Once Upon A Time: Live Or Die?

Despite the previous failures of Science Fiction and Fantasy television shows, ABC’s “Once Upon A Time” has taken off to a fairly promising start.  It has been able to hold it’s average rating from when it aired till now.  The question is if this show will last more than two seasons.  Though fantasy shows do have freedom for writers to create intrigue, sometimes the mystery of the plot drive viewers away.  That is why we have 5 seasons of “Jersey Shore.”  Now that people have much faster lives and have so little time, campy and brainless fun is more enjoyable than a clever and intricate storyline.  Reality shows do not make you suspend your disbelief, which is why they are so popular.  It is harder now for people to appreciate imaginative ideas, because we feel as if we are so in touch with the real world.  Because of the Internet, we have been able to take more or ownership in the world because we feel we know so much more about it.  The question is why TV viewers are turned away from fantastical premises of TV shows because of this. 

The previous episodes of “Once Upon A Time” have taken childhood fairytales and twisted them in to something so different that many viewers have “given up” on the show.  With this attitude the show will probably not have long to get to it’s happy ending.  People need to appreciate the cleverness of what the writers have done with the childhood stories.  During the most recent episode of “Once Upon A Time” the writers spun the traditional story of “Beauty and the Beast” into something that fit the TV Show’s characters.  In “Once Upon A Time” The story lines of the characters from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to “Rumpelstiltskin” intertwine to create new stories.  It is almost as if all of the fairytales ever written were all apart of one world, but through the process of these stories being recorded they were spun to be simpler and cleaner.  While watching the show, you get to see the writers’ interpretations of familiar characters.  Reading and hearing these stories as a child, I don’t recall that I really cared about the characters.  As children, it is the overall story that is captivating. As adults, the character development is most important.  This show could seem like it is very cheesy and campy, but there is so much more to this show than the effects and costumes.  Viewers get to see how Cinderella would lead her life if she did not have a fairy godmother.  Viewers get to see the darker situations and problems of life that these fairytale characters might have endured that were not written in the storybooks. 

Though this show is still very likely to be renewed for next season, it is hard not to think that people’s lack of interest in the fantasy genre will put this how in danger.  I am aware of the success this show has had in the last 3 months.  It is one of the ratings toppers for the ABC network.  My past experience of shows like this, usually end with a huge ratings drop in the second season.  The thing that this show has going for it, is that it is using characters that people have loved and remembered since childhood.  This show requires you to suspend your disbelief and appreciate interesting and lovable characters.  I truly hope that “Once Upon A Time” has a long and prosperous life on network television, because it is one of the better shows that are currently on TV.