Forgotten Television: Wonderfalls

Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas) is a 24-year-old slacker who graduated from Brown University with a degree in philosophy and currently works as a clerk in a souvenir shop in Niagara Falls. One day, a wax figurine of a lion begins talking to her, asking her to perform small tasks to help people.  Although, they aren’t really clear on exactly what she is supposed to do. It isn’t just the wax lion, but other figurines begin speaking to her, forcing her, by sheer persistence, to do what they ask.  If she does not comply, negative consequences ensue. She is plagued by her family which includes her overly perfect but pesky mother, Karen (Diana Scarwid); physician father, Darrin (William Sadler); the easygoing brother, Aaron (Lee Pace); and Jaye’s closeted lesbian sister, Sharon (Katie Finneran).  Mahandra McGinty (Tracie Thorns) is Jaye’s best friend and confidant, and Eric Gotts (Tyron Leitso) is a bar tender that develops feelings for Jaye after he splits from his wife for infidelity on his wife’s part. Although she is constantly bickering with her family, it is obvious that she does love them.  Throughout the series, Jaye’s acerbic personality shifts slightly as she begins to see the good she is doing for others.  Although she has feelings for Eric, she believes she isn’t mentally stable enough and will end up hurting him, so refuses to return his advances.

Wonderfalls was created by Todd Holland and Bryan Fuller and was one of the most original shows to come out in 2004. TV Guide includes this series in its 2013 list of shows that were “Cancelled Too Soon”.  The show takes place in what fans refer to as the “Fullerverse”. This is a shared universe with some of Fuller’s other shows.  Marianne Marie Beetle (Beth Grant) appears in an episode of Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, and the pilot for Mockingbird Lane( an updating of the Munsters television show).  Gretchen Speck-Horowitz (Chelan Simmons) who was in the first two episodes of Wonderfalls also appears in an episode of Hannibal.  The Happy Time Temp-Agency appears in both Pushing Daisies and Dead Like Me. Fuller and Holland intended for the first 13 episodes to be a fully standalone story, they had prepared a framework for the show should it have been picked up for additional seasons.  Sadly, it was not.

This was honestly one of the most creative and best written shows with some dark humor and acerbic witty dialogue.  The casting was wonderful with Caroline Dhavernas playing the moody Jaye wonderfully.  With a look that is both pretty but plain at the same time embodying the “twentysomething” angst of the early 2000s. Tyron Leitso as the kind and compassionate Eric Gotts, is both attractive and likeable.  Both characters are easy to connect to for the audience. The rest of the actors all play their roles well, creating a kind of tapestry of loving but zany characters. Overall, the show was amazing and told a story in a unique way, something that Fuller does very well. Bryan Fuller, in our opinion, is a national treasure and it is a shame that The-Powers-That-Be have yet to give his shows the due respect they deserve as well as letting his shows have a chance to shine and grow. Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, and Hannibal all should’ve been given the chance to fully tell their stories to their own conclusions instead of being cancelled too soon.