Once Upon a Time in A.C.

Once Upon a Time in A.C., also known as Once Upon a Time in Annesia, is a Magisterian television sitcom created by television host Marlon Mark, which aired in CBS from September 27, 2011, to May 11, 2021, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jerry Devin, Vic Ivers, Isidora Josephs, and Anjelica Christopher, the revolves around four siblings who live in the Magisterian capital of Annesia City. The series was produced by 2M Television Productions, with the producers being Marlon Mark for the first four seasons and for the tenth season and Macaulay Parsons for the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth seasons.

The show was Marlon Mark's first ever project and began developing it as early as 2009 under the working title of 2 Sons & 2 Daughters between January and March 2009. After several script rewrites and changes, including title changes to The Sons & Daughters of Mother Tash and An Unbreakable Bond, the series was finally named Once Upon a Time in A.C.

The show ranked within the top ten of the final television season ratings; it ultimately reached the number-one spot in its seventh season. The series finale aired on 11 May 2021, and was watched by around 61.13 million Magisterian viewers, so far making it the most-watched television episode of the 2020s.

Once Upon a Time in A.C. received acclaim throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular television shows of all time. The show was inspired by American television sitcoms Friends, Seinfeld, Roseanne, George Lopez, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Everybody Loves Raymond.

Series synopsis
The comedy revolves around the Tash siblings; Jean-Paul (Jerry Devin), Anton (Vic Ivers), Cynthia (Isidora Josephs), and Marian (Anjelica Christopher). Jean-Paul is the oldest and is the family man, raising daughter Annette (Chantal Christopher) and son Louis (Louis Hawthorne) with his wife Karolyn (Blandine Rakes). Anton is the second son of the Tash couple, and is a successful lawyer with personal issues like not having a family. Cynthia is the eldest daughter who works as a chef in a fine dining restaurant in downtown Annesia, and is known for her promiscuous behaviour. Marian is the youngest and is described as 'strong and independent' but often seen as the invisible child of the family.

Multiple storylines in the series are established through the unveiling of a secret guarded by Jean-Paul throughout Anton's adult life, most notably the discovery that Anton actually had a family after Anton's estranged family secretly informed Jean-Paul. Throughout much of the fifth season, Anton tries to locate his family; when Anton's ex-fling, Lydia (Demelza Bradford) is finally introduced, she turns out to be an abusive mother who is married to a man named Alexander (Emmet Kingsley) who is equally abusive as her. By the sixth season, the main storyline was Anton getting the custody of his daughter Marie-Claude (Andrea Dupuy) from Lydia and Alexander which he successfully gets custody and also managed to get Lydia and Alexander into prison for child abuse.

Main cast

 * Jerry Devin as Jean-Paul "Jean" Deacon Tash:
 * The Tash couple's first and oldest kid, as well as the family man of the lot. Throughout the series, Jean is shown as a selfless, caring parent who was always present for his children, wife, and siblings. He is portrayed to be very compassionate towards his children as the patriarch of the Gladwin-Tash household. While he is kind, he is clearly harsh with his children, holding them to very high standards and appearing to be dissatisfied with them when they do not meet these expectations. Jean also frequently loses his temper rapidly, publicly lashing out when he is enraged. This is proven to by his wife Karolyn (Blandine Rakes), who is often viewed as the only one who can calm Jean down when he loses his cool. While he is a very strick man, he is an excellent parent and spouse.
 * Vic Ivers as Antonio "Anton" Valentine Tash:
 * The Tash couple's second kid and definitely the most successful of the four. Anton is a typically pleasant, affable, and well-meaning individual. He is also regarded as a loving father to her daughter Marie-Claude (Andrea Dupuy). Anton is the most financially secure of the group, due to his well-paying profession as a lawyer.
 * Isidora Josephs as Cynthia Maria Élisabeth Tash-Obando:
 * The Tash couple's third child and oldest daughter. Cynthia is known as the "mother hen" of the group. She works as a cook in a fine dining restaurant in Annesia's downtown. Cynthia despises her job, despite the fact that it pays well. According to the show's creator Marlon Mark, the character's major inspirations were Monica Geller and Joey Tribbiani from the sitcom Friends, which explains Cynthia's comparable compulsive cleanliness and bossiness, as well as Cynthia's promiscuous behavior. She has sex with a variety of men and will frequently sleep with a man and then never call him again. She would later marry long-time friend and neighbor Pepito Obando.
 * Anjelica Christopher as Marian Simone Augustine Tash:
 * The Tash couple's fourth and youngest kid. Marian is unquestionably the family's black sheep. She is a 'strong and independent' model who also works as a server in a diner. Marian is frequently dim-witted, occasionally brilliant, and, in some ways, still a child at heart. She gets along well with her elder brother Anton throughout the series.

Supporting cast

 * Blandine Rakes as Karolyn Gladwin-Tash:
 * The Gladwin-Tash family's matriarch. Karolyn is a no-nonsense, vocally gifted, frank, striving, understanding, nurturing, trusting, lively, independent, heroic, diligent, intelligent, kind, and career-minded lady who has equal screen time with her husband Jean. She is the mother of Annette (Chantal Christopher) and Louis (Louis Hawthorne) and has three sisters.
 * Edgardo Roche as Pepito Obando:
 * Pepito, a long-time Tash family friend and neighbor, is an inept, big-eared, clumsy, dimwitted, yet loyal and beloved guy. He is typically quite shy with women and never seems to obtain a date because of his nervousness and overall inability to connect with, much alone talk to, women. He has a great crush on Cynthia and is frequently seen hitting on her; they marry in the ninth season. He states that he is envious of Anton's life.
 * Andrea Dupuy as Marie-Claude Tash:
 * Anton's biological daughter, Jean-Paul's niece, Cynthia, and Marian's niece, and Annette and Louis's elder cousin. She tends to be melodramatic, has great intelligence, and enjoys creating absurdly dramatic, dark, or sorrowful poetry. Marie-Claude had a difficult life due to her abusive mother and stepfather, and she is grateful for Anton.
 * Chantal Christopher as Annette Tash
 * The daughter of Jean-Paul, the niece of Anton, Cynthia, and Marian, Marie-Claude's younger cousin, and Louis's elder sister. She is best described as impetuous, shallow, gorgeous, and most of the time quite dim-witted and exceedingly self-centered; she looks down on Marie-Claude's upbringing and is preoccupied with shopping and money. Despite her outwardly superficial nature, she has a strong sense of ethics and clear compassion for her family members. She is frequently characterized as being devoid of common sense.
 * Louis Hawthorne as Louis Tash:
 * The son of Jean-Paul, the nephew of Anton, Cynthia, and Marian, Marie-Claude's youngest cousin, and Annette's younger brother. Louis likes spending time with his mother, but he is maybe closest to his cousin, Marie-Claude. Louis' feeling of masculinity is another aspect of his personality. Louis has shown on several times that he is anxious about being viewed as proud, confident, and macho. He's a tough guy who constantly strives to be the larger man when confronted, whether directly or indirectly.

Development and casting
Marlon Mark, the host of his namesake primetime variety show Double M: The Primetime Show at the time, revealed that he had always wanted to create his own sitcom. The then-undeveloped pilot was the subject of a bidding battle, according to Mark, with CBS winning the deal on 14 January 2011 and ordering it to series on 27 September 2011.

On February 11, 2011, Devin was the first to be cast in the part of Jean-Paul. Ivers won an audition for the role of Anton a week later, on February 18, 2011. According to Mark, he pondered scripting a new "fifth sibling" role for himself. Mark then abandoned the idea due to his responsibilities as a television host. On February 28, 2011, Josephs and Christopher were the final two actors to be cast.

Filming
The first season was shot on Studio 18 at the CBSInternational headquarters in D'Aramitz Memorial Square, Dayton. Filming for the series began during the summer of 2011 in front of a live audience, who were given a summary of the series to familiarize themselves with the four main characters.

Although Marlon Mark and Macaulay Parsons were constantly looking for the proper tales to take advantage of being on site, Once Upon a Time in A.C. was never filmed at Annesia City.

Series finale
Marlon Mark and his writing team finished the first draft of the two-hour finale in November 2020, five months before its planned premiere. Mark examined prior sitcom finales to develop the episode's outline, noting what worked and what didn't.

CBS strongly hyped the series finale, which had been the subject of weeks of media speculation. Local CBS stations hosted viewing parties around Magisteria, including one at the historic Longin Square, which included a unique presentation of the finale on an outdoor Astrovision screen.

In Magisteria, 61.13 million television viewers watched the finale on 11 May 2021. The show's finale surpassed Friends' 52.5 million viewers for its series finale on 6 May 2004.

Critical reception
The series received mixed reviews at first, with the first season receiving a Metacritic score of 68 out of 100 based on 24 selected reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews." As the series went on, reviews got more positive, and Once Upon a Time in A.C. became one of the decade's most successful sitcoms. It is now frequently recognized as one of the top TV series of all time. The series was praised by critics for its constantly crisp writing and the chemistry between the major performers.

Ratings
During its ten-year run, Once Upon a Time in A.C. consistently ranked within the top ten of the final television season ratings since the fourth season, and was a major contender in the rating wars. So far, Once Upon a Time in A.C. has been the last Magisterian sitcom to reach the #1 spot on television, although there are new Magisterian sitcoms that could become the next-in-line to reach the #1 spot, like Ms. President.

Confirmed spin-off
Marlon Mark has shown interest in developing a possible spin-off series for the successful sitcom after the series finale in 2021. Mark announced the spin-off series' development in late-2021. Mark revealed by mid-2022 that the American sitcoms Young Sheldon and Friends spin-off Joey are big influences for the undisclosed spin-off series.