NBC orders pilot for ‘Alice in Wonderland’ adaptation from ‘CSI’ creator
American television has not received its fill of fairy tales yet, at least based on whatever sort of research some of the major networks are doing in ordering pilots. NBC already has a hit on their hands with “Grimm,” and now they look to be stretching their fantasy brand further for a project called “Wonderland” which is a sequel-of-sorts to the popular Lewis Carroll book all about a young girl named Alice and her adventures in a bizarre, whimsical, and frightening world.
This project comes from “CSI” creator Anthony Zuiker along with Matt Weinberg, JoAnn Alfano and Margaret Riley, and there is one major difference between this story and “Alice in Wonderland” the book: Alice is not going to be the one going down the rabbit hole this time. Instead, the project will be focused on a young woman named Clara, who has taken a trip to Wonderland after going through some harships in life and receiving a message from a mysterious stranger. (Could this be the show’s version of the White Rabbit?)
Surprisingly, Alice will still have a role to play here … but as the evil queen rather than an innocent adventurer. What makes this twist intriguing is that it adds a level of darkness to this world, and suggests that Wonderland is a place that can potentially corrupt you. Plus, this Alice would be much more of a threat than the original Queen of Hearts if she is able to manipulate the world around her and captivate her fellow characters the same way she could in the book.
This is actually the third time the word “Wonderland” has been spoken in relation to TV in the past year. We have met the Mad Hatter (played by Sebastian Stan) on “Once Upon a Time,” even though Alice has yet to turn up. Meanwhile, The CW had a pilot in development for a modern-day retelling of the story, but no pilot has been ordered as of this writing.
What do you think about this idea, and do you really think we need more of this genre on TV right now? Just in case you do want to read some more “Once Upon a Time” scoop, you can do so over at the link here.
Photo: NBC