In concert with a group of about 15 important mental health organizations in the United States, NAMI (the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) lobbied hard to get the new television series "Wonderland" pulled off the air. Letter writing campaigns to network and production executives as well as to sponsors were organized. One sponsor, a pharmaceutical company, did in fact pull its ads from the show. Before the second episode was broadcast, NAMI urged ABC to air a disclaimer that no network in its right mind would have used, beginning " 'Wonderland' presents a narrow view of mental illness ..."

Instead, at the end of the second episode, a cast member read the following statement: "Effective treatment for mental illness is available. The vast majority of mentally ill persons are not violent and pose no threat to themselves or to the community. They deserve our compassion and understanding. There is help, and there is hope." This was certainly a step in the right direction, although the wooden delivery spoke more of the need for speed than sincerity.

Also, local affiliates were asked to air suicide hotline numbers during the program, and this would have been responsible programming. Feedback from our community showed that "Wonderland" could, in fact, be much too disturbing for people who have mental illnesses to watch. Therefore, it would have been responsible of ABC to begin the program with a disclaimer stating, " 'Wonderland' contains material which some people may find disturbing, especially those with mental illnesses. Viewer and parental discretion are advised."

All that said - we needed "Wonderland," and it is a shame ABC bowed to pressure and took the program off the air.

Why? Because public awareness about mental illness needs to be raised, and no one else is doing it effectively. Because Joseph Palczynski was killed by police even though he was sleeping when they broke into the house where he had been holding three people hostage for several days. Because a 22-year-old student named Conor O'Brien killed himself rather than go to jail for the vandalism he did during a manic episode.

"Wonderland" was blasted for focusing on the story of schizophrenic Wendall Rickle, touchingly and terrifyingly brought to life - and death - by Leland Orser. Critics claimed that this plot would reinforce the stigma against the mentally ill, and that Rickle's death in a "graphic" suicide scene (I have seen many much more graphic on TV) gave a false message of "no hope." But there was no hope for Rickle. His illness had led him to murder five people. Prosecutors wanted the death penalty. His defense attorney, and even the deeply compassionate Dr. Banger (Ted Levine), knew that the best Rickle could get was long-term incarceration in a psychiatric facility. And - as the medication took effect, Rickle was able to recognize how much pain he had caused others. His future was unbearable. This scenario was not in the least unrealistic, and the issues it raised need to be addressed.

Just how many important issues in mental healthcare were pointed out during the story of Wendall Rickle?

• The difficulty of diagnosing mental illness. "There's no amount of blood work or DNA sampling that can help me to predict a human being's behavior from one minute to the next," said Dr. Garrity, under review for releasing Rickle a few days before the murders. Every week or two I receive mail from people asking if there is a blood test for manic depression. People need to know better.

• Why people slip through the cracks - and what the cracks in the system are. Doctors in public hospitals are overworked and often overtired. They see far more people than the hospitals have room for. In this episode, the simple fact that another hospital's computers were temporarily down contributed to the ultimate tragedy.

• Who the mentally ill are. Rickle's father told us what we almost never see: Who else his son was, besides the man who opened fire with a gun in Times Square. "He's my son! My son, who got into Columbia and loves Chinese food and rock climbing in the Catskills. My son, whose dream was to build a boat and follow the journey of the Odyssey. My son."

• The fact that people with a history of serious mental illness are able to get guns. Nothing has changed in over ten years, since Laurie Dann shot up a grade school in the until-then homicide-free town of Winnetka, Illinois back in 1988, killing several little children.

• That compliance with medication is a serious problem. Rickle, like so many others, stopped taking his meds as soon as he felt better. This happens all the time. Is enforced medication the answer? If not, then what?

• That the violent mentally ill are targets. Prosecutors and public wanted Rickle put to death. Rickle's defense attorney wanted him left unmedicated so the court could see how bad off he was at his worst, in spite of the fact that he was suffering in that state.

• That more research and better answers are needed. This was perhaps one of the two most important messages from "Wonderland." It was implicit throughout the show: We don't have the answers, and we need them if we are to help the mentally ill.

• And finally, compassion and understanding for the mentally ill are needed AND DESERVED. This message, too, resonated throughout the program. It was there in the attitudes of the doctors. It was there in the attitudes of characters who do not have the needed compassion.

Those who proclaimed that "Wonderland" stigmatized the mentally ill need to recognize something else: That social change requires loud voices. The violent mentally ill have the loudest public voices of all. Research that benefits these people will benefit all the mentally ill.

"Wonderland" had the potential to raise public awareness about the plight of the mentally ill. At the time, I urged NAMI and other groups to start working with, not against, the people responsible for this show. I urged the writers and producers to demonstrate some balance, show that there is hope for those with mental illness. And I urged ABC to act more responsibly than they have so far:

• to warn people at the beginning that the content may be distressing, especially to the mentally ill,

• to have their local affiliates show suicide hotline numbers during the program, since it has been demonstrated that the mentally ill do find the program contains triggers, AND

• to stop once and for all any cutesy advertising of the program such as now appears on their website, which on its home page said "Wonderland: Straitjacket and tie required."