"DID YOU JUST SAY 'MY ASS?'" You probably didn't see any of the four episodes of "Wonderfalls" that aired this time last year on Fox, but I won't hold that against you. Fox didn't know how to promote a snarkier and agnostic variant of "Joan of Arcadia" about Jaye, a disgruntled holder of a Philosophy B.A. from Brown who decides to work retail while figuring out her life. Then, one day, after nearly choking on a ham sandwich, things begin to talk to Jaye that shouldn't--beginning with a defective wax lion that came out of the Moldarama machine in the store Jaye works at--and they won't shut up until she does what they cryptically tell her to do.
Unlike "Joan," "Wonderfalls" revels in the question of whether Jaye is sane, and rather than giving our heroine a generally happy family, places Jaye as the odd one out in a family of extroverted overchievers. Furthermore, the directions given by the talking animals are usually less than clear about what they want. I've been running through the episodes on DVD (the DVD's on special at Target this week, and for $29.99, you get all 13 episodes, which, honestly, is a pretty darn good deal), and on a second viewing, I think that "Karma Chameleon" is actually one of the best hours of TV of last year. In this one, the title stuffed animal orders Jaye to "Get Her Words Out!," which results in Jaye taking a stutterer under her wing, who winds up going all "Single White Female" on her. In the end, Jaye winds up learning about herself, and making a surprisingly thoughtful statement on the life of the twentysomething in America today. It's top-tier TV.
(All that said, I'm still watching "The O.C." tonight, not just because of the brilliant title "The Mallpisode," but because of that little "Star Wars" trailer, for unlike Adam, I am a "Star Wars" geek of some degree.)
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