Monday, December 12, 2011

"Once Upon A Time" - Are You Watching?

Being the television aficionado that I like to think I am, I'm always skeptical about new mid-season shows. Usually mid-season shows are the red-headed stepchildren of the network scheduling world, born because a show that premiered in the fall tanked, and the network is desperate for something to fill it's time slot.

In my job, I usually get invited to "fall presentations" that the various networks do locally and get a sneak peak into the new shows. I vaguely remember seeing the preview for Once Upon A Time. I thought it looked awesomely stupid. I was wrong. It's. Fucking. Amazing!


The synopsis on ABC.com goes like this:
Emma Swan’s life has been anything but a fairytale. A 28-year-old bail bondsperson, she’s been taking care of herself since she was abandoned as a baby. But when Henry—the son she gave up 10 years ago—finds her, everything changes. Henry is desperate for his mom’s help and thinks that Emma is actually the long, lost daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Yes, the actual Snow White and Prince Charming. Even stranger, Henry believes that Storybrooke, Maine, the sleepy New England town he calls home, is really part of a curse cast by the Evil Queen, freezing fairytale characters in the modern world with no memory of their former selves.

Of course the seen-it-all Emma doesn’t believe a word, but when she gets to Storybrooke, she can’t help sensing that everything’s not quite what it seems. As Henry shows Emma around with the help of his fairytale book, the town, and its inhabitants like Henry’s therapist Archie Hopper and the enigmatic Mr. Gold, seem just strange enough to set off her already suspicious nature. She becomes even more concerned for Henry when she meets his adopted mother, Regina, who he suspects is none other than the Evil Queen herself!

Storybrooke is a place where magic has been forgotten—but is still powerfully close—and happily ever after seems just out of reach. In order to understand where the fairytale world’s former inhabitants came from, and what ultimately led to the Evil Queen’s wrath, you’ll need a glimpse into their previous lives. But it might just turn everything you’ve ever believed about these characters upside-down.

Meanwhile, the epic battle for the future of all worlds, modern and fairytale alike, is about to begin. For good to win, Emma will have to accept her destiny and fight like hell.
I started watching this show with very low expectations. Seriously? How was ABC ever going to pull this shit off? Fairy tale characters in the real world? *psssssh* But now? For me, it's appointment television -- errr... well, at least for my DVR to record it so I have something exciting to watch on that evil elliptical on Monday mornings. I'm addicted!

My Monday morning friends. I want that red leather jacket. And her pretty hair too.

The cast is fantastic. On one side, Lana Parilla's evil Queen/Regina would make anyone quake in their boots -- while on the side of good, Ginnifer Goodwin's Snow White/Ms. Blanchard is pure as the driven snow. My favorite characters are bad ass Jennifer Morrison who plays Emma Swan and Jamie Dornan who is quite the hunky Sheriff Graham. And Robert Carlyle is the creepiest  character of all in his dual role as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold.

The yummilicious Sheriff Graham - I'd definitely, ahem, "spread 'em" for him. I won't give away his role in fairy tale land. You'll have to watch to find out for yourself.

In the seven episodes so far this season, there have been so many twists and turns and new characters and switching back and forth between fairy tale land and Storybrooke, that if you look away for just a second, you could get lost. I absolutely love these types of shows -- the shows I get excited about when I see them in my DVR queue. And it appears I'm not the only one. ABC is boasting strong ratings despite its head-to-head battle with Sunday Night Football on NBC.

Are you a television whore like me? What's your favorite new show this season? I have a few faves... but more on those others later!

17 comments:

  1. I'm totally with you...this is my new FAVE! I get so excited every time I sit down to watch it. The Queen is an evil bitch and I love the new takes on the classic fairytales. Also, I'm a fan of "Charming" he is quite the cutie ♥

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  2. I am always quoting "your move" to whoever pisses me off in real life now. Of course, they just look at me like something is wrong.

    Still trying to figure out if Rumple remembers...and there needs to be more of him saying "please" to that Evil Queen bitch!

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  3. I love this show! I was a little skeptical before it began this fall, but once I started watching, I was hooked! I can't wait until January for the next new episode! (And please tell me the end of the last one did not happen - I REFUSE to believe it!)

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  4. Oh man, I LOVE this show! I hadn't heard about it before the previews started. I can't wait for the next episode!

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  5. Of the two fairy tale based shows this season, I was really excited about Grimm and had to be talked into giving Once Upon A Time a try. I thought Grimm had the better premise but execution is everything... Once Upon A Time has gripped me from the start and Grimm has been exceedingly disappointing.

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  6. Yep, totally loving this show too! It's on Hulu for those who missed the early episodes. DH and I thought the pilot was pretty stupid, but we stuck with it through the second episode because we liked the premise...and it paid off. It's getting better and better as it goes along!

    I want Emma's red jacket AND her dark blue jacket with the piping. While I'm making unreasonable requests, I'd also like her waistline.

    My one complaint: those are NOT Honeycrisp apples on the Queen's tree. Not even close. Looks more like Red Delicious.

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  7. I am hooked on this show and Grimm. Yes the Queen is evil but someone has to be the bad one. LOL!

    It will be interesting to see the other "movies" based on this story when they come out SWATH & Mirror, Mirror.

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  8. I love this show! I was hooked from the first episode. They did a great job in casting. I bet the actors are having a blast playing these characters we remember from the fairy tales we grew up with, but with a bit of a twist.

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  9. I admit... I'm watching it although I think it's a little cheesy I still am up to date on everything. I am starting to really like the sherrif. He's yummy! The Rumple-guy is appropriately creepy. I'm not sure I believed he was only doing some gardening when he was found in the woods with a shovel. I think there's more to that story.

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  10. I started to watch this and lost interest after a few episodes. Maybe I should have invested more time into the characters but I do like the concept behind the show.

    But as for my new favorite show this season! OMG, hands down: American Horror Story.... I can't.... That show is just awesome.

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  11. I absolutely love this show! The casting is perfect & the writing is excellent. I love all the twists on the classic fairy tales. I'm going to be a sad panda when the season ends.

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  12. Emma SWAN? I can't be the only one who finds that odd with k-stew's new snow white movie coming out this summer. I'm adding that to the great chest of twi-conspiracy theories.

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  13. This sounds totally silly but I would still love to watch it. The only problem is that ML may kill me if I get obsessed with another show...

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  14. I meant to watch it but I missed it...now I am gonna have to wait. New favorite shows though, Ringer and American Horror Story! Absolutely fucking amazing! I need to find someone else that likes Ringer though! I have no one to talk to about it :-(

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  15. That show did look interesting to me, but I just don't have the time to watch a lot of tv. I hope I can catch up on it on Netflix in the future. So, I still watch "Raising Hope" that started last year--hilarious and so cute. "Revenge" is pretty awesome. I became interested in that when I learned it's loosely based on one of my favorite books ever, "The Count of Monte Cristo."

    I also watch "Happy Endings." It's pretty good, but mostly because the one chick, Penny, has got to somehow be based on my best friend. They even look alike physically. Sure, the writers have taken some liberties, but I'm preeeeeeetty sure they're stalking her.

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  16. I am watching now...thanks LKW for another unnecesarry obsession. Psssh.

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  17. They killed the Sheriff!! Just when he was remembering!! Is any character safe?? Better question, should I still watch? BTW, picture Mr. Gold and Aro in the same room --- creeeeeepppppyyyy.

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