Once Upon a Time premiered last night on ABC and performed beyond ratings expectations given its experimental subject matter and time slot during a crowded Sunday evening.
A total of 12.8 million viewers tuned in to see Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison, House) travel to the small town of Storybrooke, Maine, where a young boy claiming to be her birth son lives with his adopted parents. Though she’s not aware yet, Emma is the 28-year old daughter of Snow White and the only person capable of reversing a spell that the evil queen (Lana Parrilla) has cast that traps all the fairytale characters in the town without a means to a happy ending.
As impressive as the overall ratings number is the 3.9 Once Upon a Time drew in the 18-49 demo that advertisers key in on. It’s certainly off to a strong start, though a happy ending for the inaugural season won’t be claimed until a second season is ordered.
Once Upon a Time, from the producers of Lost, also stars Josh Dallas, Jared Gilmore, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Carlyle and Raphael Sbarge. The next episode will air next Sunday at 8pm EST/PST on ABC.
