TV Snap Judgment: "Sleepy Hollow"

I watched the premiere of Fox's new show "Sleepy Hollow" last night, and, although I'm going to give it a few more weeks to settle in to its sweet spot, I'm not so sure that this one is going to last too long.

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I can't deny that there is some major fun to be had with this show, and I'm a big fan of the ridiculous. But, I don't know, something about this premiere just left me a little flat.

The show follows Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison), who, after being killed in a Revolutionary War battle by a big scary Hessian on a horse, suddenly wakes up in the modern age. He quickly discovers that the Headless Horseman is rampaging around, sans head, and killing people in modern day times too. He must team up with police officer Abby Mills (Nicole Beharie), who is trying to figure out the mystery of the horseman, too, after he killed her partner. She pokes around in her partner's files and discovers that the horseman is one of the Horsemen ... like, of the apocalypse. Weird, right? So they must team up and stop the apocalypse, I guess.

I kind of love the concept, but I felt like the execution, at least in the first episode, was a little uneven. There were a lot of crazy-fun moments, including shootouts and fights and several people getting gloriously decapitated, as you would expect in a "Sleepy Hollow"-inspired TV show. But I'm just not sold on the story's concept. I feel like I've seen a lot of aspects of it before. I wasn't terribly charmed by Ichabod's fish-out-of-water routine after waking up 250 years in the future. I felt like the scriptwriters really only pulled that out when they needed a light moment, rather than have it be part of Ichabod's character all the time. That can be a very fun concept for a show, but only if it's deployed right. 

I did get a sense of good chemistry between Abby and Ichabod a few times, which could be one of the things that saves this show. I'm hoping that friendship and trust develops, because an odd-couple pairing like that can be very compelling.

"Sleepy Hollow" has potential, and I do hope that it gets its footing. The show intrigued me enough to watch next week, but it's going to have to up its game fast if it wants to stay on my crowded DVR. 

Did you watch "Sleepy Hollow?" What did you think of the show?