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| Wonderfalls is rife with religious ideas and from the outset lets us know that religious belief is its subtext. For instance, the souvenir shop where Jane works has a display called “I Surrender to Destiny,” centered around a video that tells the Native American story of the Maid in the Mist. You see, the god of Niagara Falls randomly killed people. The people wanted to appease
him with gifts. One might think that this story attempts to highlight the arbitrary nature of "God" and the silliness of myth and religion, but it actually points to the silliness of man’s interpretation of what "a god" wants. |
(2004) Film Review by MAURICE BROADDUS |
|  This page was created on May 24, 2004
This page was last updated on
June 5, 2005
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| CREDITS |
| Directed by Jamie Babbit, Allan Kroeker, Peter Lauer, Michael Lehmann, Peter O'Fallon, Jeremy Podeswa, Craig Zisk, also Marita Grabiak, Todd Holland
Created by Todd Holland & Bryan Fuller
Producers
Gretchen J. Berg ... supervising producer
Dan E. Fesman ... co-producer
Bryan Fuller ... executive producer
Aaron Harberts ... supervising producer
Jason B. Harkins¹ ... associate producer
Todd Holland ... executive producer
Michael J. Maschio ... producer
Tim Minear ... executive producer
Paul Rabwin ... producer
Krista Vernoff ... producer
Harry Victor ... co-producer
Cast - in credits order
Caroline Dhavernas ... Jaye Tyler
Katie Finneran ... Sharon Tyler
Tyron Leitso ... Eric
Lee Pace ... Aaron Tyler
William Sadler ... Darrin Tyler
Diana Scarwid ... Karen Tyler
Tracie Thoms ... Mahandra
Original Music by Michael Andrews and Andy Partridge (theme)
Director of Photography: Victor Hammer |
| PHOTOS |
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| SYNOPSIS |
 Set against the backdrop of Niagara Falls, WONDERFALLS is a funny, provocative and magical one-hour dramedy about JAYE TYLER (CAROLINE DHAVERNAS), an underachieving twenty-something souvenir
shop worker whose life is forever changed after she has what her family calls “an episode.” That’s when inanimate animal figures – toys, cartoon images, anything in the form of an animal – begin talking to her, and their cryptic messages set into motion a chain of events that invariably lead her into the lives of others in need. Described by its creators BRYAN FULLER (“Star Trek: Voyager”) and TODD HOLLAND (“Malcolm in the Middle”),
with tongues firmly in cheek, as “Touched by a Crazy Person,” the series focuses on Jaye as she meddles in, muddles up, and ultimately betters the lives of herself, her eccentric family of overachievers, and the eclectic variety of strangers that cross her path. Over the course of this series Jaye will discover that the world around her really is a magical place, and that the seemingly random events in her life are actually all part of something much greater. WONDERFALLS
is from 20th Century Fox Television and Regency Television. |
 Review
by MAURICE BROADDUS
Website:
www.MauriceBroaddus.com
Email: maurice@mauricebroaddus.com
Holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Biology (with an undeclared
major in English) from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.
He works as an environmental toxicologist by day and is a horror
writer by night. Obviously his areas of interests includes religious
studies, folklore, and myths. He is a notorious egotist who, in
anticipation of a successful writing career, is practicing speaking
of himself in the third person. Oh yeah, he's married to the lovely
Sally Jo and has two boys: Maurice Gerald Broaddus II (thus, retroactively
declaring himself "Maurice the Great") and Malcolm Xavier Broaddus.
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The Late
--and Much Lamented--
Wonderfalls
"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40)
 Do not confuse Wonderfalls with Joan of Arcadia. True, this show does seem to be part of the trend of showing young women singled out -- chosen, if you
will -- by a higher power to help people: Joan of Arcadia,Tru Calling, Wonderfalls. Tru Calling, the worst of the lot, was not renewed for next year. Joan of Arcadia, the middling show, has long since been picked up for next season. Wonderfalls, the best of them all (along with Arrested Development), is one of the best shows that no
one is watching. In fact, it was canceled after four episodes.
Allow me to digress within this review with a not-so-random rail against the system. Since I’m not privy to review copies of a show, I have to wait week by week to get a few episodes under my belt before I write a review. Sometimes I’ll even wait until the season is over before I write a review, just so that I know I have given a show a fair shot. But
it’s hard to write a review for a show that gets canceled before it gets going.
First, Fox orders the show as a midseason replacement, which means it doesn’t get the fanfare and push of a fall launch. Second, Fox moves the show after an episode or two. Third, they move the show to the Friday night death slot. If TV executives want to know the reason for the erosion of their audience, they need look no further than moving shows around and leaving long gaps between new episodes. Viewers
don’t have the patience to hunt for their shows.
OK, back to my review.
 Wonderfalls is going to suffer by comparison to both Joan of Arcadia and Tru
Calling, mostly because it is the last to show up to the party. Its premise leaves it looking as if it's just a combination of the other two shows. Or, it would be equally easy to say that this is what Joan of Arcadia would look like if they took out God. On the surface, that’s all true, but let's give it a chance. Just maybe the show has decided to work the same territory but without using the same language.
 Our protagonist, Jane (another reason for comparison with Joan of Arcadia: Jane is what Adam calls
Joan on her show), played by Caroline Dhavernas, is an underachieving twenty-something who is not an especially nice person. This invites another comparison with the aforementioned Arrested Development: audiences aren’t necessarily quick to embrace characters that aren’t especially "nice" and who are meant to be laughed at. Jane’s life is out of control. She works -- and “works” is an awfully strong word -- at a souvenir shop for Niagara Falls.
She has a “mouth-breathing” assistant manager, once her equal, who now lords over her. Her sister hates her. Her mother is a neurotic mess. So naturally, the Universe begins to talk to her. The Universe (God) animates inanimate objects to tell her what she needs to do. After all, the show says, it is the vessel (us) that facilitates the Karma (the will of God).
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 Wonderfalls is rife with religious ideas and from the outset lets us know that religious belief is its subtext. For instance, the souvenir shop where Jane works has a display called “I Surrender to Destiny,” centered around a video
that tells the Native American story of the Maid in the Mist. You see, the god of Niagara Falls randomly killed people. The people wanted to appease him with gifts. One might think that this story attempts to highlight the arbitrary nature of "God" and the silliness of myth and religion, but it actually points to the silliness of man’s interpretation of what "a god" wants. Anyway, the
tribe decides that the god wants virgin girls in sacrifice, and the chief’s daughter decides that she should be the one to surrender to destiny. Even after the chief has a change of heart, she refuses to turn around. Well, the god spares her and asks her to live with him. She does, and so he blesses the land. Also, Jane has a Jewish friend with whom she wants to talk about the idea of God, but her friend apparently only converted for love and doesn’t truly believe. Then,
Jane is forced, by her parents, to turn to the religion of our culture, the psychologist ---
Her therapist: “When was the last time you told [her sister] that you love her?”
Jane: “I don’t know how you did things in your family, but we don’t do that.”
 Once the Universe begins conversing with her, her first assumption is that it’s Satan (then God, then insanity). It is her other friend, Mahandra (played by Tracie Thoms) who understands/proffers the shows premise: “I think it’s natural to embody the world
around us with consciousness. It’s all that tree hugging crap. Like when the Native Americans say that everything has a soul.” Basically, she goes on to say that what Jane is experiencing may be a repressed psychological response to the fact that we deny the idea that everything has a soul. So Jane has to face the reality that the Universe -- all creation -- is conspiring to make her into the person she was meant to be. In doing so, the Universe reveals itself, a “cosmo-phany,”*
for lack of a better term, that her friend sums up by saying “So why struggle with Fate? Life can be sort of peaceful when you stop struggling with Fate.”
 Here’s all you need to know about the similarities between Joan of Arcadia and Wonderfalls: Joan is more earnest. Though it has moments of whimsy, it is a very self-aware show. Wonderfalls
is played straight for laughs. The show is witty, funny, and different. It’s not safe or nice fare though, and has quite the vulgar streak to it. I can only hope that this show, with its unaired episodes, finds a place on DVD.
*cosmo-phany: a term invented to describe a manifestation, almost a personification, of the universe (see also "theophany" in my Joan of Arcadia review)
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