Bad mojo on TV

Last night I did two things pertaining to TVs shows revolving around magic.

1. I gave up watching Grimm.

I have the last 9 or so episodes sitting on my hard drive and have never felt the slightest urge to sit down and catch up. That pretty much my new kiss of death for a show. If I'm in the mood to watch TV, see over 7 episodes of something that's unwatched and still feel like I have to options I give up. That's how Once Upon A Time bit the dust and it is how Grimm went.

2. I rewatched the (unaired, not picked up) pilot for 17th Precinct.

 It's a cop show (bear with me) set in a world where science and the enlightenment never happened because magic works so it was never needed. Instead of using fossil fuels and electricity buildings are networked with fire and plant life. The show is created by the guy that did the new Battlestar Galactica. The cast is pretty much the same people too. And all that was ever made was the pilot which was not picked up.

And it's really good. In one episode it establishes some good characters, some passable ones with potential, a great concept, an overarching conspiracy and some fantastic world building. Aside from the magic there are bits and pieces that hint at how alien their culture really is. While their version of technology is the pinnacle of environmentally friendly their system of justice is shockingly brutal. Sexuality and how the body is regarded is a lot more fluid. And of course there are the touches of religion that will be in any show Ronald D. Moore works on.

This is all done, mind you, in a single episode. It's not a wonder it didn't get picked up. Dense shows tend to get treated gingerly since they have trouble getting a large audience. So I'm not going to say "Why didn't this get picked up?!" What's depressing is that it didn't and a number of mediocre magic shows did. For a while the vogue in genre shows was dark, character driven science fiction. That seems to have ended with a whimper, the official date of death probably being the finale of Lost. Now that fantasy and fairy tales are saturating the market 17th Precinct  would have added a great depth to the genre. Watching it again reminded me that it's not a shock it didn't get a time slot, though it is a shame.