Almost nine years after television viewers didn't get to see "Wonderland," the eight episodes produced for ABC will finally be available. At least to DirecTV subscribers.
The satellite provider's 101 Network has picked up the incredibly intense medical series that was essentially canceled by ABC before it premiered. Beginning Jan. 14, the channel will begin airing "Wonderland" on Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
Perhaps not-so-coincdentally, "Wonderland" was produced by Peter Berg, who also directed the theatrical version of "Friday Night Lights" and is a producer of the TV version, which is currently airing Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The 101 Network.
DirecTV is promoting this as "the show deemed too intense for network television," and that's pretty much right on the mark. Calling it "gritty" is an understatement. The big surprise is that ABC actually went ahead and produced eight episodes of a show set inside a mental hospital — a show that quite clearly was waaaay outside the broadcast network's comfort zone.
There was no question that the show was being set up to fail when ABC scheduled it opposite "ER" when "ER" was still among the most-watched shows on television.
In the review that ran March 29, 2000, I pointed out that the show's pilot isn't exactly viewer-friendly.
The mental hospital's chief psychiatrist, Robert Banger (Ted Levine), is embroiled in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife. Dr. Abe Matthews (Billy Burke) deals with a man who attempted suicide and nearly succeeded.
That's not counting the disturbed man who opens fire with a handgun in Times Square, which leads to some lovely trauma scenes. And a truly horrifying incident involving Dr. Lyla Garrity (Michelle Forbes) and her unborn child — leaving Garrity and her husband, Dr. Neil Harrison (Martin Donovan) with a big decision to make.
The truth is that, almost nine years later, I can't remember what that "truly horrifying incident" was. But it must have been bad.
"I think the common fear and feeling regarding that show was quite simply that it would be a bit too off-putting and intense for mainstream audiences, due in large part to what happens to Michelle's character and due to some of the intensity of the therapy sessions," Berg told TV critics at the time.
And, months before the show aired (and before it was clear that ABC had no confidence in it), Berg acknowledged that "Wonderland" was going to be a tough sell.
"The biggest challenge, I think, in doing a show about the mentally ill, is that we don't have the clear-cut resolution that television audiences are used to being provided with," he said. "In a typical cop show, the bad guy either is caught or he gets away. In a typical hospital show, such as 'Chicago Hope' or 'ER,' a patient either lives or dies or is cured or is not cured.
"In the world of a psychiatric hospital and the mentally ill, the resolutions are much more ambiguous. So one of the big challenges is finding out a way to sort of take that ambiguity and that grayness and turn it into an advantage and try to get an audience to go along with something that they're not traditionally used to seeing."
Which, quite obviously, never happened.
In that 2000 review, I wrote, In all honesty, "Wonderland" looks like a show that might air on HBO — specifically, something like "Oz," a gritty, unpleasant hour that doesn't rely on attracting a mass audience. "Wonderland" is far better and far more accessible than "Oz," but not accessible enough for network television.
"There are many times, I think, that we all feel as though we're doing something that we're very proud of and that we're concerned is going to be a tough pill — no pun intended — to swallow for a larger audience," Berg said.
The 101 Network is looking to attract and retain subscribers for DirecTV. Whether "Wonderland" gives subscribers that added value, I don't know. But it's worth it to give TV fanatics a chance to see the show that ABC never showed us.
DirecTV goes somewhat hyperbolic when it declares that "Wonderland" was "revered as a show ahead of its time" — revered is a bit much — but there's no arguing that it "was met with both critical praise and controversy. Because of its dark tone and intense nature, it was quickly taken off the air."
Yeah, well, two episodes and out is pretty quick.
The remaining six episodes have never been seen. The show isn't out on DVD.
How well it will hold up nearly a decade later remains to be seen.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com