'Once Upon A Time' brings fairy tales to the small screen

Are you obsessed with fairy tales?  Does a good yarn get you going?  Do you believe that good always wins and that evil is always punished?  If you answered yes to even one of these questions, I suggest you check out the new drama on ABC, called Once Upon A Time.

photo courtesy of thetvwatchtower.files.wordpress.com

The premise of this program is quite simple.  As everyone knows, the evil queen tried to kill Snow White and was unsuccessful.  Snow White was awakened by Prince Charming and they were supposed to live happily ever after.  But...

When the evil queen discovered that Snow White and Prince Charming were about to be married she placed one final curse on them.  At some point in the future, they and the rest of the fairy tale kingdom would be cursed to live in modern times trapped in a town called Storybrooke.  The worst part of the curse?  None of them would remember who they really are or anything about the past.

There is only one person who can break the spell and return the kingdom to its former glory; Emma Swan.  And who is Emma Swan?  She is the child of Snow White and Prince Charming who was miraculously saved as an infant from the evil queen's curse.  She grew up in modern times as a foster child.  At some point she had a baby boy who she placed for adoption.  She has no knowledge of who she is or that she is the one meant to free the fairy tale kingdom.

But, after three episodes, (it airs on ABC at 8 p.m. on Sunday) Emma is definitely involved with the residents of Storybrooke, who are really fairly tale characters.  She was brought there by the mayor/evil queen's son, Henry.  Why?  Because Henry is the little boy she gave up for adoption nearly a decade ago. 

It's interesting to see the story unfold each week as the action moves back and forth between the fairytale kingdom and modern times.  Without even mentioning who they were in the fairy tale kingdom, it's easy to see who some characters are.  Little Red Riding Hood has been transformed into Ruby, a sexy barely-adult young woman who constantly grumbles at Granny's attempts to rein her in.  Granny runs a cafe.  Mr. Gold - who owns everything in town - was Rumpelstiltskin in his former life and the hunstman who saved Snow White's life is now the sheriff.  Jiminy Cricket?  He's a child psychologist.

In the most recent episode, viewers got to see how Prince Charming, whose first name is James, and Snow White first met.  Viewers also saw Henry's attempts at bringing school teacher Mary Margaret (Snow White) and a comatose John Doe (Prince Charming) together.  The fireworks between Emma, Henry's birth mother and Regina, his adopted mother (the town's mayor/evil queen) are fantastic.  Mary Margaret/Snow White is perfectly played by the adorable Ginnifer Goodwin.

Those that have missed the beginning episodes of this amazing new twist on fairy tales can get up to speed by watching full episodes of Once Upon A Time for free at ABC's website.  The next episode, which airs on Sunday, November 13 at 8 p.m. Pacific Time is titled The Price of Gold. 

What about you?  Have you seen this program yet?  What do you think of it?