Some of the most popular shows on television have some supernatural elements to them. Game of Thrones is full of magic, dragons, and giants, while The Walking Dead revolves around the dead mysteriously walking the earth and ending the world. Another one of the more long-running supernatural shows is ABC's Once Upon A Time which uses the fairy tales we've all grown up on to create new and intriguing stories. As such, each season of Once Upon A Time usually has the main characters facing off against some fairy tale villain, and ultimately prevailing over its evil. Once had previously been using a tried and true method of releasing two separate halves of the seasons, but it appears that will change moving forward.
Once Upon A Time's executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz recently opened up to Entertainment Weekly about their plans for Season 6, and how it will differ from the precedent set in the past seasons. Kitsis said the following:
This season is going to be different from past because it's not going to be Hyde comes to town, we fight with him for 10 episodes, and then in the winter finale, he dies and we move on. We are changing around what we're doing this year and going back to that season 1 mentality of small town stories and smaller arcs.
Additionally, Adam Horowitz weighed in on the changes for Once Upon A Time saying,
We're also planning a 22-episode story as opposed to breaking it up into two halves this year. It's been really exciting and fun.
This certainly seems like a departure from Once Upon A Time's previous modus operandi. Although whether or not it will be successful is another matter; there certainly are pros and cons to ABC's new method of releasing Once.
Addressing the positive, having all 22-episodes of the season connected and released together seems like a refreshing change. At this point, basically every TV show on basic cable and beyond is using the method of releasing two halves of seasons throughout the year. While this helps production schedule themselves, and fans know when their show will both go on hiatus and return, the long break between the midseason finale and the midseason premiere can be excruciating. Once Upon A Time producing a full season is a refreshing change, and presumably a welcome one.
On the other hand, Once Upon A Time attempting to go back to its Season 1 roots is a bit worrisome. One reason some people have had a hard time getting into Once is because Season 1 was full of day player actors and one-shot arcs. With so many amazing serialized shows currently on TV and streaming services, this isn't what fans want nowadays. I'm personally not interesting in small arcs; I want the season and characters to move toward a greater plot of the season. With viewership consistently dropping with each passing season, this decision could have dire consequences for the future of Once Upon A Time.
We'll just have to wait and see how this affects Once Upon A Time. Check back with us here at CinemaBlend for updates.
