Wonderfalls is a television program that was featured on the Fox television network in 2004.
The show's premise is centered on Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a recent Brown University graduate with a philosophy degree, who holds a dead-end job as a sales clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop. Jaye is the reluctant participant in conversations with a variety of animal figurines — a wax lion, brass monkey, stuffed bear, and mounted fish, among others — which direct her via oblique instructions to help people in need.
Some sources use the two-word spelling, "Wonder Falls", for the title. Although the DVD lists it as a single word, the title of its theme song is two words.
Originally scheduled to debut in the fall of 2003, its premiere was delayed until early 2004. When it finally debuted in March 2004, Wonderfalls received positive reviews from critics, but had trouble attracting viewers. The pilot episode, "Wax Lion", received a higher Nielsen rating when it was repeated the Thursday after its premiere, and the show was moved from a Friday night time slot to Thursday. However, there was little notice or promotion of the time change, and the show was subsequently canceled after airing the fourth episode. (A fifth episode was advertised but never aired.)
Immediately after the show's cancellation, its producers attempted to interest other networks, including The WB, in picking up the series. If they had been successful, Wonderfalls would have been the first American series in history to change networks in the midst of its first season. In addition, some episodes were shown in theatres in Los Angeles during the summer of 2004 in order to drum up support for the series.
The series holds the dubious honour of being the second show produced by Tim Minear that was cancelled in the midst of its first season, the first being Firefly. Other similarities between Wonderfalls and Firefly are that they were both aired out of the order in which they were originally intended to be shown, and they both feature actor Jewel Staite (Kaywinnit Lee "Kaylee" Frye in Firefly). The show now lives in syndication on the Logo cable network.
Despite its cancellation, Wonderfalls developed a loyal fanbase. A campaign spearheaded by fans (and an accompanying website) was launched, and several members of the cast and crew visited the site and encouraged the grassroots support.
20th Century Fox released a DVD set of the full 13 episodes on February 1, 2005. The DVD set includes commentary by the producers and cast members on half the episodes, a behind-the-scenes documentary, an examination of the show's visual effects, and one of the two music videos produced for the theme song, "I Wonder Why the Wonder Falls" by Andy Partridge. Wonderfalls has not yet been released on DVD outside of region 1.
- From
Wikipedia