'Once Upon A Time' delves into fairy tales

ABC’s new series imagines a world where fairy tale characters are real, but they don’t know who they are.

We’re introduced to all of them through the eyes of Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison, "House"), a modern-day bail bondswoman.

On her 28th birthday, Henry, the son Emma gave up for adoption 10 years earlier, shows up on her doorstep and weaves quite the tale: The likes of Snow White, Prince Charming, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, her Granny and more are all trapped in the small town of Storybrooke, Maine, with no knowledge of their true identities.

Thanks to a curse from an evil queen (Lana Parrilla), they are "trapped in a place where all their happy endings are stolen. Our world."

Oh, and another bombshell: Emma is the missing daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming; the math surely doesn’t add up, considering Snow is played by Ginnifer Goodwin ("Big Love"), who has to be pretty close in age to Morrison. But it’s magic, so just go with it.

In Storybrooke, the queen is the mayor and the only one who knows what’s really going on; Snow White is a lovelorn and lonely teacher whose students give her pears instead of apples (ha!); Prince Charming is a John Doe lying in a coma in the hospital where Snow volunteers; and Red’s Granny runs a B&B, where Emma takes a room to figure out what is going on.

Henry’s plan is, well, not so simple. In order for the queen’s curse to be broken, everyone needs to remember who they really are, and Emma is the key. She doesn’t believe Henry’s story, but is still drawn to the town and its curious inhabitants.

The action toggles back and forth between Storybrooke and the characters’ fairy tale origins, including how the curse came to be, how baby Emma escaped it and, in later episodes, how Snow and the prince fell in love.

The casting is spot-on. Goodwin is the perfect, feisty Snow White, and Parrilla chews the scenery right up as the over-the-top queen (her mayor is pretty mean, too).

Morrison is also great as Emma; she’s funny and sarcastic, but is also hiding a sadness, thanks to her abandonment issues.

After watching the first and third episodes (the second wasn’t available for review), I think I’m hooked. The show is cute without being hokey, and the writers are really having fun with all of the fairy tale back stories (Snow White and the prince’s meet-cute, for instance).

It’s definitely worth a second look