All Entries Tagged With: "Wonderfalls"

Give Wonderfalls Another Chance

This just in: the Internet is a wonderful place. Oh, you already knew that? Psh. My point is, that had it not been for a friend I have online, Elisa, who lives in Italy (and I, in Ohio) I would never have given the TV show Wonderfalls a chance.

Wonderfalls You see, when it first aired I saw the promos for the show but it didn’t capture my teenage attention. However, looking back it makes perfect sense to me that I would like it. It was executive produced by Tim Minear (Angel, Firefly), and created by Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies) and Todd Holland. But it took Elisa to nudge me towards the show in 2007 for me to remember Wonderfalls, and give it a try.

It aired in 2004, and had just one season. Then it was canceled. But I swear to you on my DVD collection, which is mighty and strong, that this show is great. Though, you will feel a bittersweet pang when you realize there is no more to watch. But it’s worth seeing what was made.

It’s a bit like Joan of Arcadia, just a lot more sarcastic. The show does deal with family issues, however - in a more mature and realistic way than 7th Heaven.

For fans of Pushing Daisies you’ll recognize Lee Pace as the brother of the main character, Jaye Tyler (played by Caroline Dhavernas).

Wonderfalls is a great TV choice

Save yourself from TV reruns and buy this DVD. It’s a good investment, and you’ll know what to do if a smushy-faced orange lion made of wax starts talking to you. It happens more than you’d think.

Select quotes:

Jaye: Wait, I can’t let you give me your last eight dollars. Here’s five back.

Popularity: 25% [?]

March 04, 2008 | Jessica Rae | Comments 0

When Good TV Show Potential Drowns (or: Saddle Shoe Shows)

Too many TV shows get canceled unfairly. And, for the sake of whatever sanity we all have, I think we should talk about that. This is our therapy session. But don’t lay on the couch, that’s not what people usually really do in therapy. Plus, the couch is covered in cat fur. That’s probably not a look you should go for.

I want to hear your frustrations about the shows you loved and had taken away. And if I don’t mention a show you feel deserves a nod, comment with that as well. These are like, the Oscars for the shows canceled unfairly. (I can guarantee you that would be a much more fun show.)

First, I must tell you a story. In third grade there was this girl in my class named Hayley. She was sort of an oddball. I remember that she had really straight blonde hair that she wore in perfectly parted pigtails. And she wore saddle shoes. No one else wore saddle shoes. No one else was as peculiar as her. If she knew she was viewed as peculiar, she didn’t seem to care.

Or maybe she did. But I thought she was very cool. Not like ‘wow, if I can befriend her I’ll get to sit at the cool lunch table’ (and who’s to say I wasn’t already sitting there, punk) but more like ‘here’s someone who is actually really interesting and different.’ She didn’t seem to have a lot of friends. By the end of the year, I had started to be friendly to her - which has always been difficult for me as I’ve always been a shy person. But we weren’t really friends. We didn’t talk over the summer.

The next year, she had transfered to another school. Gone forever, but memorable. She was interesting in a way that captured attention. (Get ready for the awesome segue!) This seems like a (questionably good) metaphor for TV shows that were great and then canceled before they got a real chance.

What shows in particular might I be talking about? Here’s a list from the top of my head: Miss Match, Firefly, Dead Like Me (kind of got a chance but not really), Veronica Mars (ditto), Joan of Arcadia, Wonderfalls, and Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane (ZDJJ).

ZDJJ is what I’d like to talk about. It began in 1999. This is a show that is essentially gone. There are no DVDs you can buy of it. I had two episodes taped, which I faithfully watched far too many times until I lost them.

The show had five main characters: Zoe (Selma Blair), Duncan (David Moscow), Jack (Michael Rosenbaum), Jane (Azura Skye), and Mrs, Bean (Mary Page Keller) as Zoe’s Mom. The first four were

Popularity: 63% [?]

February 25, 2008 | Jessica Rae | Comments 9