The last episode of the ABC show Pushing Daisies was all the way back on December 12, 2007. When the Writers' Guild of America strike ended production, like many other shows, Pushing Daisies was put into a sort of tv limbo. Thankfully, ABC renewed this truly unique tv experience for a second season, and it is set to come back Wednesday Oct 1st at 8/7c. This whimsical story will probably need some explaining, and may sound very odd if you have never heard of the show. But believe me, check it out and you will not be disappointed.
Pushing Daisies is the story of Ned, the pie maker. When Ned was young, he found out he had the power to bring dead things back to life. His power is governed by three rules: 1) Touch something dead, and it comes back to life, 2) Touch it again, and it dies, 3) If he does not retouch it within one minute, something else will die. Did you follow that? Well, anyways, the only other person in the world who knows about Ned's power is P.I. Emerson Cod. Ned helps Cod solve mysteries by bringing dead bodies at the morgue back to life and asking them a few questions. But they only have one minute, and that isn't always enough time to find out the whole story. When Ned finds out that his childhood sweetheart has died, he goes to her funeral. Even though he knows the ramifications, he decides to bring her back to life. Now, his darling Charlotte "Chuck" Charles is back to life, but the irony of the situation is he cannot touch her or she will die. Ned cannot bring himself to retouch her, and the funeral director dies. Luckily, it turns out the funeral director was a crook and had been stealing from dead people and their families for years. Olive Snook is Ned's waitress at his pie shop, and is secretly in love with him. However, she keeps her feelings to herself. In the last episode, it was revealed to Chuck that Ned had accidentally "killed" her father decades ago, when he brought his dog back to life and did not retouch it. Because of this, Chuck ran away. Will he be able to make it up to her?
There are so many other facets to this show that would not be able to fit into one posting, but that is pretty much the jist of it right there. The show is sort of genre bending in that the death motif has a clear dark comedy aspect to it, but it is still very dramatic. The post-production really does a good job to set the mood of a scene. The colors are so bright and vivid one moment, and then dull and dark the next. One thing is certain, in a world of cookie cutter sitcoms and miscellanious crime dramas, Pushing Daisies clearly brought something entirely different to the table. I look forward to seeing where it goes from here.
Pushing Daisies headlines a set of sophomore run shows Wednesdays this fall starting Oct 1st on ABC, along with Private Practice, and Dirty Sexy Money.
What's On?
Tonight ESPN's coverage of the 39th annual World Series of Poker Main Event begins and will continue every Tuesday night at 8/7c until November 11th. Norman Chad and Lon McEachern are back to call all the action and see who will win the $9.1 million grand prize.
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1 comment:
Great Review of the show! also, I will echo the statement that this show is a unique and amazing experience.
However, just a quick clarification: Chuck's dad died when Ned brought his mom back to life not Digby. When Digby stayed alive longer than 1 minute it was either a bird or squirrel that died. As stated in the show, the individual that dies as a result of another staying alive longer than a minute is usually something in the area and of a similar size.
Also, it should be said the Olive is played by Kristin Chenoweth!
And routinely on the show are Chuck's Aunts (Swoosie Kurtz & Ellen Greene) who are former synchronize swimmers who took care of Chuck after her father died. And they believe that Chuck is still dead.
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