INTERTAINMENT
HE BATTALION
Tuesday, March , 2004
29,
UCH
“Wonderfalls”
Thursdays 8 p.m.
Fox Network
“Wonderfalls” is the story of a woman who, with the help of an
Iitside supernatural force, performs acts of kindness and helps
J rangers to improve their lives. Does this new show from Fox sound
I te “Touched By an Angel”? How about “Joan of Arcadia”? The
difference between Jaye Tyler, “Wonderfalls”’ leading lady
' I faroline Dhavernas) and angels with an affinity for physical con-
^^1 ct or modem day martyrs is that Tyler doesn't want anything to do
■L liththe metaphysical or supernatural.
Tyler is an overeducated, underqualified woman stuck in a
™ fj enial job as a cashier for a tourist shop at Niagara Falls. Not that
| ne minds. In the pilot episode she remarks that her parents work
I ird and are still dissatisfied with their lives. Tyler figures she can
1 “dissatisfied with her life by hardly working at all.
HB9 Her life changes when a wax lion suddenly advises her not to
B ve a customer her change back. Shocked, Tyler attempts to ignore
elion and gives the customer her $5. Minutes later, the customer’s
rse is stolen. Tyler discovers that she can hear voices. Whether
ie voices are from God, Satan or who knows where, they all come
om objects and knickknacks that are shaped like animals.
The monkey statue in her psychiatrist’s office tells Tyler it loves
r. A trio of synthetic representatives from the animal kingdom
renades Tyler with a throaty rendition of “99 Bottles of Beer on
e Wall.” Tyler discovers that if she does not follow the com-
ands of her hallucinations, they will not stop talking, chatting
id/or singing.
The problem is the animals do not simply tell her to help people,
icy use her as a vessel to set things in motion that will eventually
id to happy endings.
In the pilot, what starts off as an attempt to return the stolen purse
the customer ends with her setting up the neighborhood UPS man
/ith a nurse. The reason the UPS man was in the hospital? Tyler
ad set up a date between the delivery man and her own lesbian sis-
lordingikb ;r. Due to a mishap involving an allergy to peanuts, the delivery
nan is put in the hospital where he meets the new love of his life -
fly iis nurse. Meanwhile, Tyler’s sister finds love of her own in the
^ JPS man's ex-wife. Twisting plots that begin in one spot and end
ney andii ^ wa y f ew people would predict help drive the nature of the show,
butflissii achepisode is a puzzle with audience members attempting to piece
push ami j O oetherthc larger picture.
tow. rail saves t | lc s i low from becoming preachy is the biting sense
that isi Lfh umor j n the script. Clever dialogue and bizarre situation pieces
dothett. ^reminiscent of early Tim Burton films. Each show hosts a cache
Is politial Lf bizarre actors. Tyler’s WASP-like family attempts to help their
often voti vayward member, but they are ultimately clueless.
“Wonderfalls”’ production is highly original and creative,
re, edua iach scene is edited so it appears to be emitted from a
etherigts fiewmaster (a bright red goggle shaped toy in which slides are
Americilirojected for viewers to behold). The acting is all highly watch-
ible. Dhavernas’ performance as Tyler is a joy to watch. Imagine
in adult version of MTV’s “Daria” and you will have Tyler,
iwimming through life on the back of a giant life preserver con
structed of sarcasm and cynicism.
PAPA HO,
and waiii
and up In
record
I.S. ton
“Wonderfalls” is a clever show with great potential. Expect
future shows to continue in the fashion as Tyler, righting wrongs -
protesting all the way. Hopefully, the larger mystery of the voices
that torment Tyler will slowly be revealed as the series progresses.
As long as the writing stays as top notch as it currently is and the
actors and funky editing style continue to evolve and grow,
“Wonderfalls” may easily become Fox’s best new show.
- Robert Saucedo
“Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital”
Wednesday at 9 pm
Reading a Stephen King novel can be compared to being friends
with a highly intelligent bipolar fifth-grader who watches too much
TV. King has many great things to say and some very clever
thoughts, but occasionally he’ll get caught up in spouting off need
less amounts of profanity and unoriginal ideas. Part of the reason so
many people have grown to love King’s literature is because of the
higher ratio of cleverness in his books as opposed to trash.
Unfortunately, When translating a Stephen King story to a visu
al medium, perhaps the best part is left out, his voice, leaving only
the trash behind for viewers to clean up. Whether it’s his use of
word play or his interior dialogue. King’s narrative voice is the
prime cut of his novels, not the ideas. Transferring his voice to
screen has always given screenwriters a hard time. That’s why the
promise of a 15-hour mini-series, ABC’s “Stephen King’s
Kingdom Hospital,” has so much potential. Unfortunately, if
“Kingdom Hospital” is going to live up to its potential, it's going to
have to rise above the initial impressions left behind by the two-
hour pilot.
The series is a remake of the Danish mini-series “Ringet.” In the
pilot, viewers are introduced to the doctors and patients of The
Kingdom, Maine’s premier hospital. In traditional ghost story fash
ion, the hospital is built upon the grounds of an ancient graveyard.
Among the spirits haunting the hospital are the ghosts of a little girl
and a seemingly vampire-like teenage boy.
While ghosts haunt the state-of-the-art building, the really
strange people are the people who work at the hospital.
Ed Begley Jr., Andrew McCarthy and Bruce Davison play doc
tors and surgeons with various personality quirks. From Begley’s
Dr. Jesse James who’s more interested in promoting the facilities
with buttons and stickers and separating patients with their check
ing accounts than actually saving people, to Davison’s Dr.
Stegman. an overtly angry surgeon who has recently taken lead of
his fellow doctors, the staff is full of eccentric characters all played
by talented actors.
The real oddities though, are the fringe players such as Julian
Richings who plays the nearly blind security guard who has a pen
chant for talking to his German shepherd. Along for the ride are
also two mentally retarded yet apparently omnipotent dishwashers
who are seemingly telepathic and serve as a Greek chorus for the
epic mini-series.
Among the hospital’s patients, Jack Coleman plays a hit-and-run
victim who is trapped in a coma throughout most of the pilot. In a
scene that was obviously inspired by King’s own misfortune, artist
Peter Rickman is hit by a van while jogging along a country road.
Left for dead, he is confronted by a creepy giant anteater that taunts
the paralyzed victim throughout his ordeal. Diane Ladd also
appears as Sally Druse, a psychic who begins to sense the brewing
trouble the hospital has in store for it.
What exactly the trouble is has yet to be revealed. As of the pilot,
it’s apparent the tectonic plate activity is a bit shakier then most
other hospitals and one elevator has a tendency to get stuck in tran
sit. What this has to do with the ghosts and ghouls that haunt the
hospital will be revealed throughout the remainder of the series.
An aspect of the mini-series that really carries through from
Stephen King’s printed writing is the use of inner thoughts of ani
mals and people to convey the general oddness of the hospital.
Some examples are when Rickman lies bleeding at the edge of the
road, a crow lands on his chest and the audience begins to hear the
crow’s plans for eating Rickman's eyes. Rickman meanwhile has
been resounding thought after thought of why nobody has seen him
and stopped.
With so much general weirdness going for it, “Kingdom
Hospital” seems set to have an interesting run throughout the
spring season.
If director Craig R. Baxley lays off the fancy special effects and
camera techniques long enough to work with Stephen King to
bring an actual sense of suspense and horror once the series gets
into high gear. While sheer quirkiness may bring a fresh smell to
a stale television landscape that’s cluttered with an overload of
reality, eccentricity can only last so long. From there, a story must
need to take shape.
- Robert Saucedo
Better to match paint dry
I Keep on flippin’
tUatch during "friends" commercials
|| || || || §§ The next"Sopranos" ???
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