Wonderfalls

[tyche]

As a Brit living in America, I have to say that I think in a lot of ways the British TV system leads to better quality shows. Most shows on British TV have short runs (this could be any number of episodes from 6 to 12), and new episodes are shown either once or twice a year. (Sometimes they'll bring a show back at the same time every year; sometimes they'll run new episodes of a show towards the beginning and end of the year - it varies from channel to channel.)

I think this works best with sitcoms - if you think about the best British sitcoms over the years (Fawlty Towers, Absolutely Fabulous, The Young Ones, Father Ted etc.), most of them had a very small total number of episodes compared with long-running American sitcoms. This helps to maintain the quality largely, I think, because in most sitcoms the 'situation' is often exhausted after a few years - short runs mean that the writers don't have to mark time and do filler episodes (at least, not as much as in American shows), and the writers can also take their time to develop their good ideas instead of getting burned out by writing 22 episodes a year. (Of course, American TV came up with the ideas of having sitcoms written by committees of writers - which is still a largely unknown concept in British TV - to make sure that they could churn out those 22 episodes.)

Also, on British TV it's fairly rare for a show to be yanked off the air after just a few episodes. Shows usually do get to complete their initial run, though if something does really badly, they will often switch it to a bad time slot (usually late at night or at about 6pm on Sunday when nobody's watching) instead.

Though ABC's experiment with a short run for 'Kingdom Hospital' seems to have been a failure, I hope that US TV execs move more towards shorter, 12 or 13-episode seasons, let shows complete their initial runs, and move towards modifying the 22-episode format. I think that shows would get burned out a lot later on in their runs if the writers had to produce a smaller number of episodes.

Anyway, I know this is largely OT to the topic of this thread, so I'll stop now...

[Hemiola]

SciFiWire reports that E!Online has noted that WB execs have been "screening the pilot and several episodes of "Wonderfalls", perhaps with a view toward a fall-season pick-up".



As someone who was quite enthusiastic about this series (in spite of some of the negative feelings that have been expressed in this thread), I sincerely hope that there is some truth to this story.

[Tempest Duer]

They didn't want to save it--they aired it opposite The Apprentice, for god's sake!

Saying that up is down will not make up, down.



~Gene Burns

[tyche]

Tim Minear has posted on buffistas.org about the prospects for the show being picked up:

Quote:

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Wonderfalls Update From Tim Minear

Tim Minear - Apr 20, 2004 3:01:32 pm PDT #5843 of 6212



Perfect example of when "nice" is so much better than "funny".



Here’s the long and mostly short of it --



From what I understand, and this is by no means assured, the WB is going to screen an episode of "Wonderfalls" when they screen their pilots. We of course would hope they’d love what see so much that they’d add "Wonderfalls" to their schedule. Unlikely, but that’s a dream.



When speaking about "netlet" Bryan was talking about a cable situation, not unlike Bravo picking up Keen Eddie and airing produced episodes. So the chances are fair to good that our 13 will see the light of some day. I’m still angling for a DVD release as well.



That’s all I know, and it ain’t much.

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What kind of novels do you write: fiction or nonfiction? - US immigration officer to Ian McEwan

[Warduke]

Read this over at Yahoo...

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WONDER NO MORE: Rumors that the WB may pick up Fox's recently canceled gem Wonderfalls for the fall are just that — rumors. "It's not true," a network source tells TV Guide Online.

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Firefox: One Browser To Rule Them All.

[Gatito Grande]

Although it may be moot now, I just found this at Gay.com, and found it interesting:

Quote:

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Gaywatch: "Wonderfalls"

by Christine Champagne



Katie Finneran, an experienced theater actress who won a Tony Award in 2002 for her portrayal of ditzy Brooke Ashton in "Noises Off," was set to star in a new Broadway show last year. "I had a show lined up -- a big, fat Broadway show where I had a director and designers and producers," the Miami native said. "But then the war happened, and Broadway really suffered, and people weren't coming to the theater, and [the producers] basically said, 'Let's hold off.'"



Finneran was disappointed but eager to work. As luck would have it, an incredible television series script fell into her hands. It was for "Wonderfalls," a quirky, imaginative new series created by Todd Holland and Bryan Fuller, both of whom are gay. Finneran, who has guest-starred on television series including "Frasier," "Oz" and "Sex and the City," auditioned and won the role of Sharon Tyler, a straight-laced, closeted lesbian lawyer.



In the "Wonderfalls" premiere, which airs on Fox Friday, March 12 at 9 p.m. EST, Sharon's younger sister Jaye (Caroline Dhavernas) -- a Niagara Falls souvenir shop worker who talks to inanimate animal objects (a lion knick-knack and a stuffed bear), which instruct her to perform good deeds -- tries to set Sharon up with a cute deliveryman. To Jaye's total surprise, Sharon comes out to her.



Coming out to her sister marks the beginning of Sharon's "journey to live honestly," according to Holland. As for why Holland and Fuller decided to include a lesbian character on their show, Holland explained that the decision came organically out of the creative process. "We touched upon it as a story device when we realized that Jaye is so self-involved, she never bothered to inquire about her own sister, who has this rich life," Holland said.



Sharon and Jaye come from a humorously dysfunctional family, which includes their high-maintenance mother Karen (Diana Scarwid, who you'll recognize from "Mommie Dearest" ), opinionated dad Darrin (William Sadler) and wisecracking brother Aaron (Lee Pace, who played Calpernia Addams in "Soldier's Girl" ).



As "Wonderfalls" begins, Sharon isn't comfortable with the idea of coming out to her family, according to Finneran, because she thinks they just won't understand. She also fears being labeled. "The character loves women, but it's not who she is," Finneran said. "She's not a lesbian lawyer; she's a lawyer. She's not a lesbian friend; she's a friend. She's not a lesbian sister; she's a sister."



Finneran, who is straight, relates to Sharon's concerns. "When I was cast, Todd and Bryan asked me if I had any suggestions, and I said, 'I don't want to be a woman who is defined by wanting to have sex with women,'" Finneran said.



The actress also told the producers that she'd love to see Sharon make the point that she didn't choose to be gay but was born gay. "It's not a choice," Finneran said. "I know [that] from having gay friends."



Clearly, Finneran is passionate about her new role. But you've got to wonder if this performer, who has appeared on Broadway in such shows as "The Iceman Cometh," Neil Simon's "Proposals" and "The Heiress," misses the stage. "I've been doing theater for 13 years -- eight shows a week -- and I've loved it," Finneran said. "It's been a really extraordinary way to live my life. But I'm ready to learn something new, commit to another way of storytelling."

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www.gay.com/entertainment...sernum=673



GG Interesting that Minear's name doesn't appear in the story. FWIW. Out

[Hemiola]

Nice article, GG!



This is only one of the reasons I was so enthusiastic about the show. It approached the subject in a very cute way. Consider this dialogue from (I believe) the second episode--



Jaye: Have you always been gay?

Sharon (sarcastically): No, I just started.



or this bit from the last episode that aired--



Jaye's Father (commenting on what he thought he saw in his living room in a drug-besotted condition): Did you know our cable provider has lesbian porn?



I really miss this show and hope that it doesn't just fade away

[Gatito Grande]

You're welcome, Hemi.



I had no idea that Katie Finneran was a Tony Award winner. With kudos like that, it makes me wonder (ahem) whether the show might have done better selling itself as "focusing on a quirky pair of sisters."



GG But Egads! That would have made the lesbian character the co-lead. "Here at Fox, we have straight characters pretend to be gay (kissy, kissy!) for sweeps, or have gay people pretend to be straight for our Reality programming. But a gay lead? Hey, we're not degenerates like HBO or Showtime!" Out

[sam7777]

SciFi Wire also has this on the WB and Wondefalls: WB Denies Wonderfalls Rumor

Quote:

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TV Guide Online rebutted reports that The WB was considering picking up Fox's canceled fantasy series Wonderfalls for the fall season. "It's not true," a network source told the site.



Earlier rumors had suggested that the frog network was going to view the critically acclaimed but low-rated show's pilot with an eye to picking it up. Wonderfalls starred Caroline Dhavernas as an aimless young woman who finds inanimate objects speaking to her.

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_____________________

I still see dead lesbian cliches

Edited by: sam7777  at: 4/26/04 11:18 am

[tyche]

Quote:

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From Savewonderfalls.com

Wonderfalls fans donate to zoos in honor of cancelled show

Fans of the late FOX drama Wonderfalls recently banded together over the Internet to raise over $200 in honor of the show’s cast and crew to feed and care for five zoo animals through adoption programs offered at the Aquarium of Niagara Falls and the Los Angeles Zoo.

The series, co-created by Todd Holland (Malcolm in the Middle) and Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me), and executive-produced by Tim Minear (Angel), featured newcomer Caroline Dhavernas as Jaye Tyler, a twentysomething retail clerk in Niagara Falls whose self-imposed slackerdom was interrupted when inanimate objects began speaking to her and forcing her to help others. The objects took the form of animals, such as a wax lion, a lawn flamingo, and a cow-shaped creamer.

The adopted animals were chosen to reflect animals used in the episodes. They are a largemouth bass and Peruvian penguin from the Aquarium of Niagara Falls, and a flamingo, Sicilian donkey, macaw, and Capuchin monkey from the Los Angeles Zoo. Information about the adopted animals will be passed on to the honorees through their agents.

Although only four of its thirteen produced episodes aired on FOX, Wonderfalls was critically-praised and managed to garner a loyal following. The Save Wonderfalls website, located at www.savewonderfalls.com, is coordinating efforts to get Twentieth Century Fox and Regency Studios to put the entire series, including the nine unaired episodes, on DVD.

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And here's the original TV Guide article about the WB not picking up the show:

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The WB will not pick up Wonderfalls

From Tvguide.com - By Michael Ausiello

WONDER NO MORE: Rumors that the WB may pick up Fox’s recently canceled gem Wonderfalls for the fall are just that - rumors. "It’s not true," a network source tells TV Guide Online.

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Also, a post on buffistas.org claims that there's interest in picking up the show from cable networks:

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From Buffistas.org Cranberry - Apr 23, 2004 11:19:51 am PDT #6387 of 6458

Bryan Fuller just told me " I just got off the phone with some studio execs and there’s a lot of cable interest in the show," so it looks like we’ll get to see them somewhere, even if it’s not the WB. He says "it’s most likely that it would be a limited series, but the door is not closed to ongoing episodes."

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What kind of novels do you write: fiction or nonfiction? - US immigration officer to Ian McEwan

[TaraLivesOn]

By the way, two unaired episodes, "Muffin Buffalo" and "Lovesick Ass", have finally hit the net.

[Webberific]

Oo... thanks, TLO, for the heads-up!



Can someone remind me again: how many eps were shot before Fox pulled the plug?

[seurat]

I just doublechecked over on http://www.tvtome and as I suspected they shot 13. Four aired, and I think these two on the net are the next in line. It would be good to at least have the option of seeing them all, hopefully that'll happen. Note to Bob: Jewel Staite is in ep #9, I remember that you like her.

"Life's complications and frustrations/they disappear when the music starts playing/I found a place where it feels alright/I hear a record and it opened my eyes/do you remember what the music meant?" - Speakers Push Air, Pretty Girls Make Graves

[sonadoras]

there is a site with the shooting scripts

jossisahottie.com/wonderfalls/

[Munchkin]

Yeah, Jewel Staite is such a cutie . Plus, she was the only reason I might've tuned in to a show that I didn't watch nor cared about one way or the other about its cancellation. And now that's gone too, damnit .

______



Dave C.

[seurat]

For those of us that care, the Vision tv network in Canada is going to run all 13 ep's of the series starting October 4. The same network is going to run the documentary The Corporation as well, alson in October. The documentary is highly recommended btw.

"Life's complications and frustrations/they disappear when the music starts playing/I found a place where it feels alright/I hear a record and it opened my eyes/do you remember what the music meant?" - Speakers Push Air, Pretty Girls Make Graves

[BytrSuite]

The 13 episodes that were filmed were relased on DVD today. I think I'll have to buy it. I dragged out my tape of the four episodes they showed here and watched them again just to make sure it was as funny and amusing as I remembered. It really was. Even the nun episode, which I remember not being impressed by, had it's fun moments.



Jaye and Sharon are still my favorite characters. It's one of those shows where I can rewatch an episode and pick up new stuff the second time around.



Heh, and in the pink flamingo episode where Jaye is at her 6 1/2 year highschool reunion, they're playing the theme song from Veronica Mars, "We Used to Be Friends" by The Dandy Warhols. That just amused me when I heard it.

________
Bender: Y'know, I was God once.
God: Yes I saw. You were doing well until everyone died.

[Warduke]

I think I only saw one episode (probably the last one) and it looked cool. I would have liked to see where things were going between the gay sister and her gf. Oh well.



The DVD set is pretty cool since it has all 13 episodes (9 of which were not aired.)

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Firefox: One Browser To Rule Them All.

[seurat]

Glad to hear about the dvd release, I'll look for it.



I have seen all the episodes now by the way, as Vision TV ran them all here, and another digital net has picked it up and is re-running them all. I liked the previously unaired ep's, and the last ep is quite strong and resolves some plot points so maybe they had an idea they weren't going to do any more. For any Jewel Staite fans out there, she ends up being in the show quite a bit and does a fine job.

"Life's complications and frustrations/they disappear when the music starts playing/I found a place where it feels alright/I hear a record and it opened my eyes/do you remember what the music meant?" - Speakers Push Air, Pretty Girls Make Graves

[vamp xander]

i was with the show from the beginning,it was really good. what was fox thinking?

When Amber says jump,I ask "how high?"

[cattwoman]

Wonderfalls is now playing on LOGO. Looks like they are playing all the eps, even the unaired ones. If you have not checked out the show, you should.

[Tarababy77]

Owww, didn't know that. I just find myself watching my DVD of the series over and over, and over, and over.... The only thing I can think of that would cure this problem is........... Season 2 of Wonderfalls... =)

[Hemiola]

Many thanks, cattwoman! I managed to catch an episode yesterday that I hadn't seen before (I don't have the DVDs:-( ).

It was a hilarious outing involving Jewel Staite and the mistaken identity of a murderer.

Why oh why did they cancel this marvelous series?????

[Tarababy77]

Why oh why did they cancel this marvelous series?????

I ask myself that about a lot of the new series that debut on Fox. I'm just hoping that somewhere down the road, Wonderfalls would have the opportunity to be picked up and the series could continue. =)

[bytrsuite]

I love love love this DVD set. So much so, that I gave people copies for Christmas last year. I love the whole cast and have watched all the episodes at least three times. Sharon and Jaye are probably my favorites, though I think I can find something to like about every single one of the characters. I like that it had a happy ending.

[Tarababy77]

I love love love this DVD set. So much so, that I gave people copies for Christmas last year. I love the whole cast and have watched all the episodes at least three times. Sharon and Jaye are probably my favorites, though I think I can find something to like about every single one of the characters. I like that it had a happy ending.

I totally agree. I have asked folks to give the show a shot and each and everyone of them loved it. I usually watch the set at least one a month just because I love the humor. And I really think they did an excellent job on choosing the cast members. Still wish a season 2 was possible. I would love to see how things progressed. =)