New favorite streaming show

[dreamshark]

So we watched some DVD from Netflix the other night and it had a preview for the Once Upon a Time tv show. It's not only another in the endless flood of mainstreamed TV fantasy, it's DISNEY fantasy, so I figured it would be stupid and gluey. But Richard was interested, and there it was on Netflix streaming, so last night we watched the pilot. It was surprisingly good, so we watched the next episode. And we still both liked it. So I guess we've got a new favorite TV show.

Anybody else watch this show?

Comments

[barondave.livejournal.com]

We tried, in it's original airings. Gave up after a few episodes. Rumpelstiltskin is great, everyone else... isn't.

[mle292.livejournal.com]

All of 'em.

I still watch, but the first season is much better than the second. I think they never counted on a second season.

barondave is right that Rumplestiltskin is the best character. There are some other good ones too. Grumpy and Doctor Hopper come to mind.

[fgherman.livejournal.com]

Judy and I watch it.

Be warned: it's the same creative team that did Lost.

[guppiecat]

I used to. The first season had good bits in it. I bailed one episode into the second.

The first season almost drove me away because of the truly awful acting that sometimes popped up.

[mle292.livejournal.com]

It's true, Disney has only one acceptable face in their acting criteria for women. When every single woman cast needs to look exactly like Kirsten Dunst, there's a smaller pool of actresses to pick from.

Still, there is some fine scripting in that first season.

[chasophonic.livejournal.com]

I'm getting a dose of, "I'm right, you're wrong" from Bonnie. I think Rumpelstiltskin is the most dreadfully acted character in the show. Bonnie doesn't share this opinion. The actor is much better at Mr. Gold.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Okay, now we've watched 3 eps and I'm even more hooked. For the record, I think the actors I've seen so far range from absolutely perfect to perfectly adequate. I immediately fell in love with the actress playing Snow White. Even before she opened her eyes I said, "Well, THAT one's well cast - that's exactly what Snow White should look like." Then she woke up and it turned out she could also act. And I don't think she looks like Kirsten Dunst, mle292. I think she looks like Genevieve Bujold. The cute kid is also excellent in a very demanding role. Jennifer Morrison is just fine as Emma, and has great chemistry with both the kid and with Ginnifer Goodwin's Snow White. And of course, Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin steals the show. His acting is a little over the top (and I do like him better in as Mr. Gold, which is a tad more restrained) but the character is so fascinating and creepy.

But really, all the actors need to be is adequate because this show is about the visuals and the writing. It has everything that immediately grabbed me about Lost before it went off the rails - a huge cast of characters with fascinating back stories which are revealed a little bit at a time. Unraveling the back story is the fun part. And both Richard and I are enjoying the clever twists on well-known fairy tales. I really like what they're doing with Snow White. It probably helps that I like the actress, but I like the way they've transmuted the story.

I can see how the end of the first season is going to present a problem. Do they wrap up the story arc or not? If they do, it turns into Twin Peaks, which went from the most brilliant show on TV to an incoherent mess once we found out who killed Laura Palmer. If they don't, it turns into another Lost as the creators frantically introduce more and more "mysteries" without bothering to wrap up the original ones. Well, only the first season is available on streaming at the moment, so we'll watch that and see if we feel like going on.

[chasophonic.livejournal.com]

One little thing I didn't notice for a while that is kind of fun is that the "silhouetted" scene behind the opening credits relates to that episode's story.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool! We'll have to watch for that.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I've been enjoying 'Once Upon a Time.' I have no problems with the acting, and love the back stories that make even the 'evil' characters somewhat sympathetic.