Wonderland

The characters are well-drawn by executive producer Peter Berg and his minions, who spent months doing research. The plots are provocative. The acting glistens. [30 March 2000]

Unsettling is understating it. ABC's Wonderland, which happens to be wonderful, could be one of the toughest sells in TV history. Buy into it, though, and you'll experience a truly remarkable look at the ins, outs and intricacies of mental illness and the doctors who treat it. [30 March 2000]

Television has rarely been so bold as to present a series like Wonderland, which is intelligently written and acted with conviction and passion. [30 March 2000, p.2E]

The show is so gripping and often so dazzling in its visual command...Wonderland asks viewers to be discomfited week after week and trust that the effort will be rewarded. Even the toughest series tend to get soft over time, but for now the uncompromising Wonderland is worth every demand it makes.

The prize in this case is complete intellectual engagement. [30 March 2000]

Peter Berg drama boasts the kind of quality, originality that makes it breakout potential. [28 March 2000]

This is the most uncompromising and stylistically innovative approach to TV drama since "NYPD Blue" maybe since "Hill Street Blues" 20 years ago. [30 March 2000, p.57]

Included in the opening hour: a scene so harrowing and unexpected, you won't soon forget it. [30 March 2000]

In its own way, Wonderland is as visceral in its milieu and sliding-scale morality as HBO's "Oz." [30 March 2000, p.L5]

A smart, thought-provoking drama. But for some it will be tough to sit through the show's unrelenting gloom....TV viewers who like to be challenged -- I'm thinking of the "Homicide: Life on the Street" fans out there -- will cotton to the murkiness of Wonderland.

Wonderland is bold, bravura television, there's not much question about that. But it is also very grim going, and not everybody wants to be walloped and pummeled by an evening's entertainment. Some viewers are bound to have the same reaction as a typical Rivervue patient: "Let me out of here!" The others, the ones who stick around, will find much to admire.

Ultimately, Wonderland disturbs not because it is violent or loud--though it can border on pathos--but because, unlike crime or injury, its subject defies easy blame and explanation. But creator Peter Berg (Very Bad Things) balances its starkness with writing of remarkable empathy. As Banger says at his custody hearing, "I have a tremendous respect for [my children's] minds, for the beauty of their minds." Wonderland has a tremendous respect for its audience's minds, and for the beauty of even a shattered psyche.

It’s not an easy show to watch (camera work aside, but I’ll get to that later). There aren’t a lot of laughs, and it’s riveting as hell...The acting is so good it knocks out most other shows you’ll see.

It is smart, challenging television that is respectful of its audience's minds and delves into a corner of our world where no series has gone before. [28 March 2000]

In more ways than one, ER's new competitor is tough to watch. But the effort looks to be worth it.

Not a slick medical soap but a noisy, hard-edged, unpredictable drama that isn't afraid to seem as unbalanced as its sickest subjects. [30 March 2000, p.R6]

Wonderland is intense and harrowing--sometimes a little too harrowing.

Wonderland, which debuts at 10 on WFTV-Channel 9, should carry a warning: It's a tough, tough show...When Wonderland slows down, it can be quite effective. The National Mental Health Association complains that the series distorts the mentally ill, but the portrayals are wide-ranging.

Wonderland owes a debt to HBO's "Oz" that goes far beyond titles. There are no pat, happy endings; not a milligram of sentimentality.

A dark, bruisingly intense medical drama. ... Delivers smart, pugnacious television that takes a real chance. [30 Mar 2000]

Falling into an erratic pattern, the annoyingly choppy "Wonderland" follows an incredibly powerful moment with one that's incredibly forced. Intriguing confrontations lead to unrealistic plot twists or hackneyed resolutions. Artfully constructed dilemmas are undermined by cliches...For every step in a brilliant direction, Wonderland takes a stumble. A dark drama filled with dreary and haunting images, the ABC newcomer has ambition to spare. What it lacks is consistency. [30 March 2000, p.1E]

This is a series with tremendous potential. The first hour of "Wonderland" is nothing if not intense, but next week's episode packs less punch. [29 Mar 2000]

viewers need to breathe now and then, they need to smile, they need to break the tension. Wonderland, however, drags the audience into the maelstrom of Bedlam and never lets go. [28 March 2000, p.E-7]

There are moments in Wonderland that are so gripping, so real, you could almost believe you were inside a mental hospital. The question is, do you want to be -- and on a weekly basis? [30 March 2000]