Next week ABC will air the final episode of ‘Once Upon A Time In Wonderland’, its limited run spin-off of their breakout hit ‘Once Upon A Time’ which shows what happens when the stars of famous fairy tales wind up living in the real world, in the quiet hamlet of Storybrook.  The ‘Wonderland’ spin-off starred Sophie Lowe as Alice, Emma Rigby as the Red Queen, John Lithgow as the White Rabbit and Naveen Andrews as Jafar and was set in the fantasy world before the curse took hold of its mystical inhabitants.

‘Wonderland’ was originally conceived of as a limited run series consisting of 13 episodes that would air during the winter, during its parent show’s midseason hiatus.  ABC changed their plans however and fast tracked the show for a fall debut and even hinted that they may up the number of episodes, to around 17 which is still less than a typical full season, which is normally 22 episodes, but more than they originally intended.

This action, however, may be what sank ‘Wonderland’.  The producers were then forced to simultaneously develop, write and shoot both shows with little lead time.  And considering that these shows are very special effects heavy with ornate sets and costumes, some felt that they weren’t allowed to do their best work.  Not to mention, maybe this was also too much for audiences, oversaturating the airwaves with fantasy/fairy tale shows.

‘Wonderland’ debuted with a weak 1.7 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic, which then sank to an even weaker 1.1.  This last week’s episode posted a dismal .9 rating.  With such weak ratings, plans to expand beyond 13 episodes were dropped and next Thursday’s 13th episode will officially serve as the final episode of this series.

ABC’s solid reality hit ‘Shark Tank’ will replace it the following week, before repeats of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ take over the 8 pm eastern time slot.  (‘Shark Tank’ it seems is the network’s go-to replacement bandage, having been used to fill-in after both ‘The Assets’ and ‘Lucky 7’ were cancelled.)

Are you disappointed to see this show go?  Would it have fared better as the winter filler it was originally conceived as?  Was two fantasy shows airing at the same time simply too much of a good thing?  Or was ‘Wonderland’ just not good enough?  Leave a comment below with your thoughts!

Source: Deadline