Despite Disney announcing last year that it was closing the book on fairy tales, it seems that they have been given a new life through ABC this fall season in the series Once Upon a Time. The internet buzz surrounding the show included the fact that Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are writers (they worked previously on ABC’s hit Lost
The ratings for the pilot were good – 12.79 million, landing it in the top three genre TV shows this season according to blastr. Everyone will be waiting with baited breath to see if next week can retain viewership, but Once Upon a Time looks like it is here to stay for awhile. Which is a good thing, because it is one of the more interesting and enjoyable TV series I’ve seen in a long time.
Emma Swan is much like all of us as the average viewer – she’s made some mistakes, but she’s a good person underneath. She wants to be independent, but she longs for fairy tales and a happy ending of her own. After a hard day’s work as a bail bonds collector, Emma returns to her apartment alone, with a single cupcake to celebrate her birthday. Closing her eyes and making a wish, the unexpected happens: someone knocks on her door.
The basic premise of Once Upon a Time is clever: all of the fairy tales we know and love have a basis from a world filled with magic and wonder. However, their happy ending came to an abrupt end when the wicked witch “cursed” everyone into a terrible place – a little town called Storybrooke, Maine (not sure if that was a slam on Maine or the entire world in general, but probably the latter). Conveniently, no one remembers their time in the fairy tale world. However, time has frozen for them and, according to one little boy, Emma is the only one who can set things right.
I’m curious to see where the series will go. There are endless avenues and fairy tales to explore, especially with the use of flashbacks. Though Lost seemed effective at using the jumps in time, other shows (specifically The Event) have failed to utilize it properly. I think that they have a good shot at getting it right. I also was pleased that the show was in general more family-friendly.
This is one show that’s staying on my “to watch” list.
