Tag Archives: Once Upon a Time

Status update #7 on your favorite new and returning shows

The fun never stops in TV land. Here’s our seventh status update on the fate of your favorite new and returning shows. ABC dominates the scene here having renewed the majority of its lineup in one fell swoop. Get your fix below.

ABC is feeling extremely confident about the bulk of its primetime lineup. To prove it, the Alphabet network has handed early renewals to 15 of its current drama and comedy series. Fairy tale drama Once Upon A Time will return for a sixth season next fall, and so will its Sunday night companion, freshman FBI drama QuanticoMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t going anywhere, having secured a fourth season under its belt. Sitcom Fresh off the Boat, another Tuesday night entry, will continue for a third season. ABC’s Wednesday night lineup remains in tact; The Middle (season 8), The Goldbergs (s4), Modern Family (s8), and black-ish (s3) are all coming back next season. The same can be said for Shonda Rhimes’ “TGIT” Thursday night lineup that includes Grey’s Anatomy (s13), Scandal (s6), and How to Get Away with Murder (s3). Elsewhere, reality veterans Dancing with the StarsThe BachelorShark Tank, and America’s Funniest Home Videos are staying put on the network. ABC has yet to seal the fates for the following series: CastleNashvilleThe MuppetsLast Man StandingDr. Ken and midseason entries American CrimeGalavant, and Agent Carter.

Jump after the break to discover what else has been greenlit recently for another go-around! Continue reading Status update #7 on your favorite new and returning shows

‘Once Upon A Time’ looks back as 100th episode looms ahead

Consider yourself a fan of ABC’s fairy tale drama Once Upon A Time? Then look no further than here–it’s a nearly seven minute retrospective video that takes you down memory lane. The celebratory clip anticipates the series’ upcoming 100th episode, aka the season 5 midseason premiere, with a look back at the numerous heroes, villains, new worlds, adventures, and stories of love and hope we’ve experienced over the past five years. Fans have grown close to the classic fairy tale characters who make up Storybrooke, Maine, and that’s what makes this video all the more special. Audiences have witnessed characters like Emma Swan (who initially and for a long time didn’t believe) and The Evil Queen (whose name used to fit her well) blossom into heroic figures. And now, as we head into episode 100 that’s titled “Souls of the Departed,” Emma must journey into the Underworld where she’ll face off against Hades (Greg Germann) in order to save Hook from a hellish fate. Once is coming off its strong “Dark Swan” story arc, and with the promise of seeing old faces resurface (including Cora and Pan), fans can rest assured that the series will continue riding his creative streak heading into the latter half of the season.

Once Upon A Time returns Sunday, March 6 at 8pm on ABC. Continue reading ‘Once Upon A Time’ looks back as 100th episode looms ahead

Comic Con: Emma embraces her dark side in ‘Once Upon a Time’ to become The Dark Swan (video inside)

This post contains spoilers for Once Upon a Time season 4.

Meet The Dark Swan. That’s what Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, executive producers of ABC’s fairytale drama Once Upon a Time, are calling Emma Swan, now that she’s carrying the darkness that once lived inside Rumpelstiltskin (formally known as The Dark One). The image you see above is being used as the official key art for the upcoming fifth season of OUAT and was featured outside the convention center in San Diego during the week of Comic Con. It’s certainly a bold image to use as it stylistically transforms Jennifer Morrison’s character into something sinister. It might be hard to see, but along the side it reads, “Evil isn’t born. It’s made.”

“Emma went through a lot in her life,” Morrison said at the OUAT panel. “She had a tough childhood. She’s had to overcome a lot of things. She’s tried to be the bigger person. Now that she’s tethered to the darkness, she’s free of that…She’s going to face the darkness in herself and figure out how to overcome it.”

In the first of three clips embedded after the break, you will witness Emma’s storied journey from bail bondswoman to Storybrooke non-believer to The Savior and her eventual decent into darkness. Emma lost her love from the “real world” when Neil met his maker last season, and more recently she found out that her parents–Snow White and Prince Charming–lied to her about her Savior origins. When all of this came to head in the season four finale, The Apprentice accidentally released the darkness living inside Rumpelstiltskin unto Storybrooke. Emma sacrificed herself and allowed the darkness to consume her to save the town from death and destruction.

In the second clip, you’ll get a first look at Morrison playing The Dark Swan: slicked back, bleached blonde hair, deep red lipstick, and shiny sparkles make up her appearance. And oh yes, she’s evil alright: locked inside a cage (did the darkness transport her to the Enchanted Forest?), Evil Emma rips the heart out of a jailor and crushes it to smithereens without flinching. Want a closer look at Morrison in character? Click over to EW for two stills.

The third and final clip released from the Con introduces a brand new character from Disney/Pixar lore and it’s Merida from Brave. Amy Manson (Being Human) plays the red-haired princess of DunBroch who happens to be a master archer. How she’s connected to the rest of the Once gang has not been disclosed.

The search for Merlin the Sorcerer and a way to save Emma from the darkness (herself!) begins this September when Once Upon a Time returns to ABC.

[Via EW] Continue reading Comic Con: Emma embraces her dark side in ‘Once Upon a Time’ to become The Dark Swan (video inside)

Big Four Networks decide fate of your favorite series in latest renewal/cancellation news (Updates inside)

Article originally published on 5/7/15. Continually updated after the break.

It is May, and the Upfronts are right around the corner. Before the networks make official their upcoming slate of fall shows, they must decide the fate of current series.

ABC made waves Thursday evening, announcing a whopping 16 renewals and 3 cancellations. Without further ado, the following series will be making their way back to the Alphabet network next season.

Shonda Rhimes’ “TGIT” lineup remains in tact, as Grey’s Anatomy (season 12), Scandal (s5), and How to Get Away with Murder (s2) will all return for more intense drama. Veteran Castle (s8) and ABC staples Once Upon A Time (s5) and Nashville (s4) are also coming back–no surprise there. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (s3) is here to stay as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to unfold on TV; also, the TV gods thankfully heard our collective cries to keep Marvel’s Agent Carter on the air which will return for a second season! The low-rated, critically acclaimed American Crime is also getting a sophomore run, as is the surprisingly fun murder mystery series Secrets and Lies.

Over on the comedy side, veteran Modern Family (s7) remains the network’s crown jewel, and other Wednesday night sitcoms The Middle (s7) and The Goldbergs (s3), and black-ish (s2) will follow suit with new seasons next fall. Freshman series Fresh off the Boat and musical Galavant have also been greenlit to return. Though it hasn’t been made official quite yet, Tim Allen sitcom Last Man Standing is expected to make a fifth season. Update (5/10)LMS will return.

Last, the net’s alternative programs that have been renewed include American’s Funniest Home Videos (s26), The Bachelor (s20), Dancing with the Stars (s21), Shark Tank (s7), Beyond the Tank (s2), and newsmagazine 20/20.

Those series not returning include dramas Resurrection and Forever and Friday night sitcom Cristela. While the latter two failed to find broad audiences, the former simply couldn’t manage to sustain its dragged out premise involving dead people coming back to life (good luck, The Returned!). Fans will surely hold onto Resurrection‘s quietly superb 8-episode first season, and thankfully, the season 2 finale happened to bring much closure to the story.

As I teased before, this is just the beginning, people. Hold onto your hats because the Upfronts are coming next week!

Jump after the break for other renewal/cancellation news from the big networks. Continue reading Big Four Networks decide fate of your favorite series in latest renewal/cancellation news (Updates inside)

ABC previews ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.,’ ‘Once,’ ‘Resurrection’ & ‘Revenge’ with new teasers

ABC knows how to ramp up anticipation for their new series! Later this month Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.Once Upon A TimeRevenge, and Resurrection make their long-awaited returns to the airwaves and each of them have tantalizing teasers that’ll make you wish it was late September, uh, now. Jump after the break to watch all four teasers. Continue reading ABC previews ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.,’ ‘Once,’ ‘Resurrection’ & ‘Revenge’ with new teasers

Comic Con: ‘Once Upon a Time’ readies fans for ‘Frozen’ arc

Don’t hold your breath, Oncers. Though ABC is touting this as the official “Season 4 Trailer” it serves simply as a series recap and does not contain new footage. Bummer, I know. But here it is nevertheless, and it will get you amped for what’s to come in Storybrooke this fall.

Major takeaways from this year’s Once Upon a Time panel at Comic Con: Giancarlo Esposito, fresh off his three year stint on NBC’s now-cancelled Revolution, will return as Regina’s Mirror. Actor Michael Socha, who played the Knave in the short-lived spinoff Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, will make his way to Storybrooke. Colin O’Donoghue’s Hook will begin to sport modern attire in the new season. A musical episode is not in the cards (for now). And in terms of the hyped Frozen storyline, showrunners Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz presented a brief clip (not available online) of Anna and Elsa (played by Georgina Haig and Elizabeth Lail, respectively) leaving flowers at their parents’ grave. Frozen characters joining the show include the aforementioned queen and princess, Kristoff (Scott Michael Foster), Hans (Tyler Jacob Moore), and Grand Pabbie the Troll King (voiced by John Rhys-Davies).

[Via TVLine]

Comic Con: Beloved Disney characters join ‘Once Upon A Time’ this season

A princess, a pirate, a wizard, a queen, a knight, and a savior join forces in search of Neverland. That’s what this season 3 teaser masked as a season 2 recapper hypes as near the fall return of ABC’s Once Upon A Time.

The Once team did a good job at not revealing much, but they did say Neverland will play a big part in season 3. And who will we meet there? Well, Peter Pan of course. “Peter Pan has a complicated motivation,” said series co-showrunner Adam Horowitz. “It’s a little different than you’ve seen before.” Added showrunner Eddy Kitsis, “He might be frightening. To some people.” Also on the horizon is the formal introduction of Tinker Bell who has “a surprising connection” to somebody we already know and Ariel aka The Little Mermaid.

After the break you can watch two clips that were screened first at Comic Con. The first teases The Little Mermaids arrival, and the second is an extended look at a funny bit made for the season 2 DVD called “Good Morning Storybrooke” featuring some of the cast.

Elsewhere, it was announced that another Lost alum will be joining the Once family. Naveen Andrews (who played castaway Sayid Jarrah) will embody the villainous Jafar in the Once spinoff Once Upon A Time In Wonderland. Andrews will appear in the first episode as the season’s “very, very, very evil villain” and Kitsis promises his portrayal of the Aladdin character will be “very frightening.” Continue reading Comic Con: Beloved Disney characters join ‘Once Upon A Time’ this season

‘OUAT in Wonderland’ scoop: a longer season promised with hope for more stories to tell

Once fans, perk up! Originally envisioned as a standalone, limited series to bridge the gap during Once Upon A Time‘s winter hiatus, spinoff Once Upon A Time In Wonderland is spinning into a more traditional series for the alphabet network. At the Upfronts, ABC announced that Wonderland will air concurrently in the fall alongside the flagship series; OUAT remains at Sundays at 8 and Wonderland slides into the Thursday at 8 timeslot. And now, EW reports that the original episode order of 13 is being expanded; a final count is still unknown but it will fall between 14 and 21 in total. Traditionally, a show will get a 13 episode order and if it fares well in the ratings it will get “picked up” for a “back nine” or 9 additional episodes usually rounding a full season out at 22 installments. ABC is so confident in this spinoff, however, that it is allowing creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis to craft a story with exactly the right amount of episodes required to tell it.

“We really want to tell the story without having to worry about how to stretch it for five years,” says Kitsis. “The upfront order will be it for the season.” Adds Horowitz, “This is not meant to be a 22-episode season. Whatever it ends up being, we’ll have told a complete story, with a beginning, middle and end.”

So Wonderland remains a standalone tale, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t come back for more. “If the audience responds and people love these characters, the plan would be to bring it back next year and tell a whole new story,” Horowitz says.

The creative duo describe the difference between the flagship series and its spinoff. Once from the beginning was imagined as a long, intricate tale with multiple story arcs that necessitate more than one season to properly pull off. Wonderland, on the other hand, is inherently designed to open and close a major arc inside a single season, much like FX’s American Horror Story does.

On Wonderland Horowitz remarks, “The DNA of this show is different and consciously so. The idea is you can just come on in and enjoy the ride.” Adds Kitsis, “If you’ve seen Once, you’ll be rewarded; if you haven’t, you won’t miss a beat.”

OUAT returns and OUAT In Wonderland premieres this fall on ABC. Watch the Upfronts trailer for Wonderland here.

ABC picks up ‘Once Upon A Time In Wonderland’

Here’s the first production still from the Once Upon A Time spinoff now titled Once Upon A Time In Wonderland. English born actress Sophie Lowe stars as Alice, seen for the very first time in the image posted above. Here’s the latest synopsis provided by ABC:

In Victorian England, the young and beautiful Alice (Sophie Lowe) tells a tale of a strange new land that exists on the other side of a rabbit hole.  An invisible cat, a hookah smoking caterpillar and playing cards that talk are just some of the fantastic things she’s seen during this impossible adventure.  Surely this troubled girl must be insane and her doctors aim to cure her with a treatment that will make her forget everything.  Alice seems ready to put it all behind her, especially the painful memory of the genie she fell in love with and lost forever — the handsome and mysterious Cyrus (Peter Gadiot).  But deep down Alice knows this world is real and just in the nick of time, the sardonic Knave of Hearts (Michael Socha) and the irrepressible White Rabbit (John Lithgow) arrive to save her from a doomed fate. Together, the trio will take a tumble down the rabbit hole to this Wonderland where nothing is impossible.

This fresh adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s tale down the rabbit hole comes from Once co-creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and will be executive produced by Steve Perlman and Zack Estrin. Wonderland is envisioned as a standalone, limited series that will air when the flagship series is on its winter hiatus. In a way, it will bridge the gap during the break. Next week ABC will be unveiling its entire slate of new series for next season and there the network will likely shed even more light on the exciting promise of a new realm to be explored.

‘Once Upon A Time’ spinoff set in Wonderland in the works [Update: series get a title & three stars]

It’s true: a Once Upon A Time spinoff is in the works! Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, creators of the ABC fantasy series based on classic fairy tale characters, are imagining a new realm to explore in a completely new series separate from their current show. They are working closely with Once consulting producer Jane Espenson and writer Zack Estrin (Zero HourThe RiverNo Ordinary FamilyPrison Break) to make Wonderland the main setting for the spinoff series. The original plan was to make the Mad Hatter (played by Sebastian Stan in Once) the protagonist of the new series. But there’s a reason why the charming actor hasn’t been featured in the current season of Once a whole lot–he’s a very busy actor and for this reason he unfortunately likely won’t be able to headline the proposed spinoff. The latest rumor to come out of the mill says that the Once spinoff in Wonderland will star Alice, a classic fairytale character we still haven’t met in Once just yet. According to Deadline the new series will surround Alice with other new characters including “Amahl, described as exotic, soulful and optimistic; and The Knave, a sardonic adventurer, a man of action, a loner and a heart-breaker.” The site also reports that the spinoff will take place in a post-curse world but will indeed feature flashbacks so viewers may once again be acquainted with (spoiler alert) the not-so-dearly departed Cora who once ruled Wonderland as the Queen of Hearts.

Interestingly, the Once spinoff set in Wonderland starring Alice is being envisioned as a 13-episode anthology series a la American Horror Story, meaning it will have a solid beginning, middle, and end to simply serve as a bridge between the fall and winter episodes of the main series Once Upon A Time. Most of this is simply speculation at the moment, as we won’t know more until Kitsis, Horowitz and their creative team present their spinoff ideas to ABC later this year after Once wraps its second season. Still, intriguing news for fans of the show!

Update (3/29): In the past week the Once spinoff really started to make some headway. Though shooting is not set to begin until May after the flagship series wraps its second season, a title has been bestowed unto the offshoot and its three main characters have been casted. Aussie actress Sophie Lowe has been cast as the protagonist Alice in Once: Wonderland. Her character is described as one “who has a generous heart but carries the scars of a long hard life.” Surrounding Lowe are British actors Peter Gadiot and Michael Socha who are set to play Cyrus (“Alice’s love interest with a background shrouded in mystery”) and The Knave of Hearts (“a sardonic adventurer, a man of action, a loner and a heart-breaker”). A fourth lead named Amahl (“an exotic, soulful and optimistic character”) has yet to be cast. With a name and a cast forming, Once: Wonderland is slowly but surely spinning into reality.

[Via Deadline 1, 2, 3]

Check out these charming character portraits from ABC’s ‘Once Upon A Time’, ‘Revenge’ & ‘666 Park Avenue’

In addition to Homeland, there are other returning series (and a new one!) that you should be equally excited to watch tonight. ABC’s got quite a Sunday lineup that now includes the enchanting Once Upon A Time (8PM), the irresistible Revenge (9PM), and the darkly mysterious 666 Park Avenue (10PM).

The network signed off on these intriguing character portraits for the three dramas. In the Once gallery you’ll find your favorite fairytale characters dressed up and ready for magic in Storybrooke. In addition to sultry character stills, the Revenge collection includes a family portrait of sorts that features the main cast all in black expect for queen Victoria Grayson (what does it mean?!). The 666 Park Ave. residents took the more traditional route for their poses for their debut.

Jump after the break to view the galleries. Continue reading Check out these charming character portraits from ABC’s ‘Once Upon A Time’, ‘Revenge’ & ‘666 Park Avenue’

Comic Con 2012: ‘Once Upon A Time’ teases new fairytale characters for season 2

The second season of ABC’s Once Upon A Time is already proving to be more magical than the first. At the show’s Comic Con panel attendees got a glimpse into what’s in store for the citizens of Storybrooke. In a brief teaser for the upcoming season, little Henry warns that “bad things are still happening in Storybrooke” and proof follows: Captain Hook from Peter Pan fame breaks into Mr. Gold’s pawn shop to retrieve what is his. Now that the citizens of the mysterious Maine town remember their past lives in fairytale land perhaps Mr. Gold should upgrade his security. The season 2 preview is embedded above.

During the panel which consisted of executive producers Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and many of the show’s stars, it was shared that season 2 will reveal the identity of Henry’s father, Dr. Whale’s fairytale character, and the fate of Rumpelstiltskin’s son Bae. Also, “the show this year is not going to change from the one you loved last year,” Kitsis reassured fans. We will still be shifting back and forth from fairytale land and Storybrooke even though magic has been introduced into the latter locale. He also made it a point to say that even though the Storybrooke residents remember their true fairytale identities, their Storybrooke memories do not fade away.

Two more videos were screened at the panel. One is a clip that contains all of season 1’s title sequences plus a few new ones coming soon in season 2 (spoiler: Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, and Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk) will be introduced). The third video is a parody of online dating services called Singlebrooke that features Once‘s main characters discussing what they look for in the perfect mate; funny stuff. Check these out after the break. Continue reading Comic Con 2012: ‘Once Upon A Time’ teases new fairytale characters for season 2