October 6, 2013 by The Sumter Item

TELEVISION

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2013

Sunday, October 6 - 12, 2013

www.theitem.com

“Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,” Sophie Lowe plays an Alice who starringisn't Sophie Alice, afraidLowe to fightasback on the premieres at 8 p.m. ABC. spin-off seriesThursday "Once Uponon a Time in Wonderland," premiering Thursday at 8 p.m. on ABC.

THE ITEM

When "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. on ABC, Alice (Sophie Lowe) is in a Victorian England asylum. That is where she has spent the last year of her young life. The doctors there are determined to convince her that her vivid imagination is what has created the trouble in her life. Alice is about to give up and allow them to give her a treatment that will help her forget everything. That is, until the Knave of Hearts (Michael Socha) arrives and informs Alice that her true love, the genie Cyrus (Peter Gadiot), is still alive. Determined to find her love, Alice follows the White Rabbit (voiced by John Lithgow) down another hole and lands in a new adventure. The series is a spin-off of "Once Upon a Time," but viewers don't need to have watched the other show to know what's going on in the new one. "This show exists concurrently within the 'Once' universe, but it stands on its own, hopefully," says executive producer Adam Horowitz. "If you're not familiar with the mythology of 'Once,' we hit the ground running in the pilot of this show, so you can, hopefully, come right in. We're honoring what came before and then kind of leaping off and trying to do our own spin and have as much fun with it as we can." Lowe's Alice is a fierce warrior, which is just the way the actress likes it. "She's tough mentally and

physically," says Lowe. "She can kick butt and look after herself." Lewis Carroll's book "Alice in Wonderland" was a childhood favorite of the actress for a special reason. "My mom actually read it to me when I was a little girl. And it was a big part of my childhood. I loved it. It's funny as well because my mom - it was the only book she had as a child. It's the only book she was allowed to read. So, I think that's really strange now I get to play Alice - like her childhood is coming to life in front of her as well. So, it's a big part of our family. The producers and writers aren't afraid to mix up their fables and fairytales. The character Jafar (Naveen Andrews) from "Aladdin" will be an evil villain in this version of Alice's tale. "In the popular imagination, I know he exists almost as an icon, sort of an incarnation of evil," says Andrews. "But I think what we want to do is to present the audience with something they've never seen before." Alice's love is a genie, which is also a fun twist for the show. "What we loved about the character of a genie is you serve at the pleasure of your master," says executive producer Edward Kitsis. "You are somebody who watches lifetimes of people ruin their lives and the things they hold dearest because they wish it away. They're trying to find shortcuts. So, we loved the idea of a genie who thought, 'If only one day I could get free, I would be able to live that life.' And so for us, our char-

acter of Alice had a really tough growing-up process. And so when you see the pilot, you'll see that they kind of complete each other in a way. And we just love the idea of somebody who was curious enough as a child to follow a rabbit down a hole would love a genie who could go to many different lands. "I think for us," continues Kitsis, "we're still 12-year-olds in the backyard playing with 'Star Wars' figures and mashing them up with G.I. Joes and being able to be like, Darth Vader: 'I will kill you Spock.' And we bring that into what we do." "Darth Vader could not kill Spock," Horowitz adds quickly. Horowitz and Kitsis may joke, but they take the strong women they write seriously in their shows. "We never wanted Alice to be a damsel in distress," says Kitsis. "We liked the idea that she is going to go back down the rabbit hole, sword in hand, and find her man." "It's funny," adds Horowitz. "With 'Once,' there was a moment where we had Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) pull the sword in the pilot. That kind of crystallized it for us. And for us for this show, it's when Alice breaks out of that asylum, and she takes out all of the guards. And she doesn't need the knave at that point. And it's just, that's a woman who is taking control of her own destiny. And what we are really excited about is taking this strong woman and taking her into this insane land and seeing where it goes."

SUNDAY DAYTIME OCTOBER 6 TW FT

8 AM

8:30

Today Weekend (HD)

9 AM

9:30

Meet the Press (N)

10 AM 10:30 11 AM 11:30 12 PM 12:30 1 PM LOCAL CHANNELS WIS News 10 Sunday

Awareness In Depth (HD) In Touch with Dr. Charles CBS News Sunday Morning (HD) Face the Na- First Baptist Church First Stanley (N) tion (N) Baptist Good Morning America This Week with George Trenholm Paid Pro- Paid Pro- Paid ProWeekend (N) (HD) Stephanopoulos (N) Road gram gram gram Super Why! Cyberchase FETCH! (HD) Religion Eth- Moyers and Company To the Con- McLaughlin (HD) (HD) ics (N) (HD) trary (HD) (N) New Direc- Lampkin New Hope OnPoint! FOX News Sunday with Clemson Panther’s tion Show Church Chris Wallace (HD) Coach Huddle First Church of Our Lord American Cars.TV (N) Homes (N) Outdoors- To Be An- Paid ProJesus Christ Athlete man nounced gram