Anyone see Wonderfalls?

[Meddik]

Its a new show on fox, Firdas at 9. Weird show... This 20 something girl from an overachiever family ends up working in this dead end job at a Gift shop. Then, suddenly inanimate objects start talking to her, and telling her to do things.

Its really strange, but amazingly interesting. I just had to keep watching to see WTF happened next. Only 2 episodes ahve been on so far, the pilot, and one additional one, but its pretty good.

[Aidden]

Best new show on broadcast TV in a long time..

Well other than Keen Eddie, but fox dumped that.. thank god it showed up on cable/sat

Suprisingly Refreshing..

[Nocte]

I've actually become quite fond of Joan of Arcadia (The high school student who converses with God). It's not sappy in a Highway to Heaven/Touched by an Angel way. It's much more modern with an alternative interpretation of God.

Keen Eddie is cool, but I never catch it when it's on.

[Aidden]

1 word for you son!!


TIVO

[EZ_Vindicor]

Good show + fan following + Fox network = cancelled soon.

I hope not. I enjoy the show. But fans of Fox shows have been burned before (and often)...

Futurama
Family Guy (glad to see they're eating crow on this one )
Firefly
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
Keen Eddie
Millennium
Space: Above and Beyond

[Cantatus]

I've been a fan of Joan of Arcadia for a while. When I saw commercials for Wonderfalls it looked like Fox ripped off Joan of Arcadia in an attempt to steal some of their audience (actually both pilots were written at about the same time.) I initially checked it out purely out of curiosity to see how much Fox butchered the concept. Talking inanimate objects just doesn't seem to spark the same intellect and draw that conversing with God does.

I have to say when I was finished watching the first episode, I was very surprised at how much I liked it. While it still has similar elements to Joan of Arcadia, it takes a drastically different approach. In Joan of Arcadia, you usually know what's going on. You might not understand why God gave Joan the task she has to complete, but the show has a sense of order that deeply contrasts the choas of Wonderfalls. We often have as little clue as Jaye (the one that talks to wax lions and stuffed lizards) as to what is going on, which works very well. They do a good job pulling us into the insanity and making us as clueless as Jaye. We, like Jaye, don't know if she has interrpreted the message she has been given correctly or what will result of it. We don't have the same reassurance that Joan of Arcadia gives us that things will turn out well in the end. In fact, taking the advice usually results in things taking a turn for the worse, and it's only the later effects that helps us to understand why Jaye had to do this.

And it isn't just Jaye and her talking knick-knacks that give the show a feel of insanity. While Jaye's family is seemingly the picture of perfection, we slowly begin to see that this is not so. For instance, in the first episode we learn that Jaye's overachiving lawyer sister is actually a lesbian in hiding. The gift shop Jaye works at only adds to the insanity as a lot of the people she encounters are out of the ordinary or contribute to an odd situation. For instance, in the second episode Jaye meets a girl with a stuttering problem who eventually tries to become Jaye.

In a lot of ways, the show reminds me of Daria. While Jaye appears to be the crazy one, the world around her almost seems to contrast it. Is Jaye the crazy one or is everything else around her crazy and she's the only normal one? Like Daria, Jaye also has a very sarcastic approach at the world around her and just doesn't seem to care about anything. She works at a dead end job that she hates, lives in a trailer and has a family that is disappointed in her, but she just doesn't care. She seems content in a position that allows her much cynicism. Her personality is great and the actress pulls it off flawlessly.

Wonderfalls is very dark, twisted and extremely sarcastic. It is also very humorous. I highly recommend it to anyone that loves the twists of Joan of Arcadia or loved the attitude of Daria. Unfortuantely this show has been giving Fox's graveyard timeslot (Fri. 9pm est) so I'm not sure how long it'll last, but it's definitely worth checking out.
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Edited by: Cantatus at: 3/22/04 2:57 am

[EZ_Vindicor]

Just got word that the upcoming episode of Wonderfalls has been yanked, and "there are no current plans for WONDERFALLS to return to the schedule."

i.e. cancelled.

/mourn

edit: Maybe someone else will pick it up (a la Keen Eddie. Here's hoping. Edited by: Vindicor at: 4/5/04 9:04 am

[Cantatus]

Yep. Fox doesn't give shows much chance to build up an audience anymore. *sigh* They moved it to Thursday up against Apprentice and CSI with little notice (wasn't even in the TVGuide) and then cancelled it when it lost viewers. Fox really needs to replace their programming executives.

Anyways, there's been some movement from some fans to get all 13 episodes (13 were made, 4 were aired - out of order) released on DVD. You can vote at TVShowsOnDVD.com. Tim Minear, the show's creater (made Firefly too), said he's going to try to make sure the entire series gets aired in some form, perhaps on another station.

/mourn Wonderfalls
/rude Fox Edited by: Cantatus at: 4/5/04 11:01 am

[EZ_Matheren]

does Fox honestly make more money by purposely making shows fail?

I mean, we see it time and time again - they air a new show, completely out of order, and just when it starts picking up viewers, they move it to the worst possible timeslot for a new show and don't even announce it. then a week or two later they cancel it.

I'd really like to know how all of this works.

[Aidden]

Wonderfalls is still on in the Bay Area market

[freonsmurf]

There has to be a fan torrent for this show.

[Darkefang]

Quote:I'd really like to know how all of this works.

Television is a really screwy industry. Each network has a bunch of content executives that either act as producers, or work with producers to find talent and come up with show concepts. Each executive is married to their creations, and their career succeeds or fails based on the shows they put on the network.

Television is a high-pressure, high-turnover profession, and most executives don't last long. They either jump from network to network, moving up the corporate ladder, they become full-time producers, starting production companies/joining established production companies, or joining cable networks, where there is less pressure for instant success. Once they leave a network, the shows they were in charge of end up in a sort of a limbo.

They can get assigned to other executives. However, for some reason in the television industry, if a show becomes successful under a different executive, the perception is that they won't get credit for that success. The executive will concentrate on bringing their own shows to air, so that they can have their own success. Television is the kind of industry where a lack of huge success is considered a failure, because of the amount of people trying to get into the industry, and so there is serious time pressure to accomplish something immediately.

Many shows can get shuffled off to the side, if no high-level executive takes an interest in it. They get pre-empted for specials and moved around from timeslot to timeslot, at the convenience of shows whose benefactors are still at the network. Shows almost never recover from a shifting of timeslots, and are usually cancelled, or not renewed, by the end of the season.

So basically, what it boils down to on these good shows, is that nobody in the network is fighting to keep them on the air, and they kind of get lost in the shuffle. Until networks start recognizing executives for their work on projects they didn't begin, this kind of thing is going to keep happening.

[EZ_Vindicor]

Quote:Wonderfalls is still on in the Bay Area market
Just watch and see if it's on Thursday night. I'm betting you'll see an encore of "The Swan" instead

[EZ_Mrens]

Enjoying a show on Fox is like befriending an inmate on death row.

[EZ_Vindicor]

Mrens, you are my new sig.


Edit: Proof.

Quote:Fox cancels 'Wonderfalls'

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The Fox TV fantasy-drama "Wonderfalls" dried up in less than a month.

The series, set in the Niagara Falls area, was canceled because of low ratings. It had its final showing last week.

Caroline Dhavernas starred as a young woman who hears voices coming from animal figurines and other objects, directing her to intervene in the lives of other people.

The series, which debuted March 12, ranked 103rd for the week of March 22-28 with an audience of 3.3 million. By comparison, an airing of top-rated "American Idol" that week attracted 27 million viewers.

"Wonderfalls" is one of several new scripted shows to quickly flop this season, including CBS' "Century City," while reality shows including NBC's "The Apprentice" are proving hot.

/sigh...when will unqualified monkies stop being in charge at Fox? Edited by: Vindicor at: 4/5/04 4:22 pm

[EZ_Sillis Spineslicer]

Well, after Fox cancelled Futurama, I gave up. I think the only thing I watch on Fox anymore is Football, the Simpsons, and 24. I honestly can't think of anything else at the moment. The only things I watch on FX are Married With Children and Cops re-runs.

/sigh

At least season 3 of Futurama came out on DVD, but the wife and I already sat down and burned through that one.

TV continues its slide down the drain anyway. I am truly beginning to wonder if I shall weep at its passing (for me).

[EZ_Zulian]

I don't know, I didn't think it was that great a show. I'd rather have had Boston Public back :P
Century City is hillarious though, the ornamental penis thing...Hahah.