Wonderfalls

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Wonderfalls
The cast of Wonderfalls
Genre	Dramedy
Creator(s)	Bryan Fuller, Todd Holland
Starring	See below
Opening theme	"I Wonder Why the Wonder Falls" by Andy Partridge
Country of origin	Canada, United States
No. of episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Bryan Fuller, Todd Holland Tim Minear
Running time	approx. 42 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Picture format	EDTV
Original run	March 12, 2004 – December 15, 2004
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Wonderfalls is a television program that was featured on the Fox television network in 2004.

The show's premise is centered around Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a recent Brown University graduate with a philosophy degree, who holds a dead-end job as a sales clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop. Jaye is the reluctant participant in conversations with a variety of animal figurines — a wax lion, brass monkey, stuffed bear, and mounted fish, among others, which direct her via oblique instructions to help people in need.

1 Production history
2 Fan support and DVD release
3 Cast and crew
4 Episodes
5 Planned episodes
6 Similarities with Dead Like Me
7 Trivia
8 External links

[edit] Production history

Originally scheduled to debut in the fall of 2003, its premiere was delayed until early 2004. When it finally debuted in March 2004, Wonderfalls received positive reviews from critics, but had trouble attracting viewers. When the pilot episode, “Wax Lion”, received a higher Nielsen rating when it was repeated the Thursday after its premiere, the show was moved from a Friday night timeslot to Thursday. However, there was little notice or promotion of the time change, and the show was subsequently cancelled after airing the fourth episode. (A fifth episode was advertised but never aired.)

Immediately after the show’s cancellation, its producers attempted to interest other networks, including The WB in picking up the series. If they had been successful, Wonderfalls would have been the first American series in history to change networks in the midst of its first season. In addition, some episodes were shown in theatres in Los Angeles during the summer of 2004 in order to drum up support for the series. These episodes, many of them rough cuts without full effects and score work, were also released onto the Internet, aided by the producers themselves, who helped distribute them via the BitTorrent protocol.^{[verification needed]}

[edit] Fan support and DVD release

Despite its cancellation, Wonderfalls developed a loyal fanbase. A campaign spearheaded by fans (and an accompanying website) was launched, and several members of the cast and crew visited the site and encouraged the grassroots support. [1]

Based on the groundswell of support, and the fact that much of the series had not aired, 20th Century Fox decided to release a DVD set featuring all 13 episodes on February 1, 2005. The DVD set includes commentary by the producers and cast members on half the episodes, a behind-the-scenes documentary, an examination of the show’s visual effects, and one of the two music videos produced for the theme song, “I Wonder Why the Wonder Falls” by Andy Partridge.

[edit] Cast and crew

The series was a United States/Canada co-production, filmed in Toronto, Ontario, and with several Canadian actors cast in lead roles (including the show’s star). It was created by Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me) and Todd Holland (Malcolm in the Middle) with executive producer Tim Minear (writer and director for Firefly and Angel).

Jaye Tyler — Caroline Dhavernas
Mahandra McGinty — Tracie Thoms
Eric Gotts — Tyron Leitso
Aaron Tyler — Lee Pace
Sharon Tyler — Katie Finneran
Darrin Tyler — William Sadler
Karen Tyler — Diana Scarwid
Alec (aka "Mouthbreather") - Neil Grayston
Heidi Gotts - Jewel Staite (Recurring role)

Wonderfalls complete series DVD release

Some sources use the two-word spelling Wonder Falls for the title, although the DVD lists it as a single word; the title of its theme song is two words.

[edit] Episodes

Fox aired the first four episodes out of sequence, although the episodes as a whole were produced in a different order than was intended for broadcast. The page below shows the episodes in the order in which producers intended them to be viewed.

Main article: List of Wonderfalls episodes

Caroline Dhavernas as Jaye Tyler.

[edit] Planned episodes

Although the series creators had intended for the 13 episodes of Wonderfalls to tell a standalone story (perhaps anticipating cancellation after the first season), apparently, the writers were already thinking as much as two years ahead. According to an interview featured on the 2005 DVD release of the series, the producers revealed that they already had plans for a second and third season. Among the projected storylines mentioned on the DVD:

In the second season, Jaye’s therapist would document their sessions, eventually publishing a book on her, which would lead to her being institutionalized with “Jesus Syndrome” in the third season.
An accidental-pregnancy plotline was also planned for Jaye's lesbian sister Sharon.
A new "Wax Lion", one who was intact, would be introduced, who would advise Jaye against listening to what the original "Wax Lion" said.
The young boy who receives a mail order bride from Russia in the "Lovesick Ass" episode would come back in the opening of Season 3 in the same institution as Jaye. He began suffering from pyromania after Jaye broke his heart, which he first manifested by burning Eric's car at the end of the episode.

[edit] Similarities with Dead Like Me

Wonderfalls was co-created by Bryan Fuller, who also created Dead Like Me. Both shows have similarities. Fuller has stated that he didn’t expect both shows to become shows.

Both shows are based around the exploits of a somewhat disenfranchised young woman (Jaye in Wonderfalls, Georgia Lass in Dead Like Me) as she struggles to come to terms with the meaning of her existence. Similarly, the two heroines are both shown toiling at menial jobs, and while it is made clear that both are capable of higher goals, both characters seem uninterested in trying.
Both shows feature a female lead character with a male name/nickname.
Both shows feature a fantastical concept in a mundane setting.
Both shows have arguably religious undertones.
Both shows deal heavily with the concept of fate.
Both shows focus on family relationships, with one major difference: Georgia’s family is dysfunctional and ultimately broken, while Jaye’s family, despite friction, is shown to be tight knit and strong.
Both shows begin their pilot episodes with the heroine narrating a mythical tale about life and death.
Both main characters are "freaked out" by the elderly (Jaye is bothered by children as well).
Both shows feature a local eatery as a major setting (The Barrel pub in Wonderfalls, Der Waffle Haus in DLM).
Both main characters have (or had, as was the case in DLM) a tradition of eating breakfast with their father at a restaurant.

Two actors have also appeared in both shows:

Wonderfalls regular Neil Grayston (Alec) made a guest appearance in the second season of Dead Like Me.
Jewel Staite had a recurring role towards the end of Wonderfalls as Eric's ex Heidi, as well as a guest role in the Dead Like Me first season finale. (Staite also starred in Firefly, on which Wonderfalls executive producer Tim Minear was a writer and director.)

[edit] Trivia

Jaye's car is a 1964 Studebaker Daytona.
In the unaired pilot for the show, Aaron Tyler was played by Adam Scott and Mahandra McGinty was played by Kerry Washington.
Two different music videos were produced to promote the series and its theme song, "I Wonder Why the Wonder Falls" by Andy Partridge. Both videos feature Caroline Dhavernas lip-syncing to the song while being filmed on the show's various sets; she's also joined by Tracie Thoms at several points. The videos differ primarily in what scenes from the show are featured (one of the two videos uses footage primarily from unaired episodes); one of the two versions also shows Dhavernas and Tyron Leitso dancing in the Wonder Falls store. Both versions were (and still are) available online, but as noted above, only one was included on the 2005 DVD release.
All of the Tylers have rhyming names (Karen, Darrin, Sharon, Aaron) except for Jaye.
The actual shots of Wonderfalls giftshop are taken from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. The show is supposed to be set on the American side of Niagara Falls.