For all the blood, sweat, and manpower that ABC poured into finding a successor to "Lost" (a show that shaped the course of television in the early 21st century), I'd bet dollars to donuts the network never wagered it would take the shape of "Once Upon a Time."

Conceived by "Lost" alumni and "TRON: Legacy" writers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, "Once Upon a Time" casts "House, M.D." veteran Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, a seemingly unremarkable bail bond agent who, just like any hero's journey protagonist worth their salt, discovers there's far more to her world (and destiny) than she ever realized. The show itself combines jigsaw puzzle-style storytelling with well-known fairy tale characters -- especially the Disneyfied versions, which was possible thanks to ABC being owned by the Mouse House -- to create a dense lore and elaborate mythos that rivals anything J.J. Abrams or Damon Lindelof could ever hope to dream of. What you end up with is a series that miraculously finds a way to comfortably reside at the overlapping point between "Disney Enthusiasts" (I'd call them "Disney Dorks" for alliterative effect if I wasn't worried that'd be taken the wrong way) and "TV Mystery Box Nerds" on a Venn Diagram. Is it any wonder it took off?

Ultimately, even at a time when it appeared as though the then-newfound curiosity known as streaming and Netflix's all-at-once release strategy could make weekly network television go the way of the dodo, "Once Upon a Time" survived long enough to air 155 episodes spread across seven seasons from 2011-2018. There was even a point where ABC tried to expand the brand with "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland," a spin-off centered on "Alice in Wonderland" characters like Sophie Lowe's Alice and Emma Rigby's Red Queen. (Also, Jafar from "Aladdin," as played by "Lost" alumnus Naveen Andrews sans the unusual fingernails, is there too -- long story.) Unfortunately, the show only lasted a single 13-episode season before network execs pulled a Red Queen and ordered its head to be lopped off. So, what happened?