'Wonderland' returns

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.