Television series

Grimm

Name: Grimm
Genre: Drama, Crime, Supernatural
Released: 2011
Cast: David Giuntoli, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz, Russell Hornsby, Elizabeth Tulloch

A Portland homicide cop discovers he's the latest in a bloodline of monster-hunters and starts seeing the Big Bad Wolf hiding inside his witnesses. Grimm plays it as a procedural first, fairy tale second: a case-of-the-week structure dressed up with practical creature effects, growing mythology, and a hero balancing badge and birthright. Comfort viewing with teeth, best enjoyed in a binge.

TVMaze rating

8.4

If you liked this

Supernatural2005

Two brothers driving America hunting monsters out of folklore and urban legend, with the same episodic-creature-then-slow-burn-mythology rhythm Grimm runs on, just leaner and meaner.

But Fifteen seasons is a genuine commitment, and the tone swings between goofy and apocalyptic more than Grimm ever does.

The X-Files1993

The template for procedural-plus-monster-of-the-week storytelling. Mulder and Scully investigate the impossible with the same case-file structure Grimm inherited, but with sharper writing and real paranoia underneath.

But Slower pace, 90s production values, and a conspiracy arc that occasionally overstays its welcome across the run.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer1997

A chosen one juggles a normal life against a secret monster-fighting destiny, exactly Nick's dilemma, but funnier, more emotionally reckless, and hugely influential on everything that followed it.

But Early seasons look and feel very late-90s, and the tonal whiplash between comedy and grief can be jarring if you want something steadier.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Company of Wolves1984no page yet

Same fairy tale bones as Grimm's wesen mythology, but pushed into full arthouse horror register — what the wolf story looks like without a badge or a case file attached.

A teenage girl's dreams unravel into a werewolf fairy tale steeped in menace and desire, adapted from Angela Carter, gorgeously shot and genuinely unsettling in a way Grimm only gestures toward.

But Slow, dreamlike, and explicitly about sexual awakening — nothing like a procedural, and the ambiguity may frustrate viewers wanting plot.

Angel1999

A detective agency in a city full of demons, cases-of-the-week stacked on serialized dread — the noir-cop-meets-supernatural mood Grimm was clearly built on.

But Requires some Buffy context to land fully, and the first season is noticeably rougher than what comes after.

Fringe2008

An FBI unit investigates fringe science instead of fairy tales, but the structure is identical: procedural cases feeding a much bigger mythology, with a genuinely strange creature-of-the-week engine.

But Gets increasingly baroque and parallel-universe-heavy, which either delights you or loses you completely by season three.

Sleepy Hollow2013no page yet

Folklore literally walks the streets of a modern American town while a mismatched cop duo investigates, with the same pulpy, monster-a-week energy and a Headless Horseman standing in for Grimm's wesen.

But The show visibly loses its footing after season one when the creative team and cast chemistry both shift.

iZombie2015

A zombie coroner solves murders by eating brains and absorbing memories, week after week, in a show that takes the monster-detective idea and makes it gleefully weirder and funnier.

But The tone is much lighter and quippier than Grimm's, closer to a sitcom with a body count than a moody procedural.

Once Upon a Time2011no page yet

Fairy tale characters live secretly among us, same premise engine as Grimm turned inside out, with a soapier, more romantic, family-friendly sensibility and a huge connected mythology to get lost in.

But Leans hard into melodrama and Disney-adjacent whimsy, which can feel a long way from Grimm's grittier cop-show shell.

Beauty and the Beast1987no page yet

An NYPD detective partners with a man who turns monstrous under stress, folding fairy tale transformation into a case-of-the-week cop drama much like Nick's double life.

But Skews more romance than horror, and the central relationship dynamic will feel too soapy for viewers who came to Grimm for the creature effects.

Over the Garden Wall2014

Strips Grimm's woodland-folklore anxiety down to its purest form: no badge, no case-of-the-week, just the old fear of what's waiting between the trees, rendered in a completely different medium.

Two brothers wander a haunted, folklore-soaked forest across ten short animated episodes, radiating the same fairy-tale-in-the-woods dread as Grimm but told with warmth, melancholy, and gorgeous painterly visuals.

But It's animated, aimed partly at younger viewers, and only two hours total — a very different scale and audience than a network crime procedural.