‘Once Upon A Time’ Recently Received Some Very Bad News
Hey, “Once Upon A Time” fans. Unfortunately, we’ve got some very bad news for you guys in this article. Recently, the folks over at Entertainment Weekly and a couple of other news outlets reported that “Once Upon A Time” is officially ending its run after the current season 7!
That means there will be no season 8 to look forward to. The show has officially been canceled! The current season 7 will continue to play out. But after that, it’s done for good. The head boss over at ABC Channing Dungey made an official statement about the show’s cancellation. It seemed pretty hearfelt.
She stated, “When we first heard Adam and Eddy’s pitch for Once Upon a Time, we knew it was something incredibly special. For seven years, they have captivated us with their creativity and passion while re-imagining some of our most beloved Disney fairytales, creating an undeniable global hit. Saying goodbye will be bittersweet, but Once Upon a Time will forever be part of the ABC legacy and we can’t wait for fans to join us in this epic final chapter.”
Patrick Moran who is the president of ABC studios also delivered a nice statement concerning the show’s ending. He said, “Once Upon a Time has been an amazing journey for all of us at ABC Studios and for fans around the world. We’re so proud and appreciative of the hard work and creative talent that Eddy Kitsis, Adam Horowitz and their cast and crew brought to this show for seven magical seasons.”
During the show’s seven year run, it has delivered 156 episodes. The show’s creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis made an official statement about the show’s ending. They stated, “Seven years ago, we set out to create a show about hope where even in the darkest of times, a happy ending would always be possible.
But we never imagined the happy ending that was actually in store for all of us. Years and years of adventure, romance, magic and hope. We’re so grateful to our brilliant collaborators the cast, crew, and writers as well as our partners at the studio and network for making this journey possible. But most of all, we want to thank the fans. Their fierce loyalty and devotion was the real magic behind Once Upon a Time. We hope they join us for these last few hours as we journey to the Enchanted Forest for one more adventure.”
In addition to these statement, Entertainment Weekly was able to chat with Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis to get some addition intel on this official “Once Upon A Time” cancellation. The first question Entertainment Weekly asked them was if it was their decision or ABC’s.
Edward told them, “Listen, we love this show. We were happy to continue going on, but collectively they felt that, after seven years and 156 episodes, it was time. For us, we’re like, “It’s a hell of a run.” We never thought we’d get to seven episodes let alone seven years. It’s time to declare victory and go home.”
Adam said, “It wasn’t like it was a shocking phone call. We’ve had conversations for a while about what this year would be, and whether it would go on or not, and if this could be the end. So, we’ve been prepared for this for a while. The network has been incredible partners with us the whole way as has the studio.
Ultimately, it’s also a business. So, it becomes about, “Is it financially viable to keep going forward?” So, there’s all that kind of stuff. Stuff that we generally don’t deal with because we’re just focused mostly on the creative. We reached that point where it’s like, “Okay, now it’s time to wrap it up. This has been an amazing 156 episode-run, and let’s all be proud of what we’ve done and try to wrap it up.”
So, it was definitely ABC’s decision to cancel the show, but Edward and Adam were not surprised. Next, they talked about their reaction to ABC cancelling the show. Edward said, “We felt grateful for the opportunity. Obviously, we felt sad that after seven years of living in this universe, it’s over. It has been so creatively rewarding, but at the same time, we have got everything out of Once that we ever dreamed of. and we really can’t complain. We really can’t feel sad. We just feel really grateful for what we accomplished. 156 episodes in seven years is a good run.”
Adam told them, “It’s funny because it wasn’t like it was a shock. When we spoke on the phone with them about it. It was like more like, “Okay, it’s time. This feels right. This feels like we’ve had a great run. Let’s try to end the show in a way that will leave the fans with a good feeling about what Once was that will stay with them past the end of the show.”
Edward and Adam also revealed that they’ve been well prepared for this type of situation. Apparently, they had a lot of discussions about it Edward said, “We did not go into this season assuming there would be a season 8. So, we had two paths for the finale. One where it was closed-ended and one where it was open-ended. We had been building towards it the whole year anyways. So, instead of a cliffhanger, it will just be a closed-ended story that wraps it up. But we’re prepared and ready. So, we weren’t shocked by it.”
Adam told them, “These are conversations, again, that we’ve had for many months with the network about the possibility of this. So, we’ve been preparing and always known this was a real possibility.”
At one point, they did mention that they did actually have a plan for a potential 8th season. Edward stated, “We did have a plan for a potential season 8 just because, as I said, we went into the year knowing one of two things were going to happen. So, throughout the year, you don’t ever want to be surprised if you can. So, we had a plan for season 8, but that’s okay.”
Edward also confirmed that we will see characters from the first six seasons show up in the season 7 series finale. He stated, “We’ll have some familiar faces from the first six years return in the finale.”
As for the numbers, Once Upon A Time’s current season 7 has seen the ratings and viewership drop which was definitely why ABC decided to call it quits. The season 7 premiere drew in 3.2 million viewers in the United States. That was an 18 percent decrease from the season 6 premiere episode. The ratings for the 18-49 demographic was 0.75 which was 41 percent less than the season 6 premiere episode.
Since then, these numbers have only gotten worse. The most recent show which aired this past Friday night, March 2, 2018 drew in only 2.2 million viewers with a ratings score of just 0.40 for the 18-49 year old demographic.
In related news, it’s reported that former Emma Swan actress Jennifer Morrison is trying to come back for the finale show. Hopefully, we’ll get more details on that very soon. So, what do you guys think? Do you think it is time for the show to end? Are you unhappy about the cancellation? Or do you not care one way or the other? Let us know in the Facebook comments.
The season 7 series finale episode 22 is currently scheduled to air on Friday night, May 18, 2018. So, be sure to savor the next three months. After that, “Once Upon A Time” is over for good. But I’m sure ABC will come up with another show to replace it eventually. It’s their job. Stay tuned. Also, be sure to follow us on our Once Upon A Time Facebook page for more Once Upon A Time news by Clicking Here.
