I wonder why the Wonder Falls

If you’re not watching Wonderfalls, you should be doing so.

Maybe it’s just me, but the most entertaining television series are the quirky ones, the fan favourites that generally fly under the radar of the tabloids and the Emmys but have dedicated followings.

There are a ton of cop shows, lawyer shows, doctor shows, “reality” shows and it’s great to see programmes that deviate from formula. Although to be fair Wonderfalls isn’t without precedent, as another favourite of mine, Early Edition, also features a protagonist who’s essentially a pawn of forces beyond his understanding. Like Early Edition’s newspaper, Wonderfalls never bothers to answer the question of why it is Jaye is suddenly receiving revelations from anthromorphic animal figures. We don’t know why this happens to Jaye or why Gary Hobson gets his copy of the Chicago Sun-Times a day early or whether or not Jeremy Piven is in fact Cupid and you know what? It doesn’t matter. Wonderfalls is well-written enough to make the show’s “gimmick” a side-note to well plotted stories and characters you give a damn about. Jaye isn’t an instantly likeable character, but she is an easily recognisable one. She’s cynical, deliberately alienates people around her and can be outright mean at times. All of which makes it that much more of a joy when she ends up doing the right thing. It’s a great show.

Which makes it even more of a shame that it was cancelled after four episodes during its initial run in the States. I don’t think a show this good has ever been that badly treated. Eventually the entire first season was available for viewing thanks to reruns and DVD and Star World now gives you the chance to watch this underrated gem of a show on Monday evenings at 10pm (repeats at 1am and 12 pm on Tuesday, and 2pm on Sunday). Mediacorp’s Channel 5 used to show it on Sunday mornings at 10am, but Mediacorp’s mistreatment of quality programming is another matter entirely.

So do yourself a favour and watch it. Here’s to the underdogs, the underrated and underappreciated. Also, it has one of the most satisfying last episodes I’ve watched in awhile. A charmer of a show.

Save Wonderfalls ~ a fan site

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