Unexpectedly entertaining Sleepy Hollow becomes first, unexpected renewal of the fall TV season 

In a fall season marked by an extreme caution that speaks in the warmly familiar tones of Robin Williams’ streetwise-tough-guy voice, Fox’s Sleepy Hollow has proven to be one of the lone surprises. Surprisingly enjoyable, thanks to a cast adept at committing to the most ludicrous of supernatural bullshit (WASHINGTON’S BIBLE!), and surprisingly popular, scoring big premiere ratings while avoiding anything like the signature “Whedon dip” that dogged Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. in its second week. That popularity—plus the fact that the show is already three episodes into a 13-episode first season—likely contributed to today’s announcement that Ichabod Crane and Abbie Mills will at least live to see the second year of that seven-year arc that was announced in the show’s pilot (and immediately accepted by the audience on the basis of sheer audacity). “I can’t wait for fans to experience what else is in store for this fall and even more of this wild ride into season two,” Fox boss Kevin Reilly said in a statement accompanying the renewal notice—his use of the phrase “wild ride” suggesting, with any luck, that the next step in Sleepy Hollow’s apocalypse of insanity includes a full-on The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad crossover. You scoff now, but stranger things have happened—like Sleepy Hollow turning out to be actually kind of good.