Offbeat, inventive and always surprising, Wonderfalls had a sadly foreshortened life on network television – but it made a big impression on those lucky enough to catch the show before it disappeared.
Created by Todd Holland (Malcolm in the Middle, The Larry Sanders Show) and Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Star Trek: Voyager), the series stars Montreal native Caroline Dhavernas as Jaye Tyler, an “overeducated and unemployable” 24-year-old whose philosophy degree from an Ivy League school has landed her a job at the Wonderfalls gift shop in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and a home at the High & Dry Trailer Park.
Sullen, self-absorbed and profoundly antisocial, Jaye takes a perverse delight in confounding the expectations of her overachieving family. “Just look at them,” she tells her best friend Mahandra (Tracie Thoms). “They all work really hard every day and they're dissatisfied. I mean, I can be dissatisfied without hardly working at all.” Life holds little of interest for Jaye – until the animals start talking.
Animal figurines, to be exact. Also stuffed toy animals, animal-print aprons and cartoon animals on TV. Suddenly they're all spouting cryptic messages, urging Jaye to do the one thing she'd rather avoid: involve herself in the lives of others. Is she losing her mind? Or is a higher power trying to tell her something?
Whenever Jaye tries to do what the animal voices tell her, she invariably triggers a complex chain of events with life-changing consequences for those around her. By “surrendering to destiny” – even when destiny comes in the shape of a smoosh-faced wax lion or a stuffed bass – Jaye learns to appreciate for the first time the unexpected opportunities that life throws her way. |
Although just four episodes aired in the spring, Wonderfalls earned a nomination for Best New Series from the Television Critics Association. And in a recent poll, TV Guide readers ranked it one of the season's best cancelled shows. A DVD release is slated for the winter.
Katie Finneran co-stars as Jaye's sister Sharon, an attorney, and Lee Pace is her brother Aaron, a religious studies scholar. Diana Scarwid (Mommie Dearest) and William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption) play her parents, a bestselling author and a successful physician, respectively.
North Vancouver native Tyron Leitso also stars as Eric, the new bartender at Jaye's favourite hangout, The Barrel. Still nursing the wounds from the implosion of his marriage (he caught his wife cheating on their honeymoon), Eric begins a flirtation with Jaye that promises to grow into something deeper.
Wonderfalls was filmed primarily in Toronto, with location footage shot in Niagara Falls, Ont. The series features an assortment of Canadian guest stars, including Kathryn Greenwood (Wind at My Back), Gabriel Hogan (The Associates), Jewel Staite (Firefly, Da Vinci's Inquest), Billy Merasty ( The Red Green Show ) and Joan Gregson (Black Harbour).
Todd Holland, Bryan Fuller and Tim Minear (Angel, Firefly) are the Executive Producers. Andy Partridge of the British cult pop group XTC composed the theme song. |
