Pushing Daisies

After 10 plus years I still miss this show. Lee Pace was born for this role and Chuck was adorable, but my favorite was Chi McBride. One of the best casts that has been on TV for long time. If it came out now it would be bing heaven. So many characters driven into one storyline, just a joy to watch.

This show is addictively wonderful. The writing and acting are fantastic. Funny, touching, and also intrigue all wrapped into one. Be sure to get this into your DVD player and enjoy it from the beginning to the unexpectedly short end. Watch it, watch it, watch it! There are some great characters and great guest appearances that only help add to the endearing aspect of the show. Kudos to the writers for developing a great storyline that only gets better over time. I just don't understand why this wasn't interesting for the American TV public. Bad time? Too quirky? Not enough studio support? I suspect that the production costs were very high, but all parts of the show (directly, special effects, costumes, sets) are great. Thank goodness it's on DVD, and I can only hope that it somehow comes back in one way, shape, or form.

"Pushing Daisies" was a marvelously original show--so much so that it had to fail. After all, good television is like the sentiment 'no good deed goes unpunished'! And, like a wonderful show, it manages to start off with a real bang--with an episode that keeps you wanting more.

Apparently, the idea for "Pushing Daisies" was originally a plot idea for "Dead Like Me"--another show so good that it quickly failed. In the show, they had planned to have the reapers learn that some of their victims had mysteriously returned to life--the result of a guy with magical life-giving powers. Well, the idea was re-tooled for this ABC series and was done independently of "Dead Like Me". However, unlike "Dead Like Me" the atmosphere, costumes and set design had a much more other-worldly appearance--like it was filmed in a magical fictional land--full of LOTS of primary and secondary colors! I could try to explain the series, but frankly it defies explanations. Plus, IMDb has a summary. Instead, lets' focus specifically on what they got right...other than everything (which is true but a bit vague). The characters are exquisitely written and easy to love...very easy to love. The dialog is even better--very, very snappy, intelligently written and clever. And the plots generally very good--specifically so in this pilot. In this case the entire lore of Ned's magical powers is explained as well as the set-up for the series--his partner Emerson (my favorite character), how he accidentally brought Chuck (a girl) back to life as well as his strange but lovable employee (Olive).

When I first saw this advertised on television I thought it might be a fun little show, I didn't think it would be something I'd want to own on DVD though... I soon realised that this was something special; the colours are all brighter than normal, the dialogue is more wordy than people really use and the plot is surreal to say the least. All these things could have lead to a disaster but it worked perfectly for me. The cast did a great job bringing their surreal world to life.

Ned isn't like ordinary people; he can bring the dead back to life with a single touch, there are two major catches though, if he touches that person a second time they will die forever and if he leaves a person alive for more than a minute somebody else nearby must die. Using this skill he is able to help private detective Emerson Cod by questioning murder victims. Things change for Ned when one of the victims he revives is his childhood sweetheart Charlotte "Chuck" Charles. He can't bring himself to touch her again which apart from causing somebody else's death leads to a very difficult relationship between them. When Ned isn't dealing with dead people he cooks in The Pie Hole, the pie-restaurant he owns.

Most of the episodes are of the murder-of-the-week variety although there are some continuing threads to the story. The murders are never anything normal; their strangeness reminded me of the 1960s series "The Avengers". As well as having two great leading characters the supporting cast does a great job, I especially liked Kristin Chenoweth's portrayal of the diminutive Olive Snook a Pie Hole employee with a soft spot for Ned but who does not know his strange secret.

It is a shame that the series was cut short but I'm glad that it was given a proper ending even if there were a few loose ends left untied the main story had nice conclusion. This series won't be for everybody but if you want to watch something a bit different I'd recommend giving this show a chance.

Flawless acting, unique stories, and visual eye candy.

This has to be one of the best examples of what TV should (and essentially) could be if you put it in the hands of real talent. Everyone behind and front of the scenes is working grade A performances. Lee Pace and gang have never fit so perfectly in an ensemble using each of their unique talents to deliver some of the best dialog and storytelling.

The visuals are an obvious standout but leave it to Creator Bryan Fuller to not focus entirely on special effects and set design. Instead, he shows the value of great characters and character development through intriguing stories. And that, my fellow Daisy fans, is why this series works so well.

The biggest frustration, of course, is the cancellation. Why would a show this flawless get canceled? What does ABC have to replace it with anyway? It's just a shame.

I highly recommend you buy the series (BluRay is a must for those with HDTVs) and enjoy what you may never see again on TV. Come for the pie - stay for the characters!