Wonderland is now in swiss television, and I heard that this show was never aired fully in the states. I really wonder why. the show is great, so are the actors. I just watched an episode with Samuel L. Jackson and Giancarlo Espisito in it, just awesome.
were the ratings that low or whats the reason for not being so succesful in the States?
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In the first episode, the hypodermic needle is sticking out of a pregnant doctor's belly. The religious right complained, because it would open up a can of worms when it came to the life of the fetus.
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We recently watched the first episode, in one of my grad classes, and I'm trying to find out if there are any ways to get the remaining episodes....I do think that some portrayals were a bit stereotypical, but in most respects it was pretty realistic (having worked at psych ward myself)
shareIt wasn't the religious right that complained and put pressure on ABC to cancel the series. It was NAMI, a left-wing organization. (ABC, I think, would have stood its ground against right-wing pressure groups.) NAMI argued, wrongly in my opinion, that the show stereotyped and misrepresented the mentally ill (especially the incident with the hypodermic needle). They even suggested that mentally ill viewers might be inspired to follow Rickle's example and commit suicide (if not necessarily by his novel method). Some of the sponsors withdrew their support for the series as the result of NAMI's smear campaign. The entire eight-episode miniseries aired successfully in Germany, Sweden, and other European countries (where no one was inspired to commit suicide as a result of viewing "20/20 Hindsight" or any other episode), but, unfortunately, Peter Berg couldn't persuade ABC executives to give the show another chance or find an American network, cable or otherwise, with the moral courage to defy NAMI. ABC executives cited falling ratings between episodes one and two, ignoring the fact that the "pilot" (which was really the third episode and should have followed "Spell Check" and "Full Moon") aired opposite a rerun of ER and "20/20 Hindsight," its sequel, aired opposite an original episode of ER. A different time slot would have solved that problem, or prevented it in the first place. Showing the episodes in sequence would also, in hindsight, have been a wise move.
Carol
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I just listened to Peter Berg on an ESPN Podcast with Bill Simmons, and he said the ABC president had been fired recently, and the new president was just looking for any excuse to get rid of projects from the previous administration.
Ummm...I am just watching this show FOR THE FIRST TIME on DTV, and you just spoiled this topic for me...
I know it is an older show, but it is just getting some new viewers, so it might be nice to warn that your comment contained spoilers. In general people try to warn in the first line if there are spoilers. Something to think about if you post often.
A touchy, real issue. But you are watching a decade-old show. I'm very sensitive to spoilers too. But maybe the best thing is to not read about old shows while you're watching them.
Personally, I try to avoid most reviews, and ALL promos, especially for TV shows.
And as a joke, let me add SPOILER before I mention that both Romeo and Juliette die in the end... (yeah, I love spoiler warnings. But there has to be a reasonable expiration date. Unfortunately, it's different for everyone)
NAMI is not a "left-wing" organization. Where did you come up with that? They are a mental health advocacy, education, and treatment org.
shareAccording to ABC it wasn't that protests killed this show; it was the ratings. The show lost almost half of its viewers between the first and second episodes. ABC took that as a sign and axed it after that.
shareWish we could all see it. I'm in England, I'm a huge Ted Levine fan and wish it would come here. Seems it made it as far as Switzerland.
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