Fairy-Tale Mini-series on Monday

Last week (between Olympic events on TV) I popped in one of my favorite mini-series as I researched for the final paper of my grad school program. Of course, this didn't really work out in my favor because I ended up watching more of the show than looking at research articles.

The premise: A girl with a simple life crashes into a dog on her way to work, and eventually finds herself, along with her father, in a world where fairy-tales are real.

The Cast:

I'm where?!

Virginia is played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley. Her hum-drum life is stifling her. She's taking care of her father, she wants to open a restaurant, and it isn't happening. It's your classic case of 'be careful what you wish for'.

Tony is played by John Larroquette. He's a bumbling oaf, but he's lovable. He's gone from riches to rags, and he spends his time as a live-in handyman at a building for the uber-rich. Unfortunately for him, things get a lot worse before they get better.






Wolf is played by Scott Cohen. You may recognize him if you watched the first couple of seasons of Gilmore Girls. I have to say, he is the most fascinating (and hilarious) character in the series. At times he can be downright frightening...but then you see him getting some impromptu therapy and shopping for self-help books.


The Evil Queen is played by Diane Wiest. She is fabulous, and an actress from one of my favorite movies (Practical Magic). She's viscous, but she's charismatic. I mean, I knew that she was completely and totally evil...but for some reason I just couldn't hate her.


There are a number of other fantastic actors in this one. Ed O'Neill from Modern Family plays Relish the Troll King, Warwick Davis played Acorn the Dwarf, and there are a couple of actors who will seem very familiar if you've seen Game of Thrones.

Some of the visual effects haven't stood up to the test of time (this was released in 2000), but the scenery is amazing. The script has it's cheesy moments, but it's a great story. Sigh, if only that had made a sequel.