Why Sleepy Hollow May Be The Most Batshit Brilliant Show Of The New Season

It sounds like a joke, doesn't it? Just take a look at the official synopsis:

In this modern-day retelling of Washington Irving's classic, ICHABOD CRANE  is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to find that the world is on the brink of destruction and that he is humanity's last hope, forcing him to team up with a contemporary police officer to unravel a mystery that dates back to the founding fathers. 

Wow. This synopsis doesn't even mention that the famous Headless Horseman is dragged into the "future" with Crane, or that "friction and tension" are promised from the fact that Crane's new partner is... get this... a black woman! I know, right?

All it needs is a "Starring Troy Maclure" disclaimer and we have us a Simpsons joke.

Name one show that wouldn't be better if this guy was in the lead role. Name one.

 But let's take a moment to just let this sink in - put aside all cynicism and think about just how joyfully simple and fun this sounds. In an age where new TV shows are either mind-numblingly tedious "reality" shows that attack our faith in humanity with an onslaught of detestible cockbags getting drunk and arguingwith each other in the name of "banter", complex and artistic character studies (not that Mad Men, Breaking Bad et al aren't amongst the very best shows ever made), or tediously predictable - not to mention several years past the window of opportunity - attempts at being the "next Lost" that scream "cancellation fodder" as loud as they can from the off (Revolution, Alcatraz, FlashForward, The Event...), here's a show that looks like it just wants to be a good time, and that doesn't care how dumb it sounds in the process. Seriously - Ichabod Crane travels through fucking time to team up with modern day cops to fight the Headless Horseman and prevent the apocalypse. How ace does that sound?

When the new TV season was announced, like most geeks I poured over the schedules, seeing what looked good (Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. - surely set to be the next Event TV show now that Breaking Bad is winding down; Hostages, which looks set to appeal to the Homeland crowd; The Michael J. Fox show), what looked crap (Dads - Seth Macfarlane doing live-action in what seems like a carbon-copy of the already-weak Grandma's Boy; Mom, which looks like Chuck Lorre doing Cybil and Grace Under Fire again, only this time with the star-power of... Anna Farris - both look like being big hits, unfortunately), and what shows were bound to be cancelled by November (The Tomorrow People, a shiny CW remake of the classic British kids' show, with an "edgy" twist... yawn; Almsot Human, which seems like a disturbingly po-faced version of Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E., starring Karl Urban).

But it was Sleepy Hollow that stood out immediately. Not because of big-name pulling power (with Michael J. Fox, Robin Williams, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Julia Ormond, Rebel Wilson, Beau Bridges and Michael Sheen taking to the small screen, Sleepy Hollow's token big name... er... Orlando Jones doesn't sound much of a draw), but purely by virtue of the concept, and how crazy it sounded. I was grinning like a kid when I first read it, and every revelation since then has only increased my excitement. The fact that, before Crane even comes to the present day, his story is shifted back in time from Washington Irving's original tale, instead taking place in the Revolutionary War (while meanwhile the Massachusetts witch trials are pulled forward in time - and location - to become a part of the story of the Horseman's origin), or that action from the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse is promised as the show's story arc progresses... Oh, and not forgetting that the key to everything is George Washington's lost bible. Not since the BBC's Robin Hood was faced with electric buzzsaws, weird lava traps and a fucking lion has a show so liberally disregarded the source material in favour of the Rule Of Cool.

And I'm totally okay with that.

For better or worse, this is a show that looks like the focus is purely on having fun. And honestly it's been kinda a long while since we've had a show that has done that with such a grandious abandonment of any hint of pretensiousness.

And also - dare I whisper it? - more surprising than the extreme liberties the show takes with both the source material and with history itself is the fact that the early reviews are actually suggesting that the show may just be something pretty good. Critics have praised the show's "taut and compelling pace", "convincing" special effects, "cinematic" look , and particular the cast, headed by relative unknowns Tom Mison and Nicole Beharie. 

Oh, and that's not to mention that the show has some genuine blockbuster clout behind the scenes, coming from the mind of Underworld/Die Hard 4 supremo [and Mr. Kate Beckinsale] Len Wiseman, and Star Trek scribes Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.

The show's appeal undoubtedly lies in its unparralleled insanity, but it looks that Sleepy Hollow might - might - just have something to back that up with.

Crane and Abbie Mills investigate. Yep. It's a book.

Whether it's through morbid curiosity, childlike glee, or just pure incredulity, this is a show that's attracted a surprising amount of buzz over the last few months. 

Cancelled by November? Oh, probably.

But it might just be a hell of a ride until then.

Starring Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Katia Winter, John Cho, Orlando Jones and Clany Brown, Sleepy Hollow begins in the US at 9pm this Monday, airing on FOX. The Universal Channel has secured the rights to air the show in the UK, but no premiere date has been set as of yet.