Wonderfalls - The Complete Series

[Summary: Too imaginative and quirky for FOX, but "Wonderfalls" is wonderful when you can view all 13 episodes. Higly recommended.] "Wonderfalls" is an episodic comedy, set in Niagara Falls, New York. It's an "hour" (3/4 when subtracting commercial time) show, without a laugh track. Highly innovative, it uses its setting to great effect, including using View-Master slides for act changes and tourist tchotchkies to inspire unexpected acts of compassion in a previously lackluster protagonist. OK, so you're a typical member of Generation Why Me, overeducated and undermotivated. You've found the ideal job working in a Niagara Falls gift shop, where you figure if you show up for work you've accomplished enough for the day. You just got passed over for Assistant Manager, losing out to a mouth breather who's still in high school. And now the knick-knacks you're supposed to be selling are talking to you, telling you to do things. You're not sure whether the voices are coming from God, Satan, or a tumor in your brain, but your biggest question is: "Why me?". That's Jaye Tyler, youngest and weirdest of a family living in Niagara Falls, New York. Parents Darrin and Karen, sister Sharon and brother Aaron don't really understand Jaye. And neither did the FOX Network, which jerked "Wonderfalls" around mercilessly in their schedule and then dropped it, airing only four episodes after paying for thirteen. The people who buy new shows at FOX are a lot smarter than those (ir-)responsible for their schedules. "Wonderfalls" fell victim to the FOX Friday Night Curse, joining "M.A.N.T.I.S.", "Firefly", "Space: Above and Beyond", "Strange Luck", "John Doe", "VR.5", "The Lone Gunmen", "Harsh Realm", "Sliders", "Brimstone", "Tru Calling", "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.", "Alien Nation", "Roar", "Futurama", "Kindred: The Embraced", "Night Visions", "The Tick", "Werewolf", and "Wolf Lake". If you've got an idea for a strange new show, you might be able to sell it to FOX. But expect to be pre-empted, moved to a different night, and have the episode order shuffled. Bleah! Thank you for reading my rant about FOX, and now I promise to get back to reviewing the "Wonderfalls" DVD collection. This includes three discs, with four episodes on Discs 1 and 2, and five on Disc 3. If you managed to catch all four broadcast episodes you've still got nine more that will be new to you. They include answers to questions like "Will Jaye find true love?", and yes, the all-important "Why me?". In addition to the full 13 episodes you'll get commentary on half of them from the same foursome: series star Caroline Dhavernas ("Jaye Tyler"), Katie Finneran ("Sharon Tyler"), and co-creators Todd Holland and Bryan Fuller. Scotch Ellis Loring ("Dr. Ron Campbell", plus the voice of various muses -- the talking animals) joins them on one commentary. And there's even a music video, with Caroline and other cast members lip-synching their way through a rendition of the title song! I'm not going to spoil the actual 13 episodes for you, but I will note that in the commentaries you'll find out the plans for important elements of Season 2 (the lesbian pregnancy) & Season 3 (Jaye in the loony bin), plus character traits of the Tyler clan that never got to show up in Season 1. Republican Party folk ballads, anyone? The video and audio are excellent. While the broadcast episodes were cropped to fill the screen, they're presented in widescreen on DVD. The "Wonderfalls" cast is eclectic. Caroline Dhavernas is a big star in her native Canada, but her repertoire pre-Wonderfalls is entirely dramatic. Happily, she shows a real flair for comedy here. Tyron Leitso ("Eric Gotts") was the de facto hero (i.e. he survived) in "House of the Dead". Katie Finneran mostly does stage work. Lee Pace ("Aaron Tyler") and Tracie Thoms ("Mahandra McGinty") were Juilliard classmates. William Sadler ("Darin Tyler") was the bad guy in "Die Hard 2", the sheriff in "Roswell", and the mummy in "Bordello of Blood". Diana Scarwid ("Karen Tyler") has been acting professionally since 1977, but "Wonderfalls" is her only regular TV series. The locations are *almost* right. Niagara Falls, Ontario substitutes for Niagara Falls, New York. The interiors were shot in Toronto. With environments this close to authentic the lighting and other aspects of exterior shots are wholly believable. If this spoiler-free review leaves you unsure whether to buy the "Wonderfalls" DVD collection, I apologize. I recommend the show highly, and like it so much that I didn't want to detract from your enjoyment in the slightest. It's hard to describe, but worthwhile to those who take a leap of faith.

Being a guy, I thought this would be some generic chick show. You know, in the "Charmed" or "Gilmore Girls" style. As it happened, I came across a re-run one day in my lunch hour from work and decided to watch it as I ate, mainly because I thought the actress playing the lead was insanely hot and it was like two o'clock in the afternoon so there wasn't anything else on TV or anybody else at home to hang out with. Well, I ended up watching about two or three of the episodes when they aired in the local Fox Network and found myself actually getting interested in the freaking plot, much to my surprise (I kept telling myself that I watched it because Jaye was hot, to rationalize it). Some time later I noticed that Amazon had it on sale for about 20 bucks and I figured what the hell. Well, I've just finished watching the whole set and I have to say that it was actually really good. Granted, the show seems written with a female audience in mind, but the thing is that it IS very well written and jumps the gender-division hurdle by not over-doing the chick show angle of the story, unlike the other shows I mentioned that seem to be set in some parallel dimension where everything is slanted towards the X chromosome to the extent that characters are so girly that they ultimately become caricatures. The characters in "Wonderfalls," on the other hand, are interesting and believable regardless of their gender, and the plot is actually absorbing. And the show is really funny, but not in a sit-com-audience-laughing sort of way (this is not "Friends" or the like). Also, as the youngest of a bunch of siblings and I can honestly say that I saw a lot of my family's interpersonal mechanics reflected back at me from the Tylers, down to the maid that's more of a family member than she is hired help. It rang really true, which I've not often seen in TV shows, where family members tend to have impossibly and unbelievably perfect relationships or equally implausible feuds. All the characters were weird enough to make them interesting, but not so much that they became unrealistic and alienated me as a viewer, and the cast really did a great job portraying them sympathetically. Also, despite the fact that the series' premise does center on a girl getting messages from talking animal toys that make her help people, much of the time the supernatural or fantasy element takes the backseat to the real-life stuff going on. It was rather reminiscent of the magical realism school of literature in that respect. Shame this got canned, I would've really liked to see more. But hey, at least it never jumped the shark. I really recommend it, even if you're a guy and skeptical. You might find yourself getting surprised by how good this show is. I did. And the fact that the lead is hot doesn't hurt, either. JM

If, in ten million years, aliens come to planet Earth and find a husk of humanity that used to live here and dig up a TV set and DVD player, I pray that Wonderfalls is inside it. Why? Because this story is as human as it gets. Similar to Dead Like Me (which at least aired two seasons on Showtime before being yanked), this story shows the human condition in a funny, touching, and dramatic fashion, but without getting hamfisted by dialogue and/or prankish material. The story revolves around Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a twentyish-year-old woman who's graduated from Brown University, and has an overachieving and overbearing family. Having such a wonderful education and incredible family, one would think that she'd be running a Fortune 500 company. But no. She works at a cheesy gift shop in Niagra Falls, New York and lives in a trailer park. She seems happy to let life slip on by and be the proverbial underachiever in a constant alter-ego fashion to her family's wishes. But life has other plans for Jaye. After suddenly losing out on a managerial position to a zit-faced coworker, Jaye suddenly begins to hear inanimate objects speak to her (a wax lion, pink lawn flamingos, a bronze monkey bookend, a stuffed lizard, etc.), and they tell her to do really bizarre things... like not giving someone a refund who obviously deserves it, or throwing wine on an old high school friend's dress during a reunion, or getting a disenfranchised nun back into her convent. The list goes on for thirteen amazingly brilliant episodes. And each event (whether Jaye likes it or not) pulls her closer and closer to being a more integrated member of the human race. Added to the story is a lot of nice little nooks and crannies known as side-stories. First, and foremost, is Jaye's family. Her author mother, Diane Scarwid, hits the perfect pitch, worried about her daughter, but also worried about her own writing career. Her physician father, William Sandler, is brilliantly portrayed as the head of the household, trying to save Jaye from herself and getting glimpses of his other daughter's (Kate Finneran) lesbian activities. Jaye's brother, Lee Pace, is a theology major and is the first to glimpse Jaye's strange conversations with coffee creamers and the like. Secondly, and thankfully, there's the love of Jaye's life - played perfectly by Tyron Leitso - waiting in the wings. They're both damaged people who just might make one whole person if they can ever get their lives together (the show weaves us in and out of their on-again off-again relationship and I, for one, cheered whenever they got close to one another). The fact that this beautifully done series got cancelled after only four episodes should be labeled as a crime. FOX TV executives should be strung up by their shorts for getting rid of this thought-provoking show (which is probably WHY it got cancelled... you have to THINK rather than just sit in front of the TV screen while watching such mindless cr@* like The Swan or some other drivel.) At least the producers were wise enough to produce all of the season's thirteen episodes quickly and effectively. Even though they never aired, we can at least revel in this great DVD package that shows all of them. Okay, now bring on the aliens...

I'm going to agree w/ most of the reviews on amazon and characterize this gem as "the best tv show you didn't see" ....in a strange ironic twist, i feel the reasons why this show was cancelled - are the exact reasons why i think its so awesome. 1) Very different: to say the least...you prob won't see many shows as brave as this one... the premise is odd, characters are quirky and even the episodes are done in different styles - some campy, some film noir, some horror/suspense, and some coming of age romantic comedy... you have to catch the beginning of each episode to get the episode... 2) Main character has no redeeming qualities: she's bitter, drinks too much, is anti-social, mean spirited and annoying... however, its done is such a way that you actually find it really cute... i'll call it "the reluctant hero w/ the heart of gold, but doesn't think she has a heart of gold"... actually, for this reason, i think women watching this show might hate it... but i think the balance maintained by the director is brilliant... you end up really caring for the characters (and rooting for them)... 3) Purpose of the show never explained: which is why i think it works... i think most dimwits would ask after each episode, "so is it real or not?" ... but its the fact its never confirmed that you can believe both sides of the coin... on one side... she's really schizophrenic... on the other hand, she truly is the vessel of God... its a fine line that is walked but never confirmed by the writers... the viewer is left to choose... 4) The exact opposite of what you expected to happen, is usually what happens: ive seen enough stuff (like all of us) to predict what's ultimately going to happen at the end of most shows... not this one... even though you're given a 'clue' at the beginning of the show... you have NO IDEA where it takes you, and neither does the main character... you're just as confused as to the meaning as she is... each ending is a total surprise and from left field... 5) Understanding the writing might require college degree: writing is real sharp and witty at times (although there's still enough camp for it to be TV)... and inside jokes and references abound w/ no laugh track... on most shows on ABC, they'll keep it dumb enough for a high-school drop out to understand... and they'll give you a laugh track so you'll know whats supposed to be funny... this show is a comedy but they let the writing speak for itself, but some of the references are so vague (hitchcock, david lynch, fellini), that i doubt anybody would get them... i know i prob missed tons... Overall, i really dig this show... it definitely would've made my tivo watchlist... its funny, sad, has endearing family themes, heavy spiritual undertones... and are like psychological thrillers made into episodic comedies... really, really good... the pilot is actually my least fav of the bunch... it just gets more polished and better towards the end... Over all, i'm giving it 5 stars out of 5.

Remember how crappy you felt when all your friends were going someplace fun and you were stuck home with a cold? They were all out someplace having fun, and you were Missing Out. Well, if you miss this DVD, you will indeed Miss Out on all the fun!! Far and away one of the best things that SHOULD have been on TV, Wonderfalls really does have it all going on and then some. Fun, quirky, satirical, sometimes tense, sometimes sad, and sometimes scary, it has a really great ensemble cast that exhibits a chemistry missing on the boob tube since Northern Exposure's first two seasons. Creativity is a lost and lamented art on TV these days, and it sure seems that our only hope is to make sure that gems like this are not lost in cancellation obscurity. I couldn't have been happier that Wonderfalls has appeared in a complete DVD set. I caught it when it was broadcast for the first four episodes. I was hooked, and was just beginning to spread the word to my friends that they should check out the funny new show called Wonderfalls when it just disappeared; yanked before it even had a chance to find its audience. Well, we're out here, and we still remember when writers wrote shows that were worth watching. And even though most of us have let our TV's gather dust rather than be subjected to today's collection of artificial angst, whining, and masochistic self-abuse in the form of so-called "reality shows", I'm going to do what I didn't get to do back when Wonderfalls first premiered, and make sure my friends give this one a looksee. After all, I don't want them to Miss Out while I'm having all the fun!

I purchased this set based on a recommendation from a Northern Exposure review. After watching a few episodes I wasn't sold, it felt contrived and silly. Thankfully I stuck with it and after the 4th episode the show started to achieve some depth and character. It just got better and better and the last 5 were consumed in a single evening's worth of entertainment. So many movies and tv series have clumsily mishandled talking objects that it rarely has risen above the level of slapstick humor. Not here. By forcing the protagonist to act out of character she quickly finds herself involved in the lives of strangers and surprise...perception isn't a close cousin of reality. What fascinated me the most was how she coped with her secret. How would you respond if an object suddenly talked to you? Even if you realized that it wasn't real it is impossible to ignore and it affects a person nonetheless. If you don't do their bidding your awareness of cause/effect is heightened to the point where connections may be seen that aren't there (like the chain letter in N.E.). Discomforting at the very least and society doesn't help by reacting so fearfully. On a lighter note it made for some hilarious moments, "what is the monkey telling you now?". Thankfully the season ended in a way that could be construed as closure. An excellent series, thought provoking and insightful. It is a shame that quality is anathema to the mainstream market though even cable has similar if not so pronounced issues.

Like the much loved "Firefly," this show was pulled by the network before it had a chance to find its audience. It was unable to overcome it's terrible timeslot, but thanks to some devoted fans, the whole series is available now. How wonderful to find the four episodes that aired along with the rest of the unreleased season on DVD. The series was recommended to me and I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend it to you. The show was smart, warm, quirky, well acted, and well written. The show had heart, but was never cloying or maudlin. The show made you think, but not in a calculus-exam, brain-cramp sort of way. The show was quirky, but it was never off-putting, or bizarre. The show was aimed, I suppose, at other twenty-somethings who are under-employed and searching for answers. Don't let that stop you, even if, like me, your twenties are just a memory. The show didn't feel like a teeny-bopper series at all. I'm not sure what more I can say, but you have to see this show. It's just great television. POSSIBLE SPOILER FACTOID: The creators knew they were going to get the boot from the network, so the 13th episode does offer up some closure. You don't have to worry about being left dangling for eternity.

My first review ever and I'm happy to make it a 5-star critique. After reading some of the negative reviews, I must admit this show isn't for everyone. Some people are just happier watching weightier stuff ("The Corporation" is brilliant as is "Decasia") and some people just aren't in touch with that part of themselves that can appreciate fantasy and broad, occasionally slapstick humor. Also, some of the characters on Wonderfalls aren't all that likable at first glance and there are certain episodes that aren't what you would call "family friendly." In short: Some of the things that make me LOVE this show might actually turn some people off. But love this show I do! The scripts are fantastically clever, the characters all seem to fit together like pieces of a big, crazy puzzle and once you surrender to the ridiculousness of it all, even someone getting run over by an ambulance and poop jokes will have you laughing hysterically! Kudos to the Logo cable network for broadcasting re-runs of Wonderfalls, otherwise I might never have even heard of this amazing series. And everyone who enjoys the DVDs should thank the folks behind the SaveWonderfalls web site who, according to the show's creators, were instrumental in getting Fox to release the entire series on DVD. If you buy the set, you MUST listen to the DVD commentary (six of the 13 episodes have it) if only to find out which Wonderfalls regular was described as "a tall cup of sex". Not only did the commentary offer interesting lessons in how a weekly television show is put together, the folks doing the talking (three actors from the show and the show's co-creators) were just having a blast hanging out together. It was like being at a party with all of your wittiest friends.

E' da parecchio tempo che cercavo questa serie. L'avevo vista tempo fa su Sky e desideravo molto rivederla, ma il cofanetto italiano non esiste perciò (visto che guardo abitualmente film e serie tv in lingua originale) mi sono risolto a cercarne una versione che contenesse l'inglese. Il cofanetto qui venduto da Amazon.it è spacciato per una fantomatica "Edizione: Germania": nelle specifiche tecniche è indicata la lingua inglese (quindi per me andava benissimo) e un ipotetico "doppiato" che lasciava intendere al doppiaggio tedesco (vista la dicitura "Edizione: Germania"). Tutto lasciava presagire che la regione dei dvd fosse 2. Lo stesso identico prodotto, su Amazon USA, Inghilterra e Francia, è indicato come prodotto americano ed è chiaramente specificata la REGIONE 1. Infatti su tutti gli Amazon, tranne quello italiano, il nome completo del cofanetto è "Wonderfalls: Complete Series [DVD] [2005] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]" Il sospetto mi era venuto, ma la serie mi era piaciuta talmente tanto che ho rischiato lo stesso i 20 euro. Inoltre ho un amico che lavora nel video-editing e che può prestarmi l'attrezzatura per visionarli comunque (si può fare anche con un normale PC, ma vederla sul divano è meglio!). Tuttavia chiedo ai gestori di Amazon Italia di specificare meglio la regione dei dvd di importazione e di non aggiungere diciture fuorvianti al nome del prodotto (mi sono informato: la versione tedesca del cofanetto, o una versione pensata per il mercato della Germania, non esiste!!!). Sono sempre rimasto più che soddisfatto dei miei ordini ad Amazon e continuerò a servirmi da voi, ma vi prego di essere un po' più precisi ed onesti. Grazie Andrea.

There's nothing bad to say about Wonderfalls, apart from the fact that it was cancelled so quickly (totally unfair). Because of this, the ending feels a little rushed to try and tie off all the characters stories in a satisfying way. My favourite episode is "Crime Dog", with Jaye and her brother Aaron's (Lee Pace; he's hilarious in this) adventure to Canada, led by a talking cow creamer (my mom actually brought home a cow creamer after watching this show!). Makes me laugh so hard every time. This show is quirky, fun, sweet, and hilarious. Great acting, great stories, great characters. We initially borrowed it from a friend and our whole family fell in love with it, so when my brother's birthday came around I thought it would be a great gift because we'd all enjoy it! It's has the sort of episodes you just want to watch again and again. If you like quirky and weird, go for it - you won't regret it. The shipping was super fast and it was packaged very well! It was a used-like new copy that was in excellent condition.

Ich habe die Serie aufgrund der positiven Kritik und der Beschreibung ausgewählt und wurde nicht enttäuscht. Ich finde es nur schade, dass es nach der 13. Episode schon zu Ende sein soll und wir nichts mehr von dieser Truppe mitbekommen werden.

Gran serie, creí que no la conseguiría y viene completa y con material extra

... wie schon in der Überschrift gesagt. Man muss seinen DVD-Player umprogrammieren. Und das geht nur begrenzt. Ärgerlich, dass ich das nicht vorher wusste... deshalb hier die Warnung an alle anderen Ahnungslosen.