Wonderfalls (2004)

A quirky drama about a young woman who is dissatisfied with her crappy retail job in a Niagara Falls gift shop, especially after her coworker is promoted over her despite him still being in high school. While fuming about it, she somehow manifests the ability to speak to the inanimate animals she sells that begin to ask her to perform odd requests that encourage her to help people, sometimes at her expense and often in funny and oblique ways.

Caroline Dhavernas plays the caustic and anti-social Jaye who at first only reluctantly goes along with the animal's requests while questioning her sanity, but eventually starts to soften up to the people around her like her overbearing parents, lesbian sister and pretty much all people she tries to actively avoid. Eric, played by Tyron Leitso, is the love interest and new bartender at Jaye's favorite bar as he was recently married, but ran off from his honeymoon after catching his new wife cheating on him with a hotel staff member. He drank and cried for three days until the owner gave him a job. His kindness and good nature is the antithesis of Jaye, but he finds her interesting nonetheless and sees her as not as uncaring as she thinks usually because of the good deeds the animals force her to do.

Creator Bryan Fuller continues his trend of shows revolving around special young women in an odd situation except this time he has the added benefit of executive producer Tim Minear who also worked on another great and cancelled FOX show, Firefly. With a cast full of great actors and a fresh and original premise, Wonderfalls gained critical praise and a loyal fan-base despite only airing 4 episodes before being cancelled by FOX. There is great character development especially a noticeable shift in Jaye and weird comedy bits. Plus it's just nice to have a show that isn't a medical drama or police procedural for once.

Episodes to See:
Ep. 8 Lovesick Ass - A quite hilarious plot about a mail order bride with an excellent guest performance by a young Spencer Breslin.

Buyer's Guide:
Thanks to a grassroots petition, there is a DVD set available of all 13 episodes made for season 1 though it is only available in Region 1 so far. Also now through Netflix.

5 smooshed-face lions out of 5