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Fairy tale makeover: 'Once Upon a Time' begins a new chapter

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Author: 
Andrew Warren / TV Media
Ginnifer Goodwin and Jennifer Morrison as seen in "Once Upon a Time"

Ginnifer Goodwin and Jennifer Morrison as seen in "Once Upon a Time"

Fairy tale makeover: Once upon a time, in a not-so-far-away land called Storybrooke, Maine, a TV series had six successful seasons and was spending the summer preparing for its seventh -- a season that promised to be a breath of fresh air.

ABC's "Once Upon a Time" isn't scheduled to return until the fall, but major casting changes are in the works for the hit series about a number of Disney's stable of fairy-tale characters living in the real world. It's not just casting changes that are shaking up the next chapter, either. When the series returns, it will be on a new night (Friday) and with a new setting (no big spoilers for those still catching up on season 6, but let's just say that the story has moved on from Storybrooke).

Season 7 will be what producers Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are calling the series's "next chapter." Ginnifer Goodwin ("Big Love"), Jennifer Morrison ("House") and Josh Dallas ("Thor," 2011), who play Snow White, Emma Swan and Prince Charming, respectively, have all taken their final bows and exited the series, along with Emilie de Ravin ("Lost"), Jared Gilmore ("Mad Men") and Rebecca Mader ("The Devil Wears Prada," 2006).

The size of the cast won't change, though, as a number of new actors are boarding the refreshed series, including Andrew J. West ("The Walking Dead") and Alison Fernandez ("Jane the Virgin"), both of whom made an appearance in last season's two-part finale. Dania Ramirez ("Devious Maids"), Gabrielle Anwar ("Burn Notice"), Adelaide Kane ("Reign"), Mekia Cox ("Chicago Med") and Rose Reynolds ("Wasted") have also boarded the series.

After six seasons, "Once Upon a Time" is turning the page and beginning a whole new chapter. The fairy-tale drama returns this fall, on ABC.

 

Trouble in paradise: A hit CBS police procedural is experiencing some casting shakeups ahead of its eighth season. The premiere of "Hawaii Five-0's" next season may not be until Sept. 29, but that hasn't kept the series out of the summer headlines.

Two of the series's stars announced their departures earlier this year, a blow for the popular series about an elite police task force fighting crime in the Aloha State.

Both Daniel Dae Kim ("Lost") and Grace Park ("Battlestar Galactica") have parted ways with the series, and Kim was surprisingly candid when explaining his decision. In a post on his personal Facebook page, he wrote: "Though I made myself available to come back, CBS and I weren't able to agree to terms on a new contract, so I made the difficult choice not to continue."

"As an Asian-American actor, I know firsthand how difficult it is to find opportunities at all, let alone play a well-developed, three-dimensional character like Chin Ho," he went on. "The path to equality is rarely easy. But I hope you can be excited for the future. I am."

The optics of its two stars of Asian descent leaving at the same time over pay issues may not be good for CBS, but the network has been publicly gracious, releasing a statement that said, in part: "While we could not reach an agreement, we part ways with tremendous respect for their talents on screen, as well as their roles as ambassadors for the show off screen, and with hopes to work with them again in the near future."

As for their characters, Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua just so happened to end last season on notes that will at least make it easy to write them out of the show. In last season's finale, Chin was offered a gig as the head of a task force in San Francisco, while Kono was deep in an investigation of a child sex trafficking organization.

"Hawaii Five-0" returns for an eighth season in late September.

 

Pedal to the metal: Buckle up, gearheads. The biggest car show in the world has a new high-octane model, and it's domestic, not an import. That's right, an American version of "Top Gear" is back, with new hosts, a new name and definitely a whole racetrack's worth of new cars.

The new "Top Gear America" premieres Sunday, July 30, on BBC America. Its predecessor, "Top Gear" (the first swing at an American version), aired for six seasons on History from 2010 to 2016, but while both series are based on the British one of the same name, the new "Top Gear America" is not just a continuation of the other American iteration.

As any "Top Gear" fan knows, it's the hosts and the rapport between them that ultimately make or break the show. Headlining "Top Gear America" is award-winning actor William Fichtner ("Crossing Lines"). Joining him are Antron Brown, a world-champion drag racer, and Tom "Wookie" Ford, the associate editor of Top Gear Magazine and contributor to TopGear.com.

Who says that British gearheads get to have all the fun? "Top Gear America" is off to the races Sunday, July 30, on BBC America.