornsby) and Eddie Munroe (Silas Weir Mitchell), a werewolf who has decided to never use his powers for evil. But Nick tries his hardest to never let those worlds intersect.

After talking to Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, the producers of the show, we went by that trailer again on our way to lunch, and the person was still there. Finally – after some food – we got to go into the make-up trailer and only then did I realize that the body was a dummy. Movie (or in this case TV) magic. Our set visit on Grimm follows after the jump.

Silas Weir Mitchell is one of those actors who you might have seen in a number of things. With 79 credits on the IMDb, he’s popped up in movies and TV shows with small bits and reoccurring characters, but for Grimm, it’s his first shot at playing a series regular. From appearances on 24, Prison Break, The Shield, My Name is Earl, and many more, he’s someone with a distinctive face – often cast as someone who is either wrongly or rightly suspected of doing something bad.

For my set visit to Grimm – the shot in Portland fantasy procedural – I got a couple minutes to drink and chat with Mitchell.  And so we talked about his career and his character in Grimm, a “Bluebod” (werewolf) who is trying to living the straight and narrow path of a reformed killer, and someone who’s lived in fear of being killed for who he is.  If you’ve seen the pilot, you can tell his character is what brings the show up to the next level. Check out our talk after the jump.