...I think that the Fox Network programmers are a bunch of narrow minded, short sighted, thumb sucking muttonheads...

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Every now and again, TV gets it right. With each network spending untold millions of dollars on new shows, they are bound to get a good one occasionally, no matter how hard they try to avoid it. So it was for Fox, when in March 2004, they began airing Wonderfalls.

Now, when you think of what the synopsis for Wonderfalls must have sounded like, Fox probably thought it was buying a mindless Joan of Arcadia clone. Imagine their horror when a totally irreligious, politically incorrect masterpiece showed up on their doorstep; a show which celebrated our differences rather than forcing us into our molds. To make matters worse, it was brilliantly acted, wonderfully written and roll-on-the-floor funny. "OMG!" they must have thought, "We can't let people see this. They will stop watching our other shows. They will start expecting all our shows to be ..." Here they stopped, unable to continue because the concept of "good" was beyond them.

But what was Fox to do? They had, after all, paid for 13 episodes of the show, so they had to do something with it. If you buy it and don't air it, heads will roll. Luckily, they had an out. In a brilliant piece of programming legerdemain, they scheduled it for the 9:00 PM Thursday time slot, where “The Apprentice” and “CSI” were sweeping the ratings. They must have been patting themselves on the back for that one. Just to make sure, they gave the show the opening fanfare normally reserved for a garbage truck returning to the dump. A married man coming home drunk at 4:00 AM with lipstick on his collar, could not have snuck in any more quietly.

Imagine then their horror, when just three weeks later, people were actually watching Wonderfalls. Moreover, people liked it and were telling their friends. Now network programmers know everything about demographics and market share, but words like brilliant, original, quality and funny, are not in their vocabulary. Damn it all. This show was supposed to fail, and fail it would. The fourth episode was moved to Friday night and lined up against the top-rated competitor. This move was accomplished without telling anyone, especially not TV Guide, and its new time was not announced in its old timeslot. Now it would die. Muhahahahahahaha!!!

But they had made a mistake. They had moved it later in the week and, thanks to the Internet, the show's fans had a chance to find it. This simply could not be. If Wonderfalls continued to build a fan base it might even succeed, and people might realize that network programmers knew nothing about programming. Besides, Wonderfalls was controversial, openly addressing forbidden topics and causing people to think. Without further ado, Wonderfalls was summarily cancelled. Their job done, the programmers returned to their offices and went back to sleep.

And so, it should have ended...

But over at Mutant Enemy, the show's producers, something was stirring. They were mad as heck, and they weren’t gonna take it anymore. People had seen their show and people liked it. They knew it was a good show. They knew they had worked hard on it. And damn it all, Fox never gave it a chance. Bryan Fuller, Todd Holland and Tim Minear, the creative geniuses that crafted Wonderfalls, actually cared about their progeny. What a concept. It was not going to be so easy to get this genie back in the bottle.

I have no idea what combination of blackmail, financial chicanery, creative mutiny and fan activism took place, but suddenly, like Frankenstein, Wonderfalls was alive again. It's alive, I tell you! It's alive! This time, it took the shape of a three CD boxed set containing all 13 episodes, and there was nothing Fox programmers could do about it.

And this, my friends, is the story of how Fox cancelled the best new show of 2004, and how you can get to see it.

Thanks to DVD, you can meet Jaye Tyler (played brilliantly by the lovely and talented Caroline Dhavernas), her strange friends and her quirky family as you follow her bizarre adventures set, as the title implies, in the general vicinity of Niagara Falls.

When the show begins, Jaye, a classic underachiever, has managed to parley her philosophy degree from Brown University, into a hateful retail job at a tourist trap, and an insalubrious home in a trailer park. Just when things look like they can't get any worse, a defective returned souvenir-lion figurine speaks to her. We are not talking art appreciation here folks, it opens its mouth and speaks, but only Jaye hears it. When Jaye ignores the lion, bad things happen. When she finally does what it says, she starts a bizarre Rube-Goldberg sequence of events that all works out in the end.

And that, in essence, is the whole series. Each episode, an inanimate object gives the borderline-psychotic heroine, Jaye, an obscure and cryptic command. When she unwillingly obeys, the story goes places that we never could have imagined, but it all, somehow, works out for the best. You can see why Fox was so confident that they had another loser, right? (This has to be the dumbest idea since Buffy the... wait a second... Mutant Enemy, aren’t they the guys...)

In actuality, this is a warm, good hearted, touching series, filled with laughter and wackiness. Inspired casting, brilliant acting and superb scripts fill the screen with the antics of this weird but loveable cast. The show is totally unpredictable, you never at any moment know what is going to happen next, and when you think you do, you are wrong. Oh, and did I mention it was funny? You don't need a laugh track to tell you what to do in this show folks, it is laugh-out-loud, fall-of-your-chair, wet-your-pants funny. This is probably the most original American comedy since the days of "I love Lucy" and Sid Caesar's "Show of Shows". (Fox would have cancelled them too.)

Mind, I must warn you, Wonderfalls contains topics and issues that are politically incorrect to the n'th degree. If you are the type of person who is easily offended, then you almost certainly will be. It takes no prisoners in this regard. If you have a bloated sacred cow in your closet, then it will probably get burst. (Don't you just love it when I mix metaphors.) Not that the show is crusading or flag waving in any way. It is not making any political, social or moral commentary. It does not contain any answers, homespun or otherwise. It just simply refuses to step around the troubling social issues of our times, and pretend that they don't exist. However, it is perfectly willing to laugh at them.

I doubt they will carry this DVD at the local rental store. You may have to hunt around. We found a copy in a nearby Public Library by looking through the Internet. If you like original, unusual and funny material, then get off the couch and find this show. You will thank me later.

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It was made to air on network TV at 9.00 PM. You know it has to be kiddy friendly. However, I must point out, that during the course of the series, the subject material will offend virtually everyone that isn't dead or Canadian. No. Wait a second... Nope, it offends the Canadians too. Sorry about that.

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(Author's note: Any comments that I made in this review, which might give the impression that I think that the Fox Network programmers and/or the programmers of any other network are a bunch of narrow minded, short sighted, thumb sucking muttonheads, who are trying to dumb us down by feeding us a steady diet of moronic drivel, are completely and entirely intentional. Thank you.)

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"Wonderfalls" (2004)

Created by Todd Holland and Bryan Fuller

Cast:
Caroline Dhavernas - Jaye Tyler
Katie Finneran - Sharon Tyler
Tyron Leitso - Eric Gotts
Lee Pace - Aaron Tyler
William Sadler - Darrin Tyler
Diana Scarwid - Karen Tyler
Tracie Thoms - Mahandra McGinty

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This review is dedicated to Ed Grover as part of a write-off organized by eplovejoy.

Ed has long been one of our very best writers, as well as one of our most prolific with 330 reviews to his credit and not a bad one in the bunch. Much of his writing falls into Alternative Lifestyles, which is a difficult category and not one of my normal haunts, so have not read as much of Ed's work as I should have. What I have seen has of his writing has shown him to be an intelligent, witty, warm and gentle man.

I wrote this review of Wonderfalls several days ago, before I learned of the write off. Yet, one of the main characters actively pursues an alternative lifestyle and its treatment of her, though humorous, is in no way trivialized or judgmental. This is a rarity on Network TV no matter how fleeting its run, so I hope Ed might find this topic appropriate. I am sure he would enjoy Wonderfalls greatly, both for the quality of its writing, and for its steadfast belief that we can do some good in this world. Of course, it is a show that will offend almost anyone, and Ed may find the subject material of one episode, Totem Mole, strikes a little too close to home. And yet, I think he will just laugh, and laughter is a very good thing.

In dedicating this piece, I am a little embarrassed by my writing style. Ed is a kind soul, who usually finds the good in things, and finds a way to discuss them with dignity and respect. I would like to think that if I had known I was writing a tribute, I would have tried to be kinder too. I am sure his review would have been much better than mine.

Let me end with an Irish blessing: May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past. Good luck Ed.

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Please check out some of my other entertainment reviews:

Dante's Peak ****
The Day After Tomorrow ***
Finding Neverland *****
Dodgeball -- A True Underdog Story ****
Kiss of the Dragon ****
House of Flying Daggers ***
Hero *****
Sideways *****
Quest for Camelot **
The Haunted Mansion **

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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older