VisionTV Premiere - Wonderfalls

Mondays, starting Oct. 4, 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. ET, 13/60 mins.

Surrendering to destiny

VisionTV gives critically acclaimed series Wonderfalls a new lease on life

The Washington Post said it was “a prime example of risk-taking originality.” The Los Angeles Times called it “fresh and unpredictable.” The San Francisco Chronicle labeled it “the best new drama series” of the season.

Offbeat, inventive and always surprising, Wonderfalls had a tragically short life on network television - but it made a big impression on those lucky enough to catch the show before it disappeared.

Now, Canadian viewers have a second chance to experience the program US Weekly described as “deliriously clever.” VisionTV broadcasts the complete run of Wonderfalls - including nine never-before-seen episodes - on Monday nights, starting Oct. 4, at 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. ET.

Created by Todd Holland (Malcolm in the Middle, The Larry Sanders Show) and Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Star Trek: Voyager), the series stars Montreal native Caroline Dhavernas as Jaye Tyler, an “overeducated and unemployable” 24-year-old whose philosophy degree from an Ivy League school has landed her a job at the Wonderfalls gift shop in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and a home at the High & Dry Trailer Park.

Sullen, self-absorbed and profoundly antisocial, Jaye takes a perverse delight in confounding the expectations of her overachieving family. “Just look at them,” she tells her best friend Mahandra (Tracie Thoms). “They all work really hard every day and they’re dissatisfied. I mean, I can be dissatisfied without hardly working at all.”

Life seems to hold little of interest for Jaye - until the animals start talking. Animal figurines, to be exact. Also stuffed toy animals, animal-print aprons and cartoon animals on TV. Suddenly they’re all spouting cryptic messages, urging Jaye to do the one thing she’d rather avoid: involve herself in the lives of others. Is she losing her mind? Or is some higher power trying to tell her something?

Whenever Jaye tries to do what the animal voices tell her, she invariably triggers a complex chain of events with life-changing consequences for those around her. By “surrendering to destiny” - even when destiny comes in the shape of a smoosh-faced wax lion or a stuffed bass - Jaye learns to appreciate for the first time the unexpected opportunities that life throws her way.

Although just four episodes aired in the spring, Wonderfalls earned a nomination for Best New Series from the Television Critics Association. And in a recent poll, TV Guide readers rated it one of the season’s best cancelled shows. A DVD release is slated for the winter.

Said Chris Johnson, VisionTV’s Senior Vice President, Programming: “Wonderfalls is a show that deserves to find a large audience, and we’re thrilled to give it a new lease on life. It’s a perfect fit for VisionTV: the story of a young woman who experiences a spiritual awakening as she becomes aware of her connection to something larger than herself. It’s also brilliantly funny, eccentric and imaginative.”

Katie Finneran co-stars as Jaye’s sister Sharon, an attorney, and Lee Pace is her brother Aaron, a religious studies scholar. Diana Scarwid (Mommie Dearest) and William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption) play her parents, a bestselling author and a successful physician, respectively.

North Vancouver native Tyron Leitso also stars as Eric, the new bartender at Jaye’s favourite hangout, The Barrel. Still nursing the wounds from the implosion of his marriage (he caught his wife cheating on their honeymoon), Eric begins a flirtation with Jaye that promises to grow into something deeper.

Wonderfalls was filmed primarily in Toronto, with location footage shot in Niagara Falls, Ont. The series features an assortment of Canadian guest stars, including Kathryn Greenwood (Wind at My Back), Gabriel Hogan (The Associates), Jewel Staite (Firefly, Da Vinci’s Inquest), Billy Merasty (The Red Green Show) and Joan Gregson (Black Harbour).

Montreal native Caroline Dhavernas is the daughter of acclaimed French Canadian actors Sebastien Dhavernas and Michele Deflauriers. When she was eight years old she began doing voiceover on movies and television series such as Babar and Mont-Royal - an attempt on the part of her parents to help her overcome a severe case of shyness. She appeared in her first feature film, Comme un voleur, at the age of 12. More films would follow, along with roles in a number of French-language television series, including Marilyn and Urgence.

Dhavernas made her English-language crossover in the CBC-TV movie Heart: The Marilyn Bell Story (1999), a part for which she spent two months doing intensive swim training. Since then, she has made adventurous career choices, appearing in independent films such as Lost and Delirious, The Baroness and The Pig (with Patricia Clarkson and Colm Feore) and director Peter Greenaway’s art house feature The Tulse Luper Suitcases: The Moab Story. She has also guest starred on the long-running hit series Law & Order.

Todd Holland, Bryan Fuller and Tim Minear (Angel, Firefly) are the Executive Producers. Andy Partridge of the British cult pop group XTC composed the theme song.

Wonderfalls - Episodes airdates

“Wax Lion” - Oct. 4

“Karma Chameleon” - Oct. 11

“Wound-up Penguin” - Oct. 18

“Pink Flamingos” - Oct. 25

“Crime Dog” - Nov. 1

“Barrel Bear” - Nov. 8

“Lovesick Ass” - Nov. 15

“Muffin Buffalo” - Nov. 22

“Safety Canary” - Nov. 29

“Lying Pig” - Dec. 6.

“Cocktail Bunny” - Dec. 13

“Totem Mole” - Dec. 20

“Caged Bird” - Dec. 27

Wonderfalls - Episodes (spoilers)

“Wax Lion” - Oct. 4

Jaye fears for her sanity when a “smoosh-faced” wax lion and other animal-shaped trinkets begin speaking to her. At the lion’s urging, she sets up her sister Sharon on a blind date that leads to a surprising revelation.

“Karma Chameleon” - Oct. 11

When Jaye meets Bianca (Sarah Drew), a mousy twentysomething with a bad stutter, a stuffed bass tells her to help the young woman “get her words out.” But as the two spend more time together, Bianca begins to dress and act exactly like Jaye, raising suspicions that she’s not exactly what she seems. Is Jaye’s life being stolen from her?

“Wound-up Penguin” - Oct. 18

A wind-up penguin seems to be instructing Jaye to help a former nun (Carrie Preston) regain her faith. But when Sister Katrina learns of Jaye’s communication with inanimate objects, she decides an exorcism is in order.

“Pink Flamingos” - Oct. 25

Jaye ignores the advice of some talking lawn flamingos, inadvertently causing a car accident that injures her father. Guilt-stricken, she agrees to help former high school nemesis Gretchen Speck (Vancouver native Chelan Simmons) organize a class reunion - until a ceramic rooster hairpin instructs her to “destroy Gretchen.”

“Crime Dog” - Nov. 1

When the Tyler family’s Canadian housekeeper Yvette (Audrey Wasilewski) is deported, a cow creamer sends Jaye across the border to retrieve her. Aaron, who accompanies Jaye on her strange mission, is increasingly suspicious of his sister’s behaviour, and demands to know why she’s conversing with inanimate objects.

“Barrel Bear” - Nov. 8

A barrel bear at the gift shop steers Jaye toward Millie Marcus (Rue McClanahan), the first American woman to successfully plunge over the falls in a barrel. Jaye arranges for her to speak at a charity fundraiser, but gets a shock when another elderly woman (Louise Fletcher) shows up and accuses Millie of stealing her life.

“Lovesick Ass” - Nov. 15

Jaye’s growing attraction to Eric is complicated by the fact that he’s still married. However, her romantic problems seem to pale in comparison when she meets Katya (Magdalena Alexander), a young Russian woman who has come to Niagara Falls to marry the man she met online, only to discover that he’s really a 13-year-old boy (Spencer Breslin).

“Muffin Buffalo” - Nov. 22

Jaye tries to help out neighbour Fat Pat (Eddie Kaye Thomas), who’s been secluded in his trailer as he struggles to lose weight. But things go awry when Pat mistakes her friendship for romantic interest. Meanwhile, Aaron talks to psychiatrist Dr. Ron (Scotch Ellis Loring) about Jaye’s conversations with inanimate objects.

“Safety Canary” - Nov. 29

Jaye inadvertently causes zookeeper Penelope (Kellie Waymire) to lose her job, and tries to make amends by helping her get a couple of endangered macaws to mate. Turns out mating is on everyone else’s mind too, as Sharon works to win over Beth (Calgary native Kari Matchett) and Aaron flirts with Mahandra. Jaye is floored when Eric’s unfaithful wife Heidi (Jewel Staite) re-enters his life.

“Lying Pig” - Dec. 6

Heidi appears to suffer a case of amnesia after Jaye accidentally hits her on the head with a television set, and claims that she can’t remember her infidelity. Jaye admits to Aaron that inanimate objects have been speaking to her, and tries to decide whether to tell Eric about her feelings for him. Jaye’s mother goes out to dinner at the Barrel with a handsome doctor (Mark Aiken).

“Cocktail Bunny” - Dec. 13

Heidi announces that she and Eric are returning to New Jersey. Jaye begins spying on Heidi after a brass monkey warns that “she’s going to kill him.”

“Totem Mole” - Dec. 20

After visiting the Satsuma Reservation, Jaye tries to help Bill Hooton (Winnipeg native Ryan Black) follow in his grandmother’s footsteps as spiritual leader of the tribe - but all the signs suggest that Jaye is the real seer. Meanwhile, Sharon has an unpleasant encounter with former law school rival Diana Littlefoot (Alex Rice), and Mahandra tries to verify her own Satsuma heritage so that she can qualify for a grant to pay off her student loans. Directed by Genie Award winner Jeremy Podeswa (The Five Senses).

“Caged Bird” - Dec. 27

Jaye has one last chance to reveal her true feelings to Eric before he leaves town with Heidi, but a dangerous hostage situation at the Wonderfalls store complicates her plans.