- Title: Pushing Daisies – The Complete First Season
- tv.com: link
Ned (Lee Pace) is a pie maker. He also has an unexplained ability to return all manner of dead things (people, vegetation, animals) back to life. He can do this for 60 seconds at a time, any longer and something or someone else must die. And if Ned ever touches a second time permanent death is the result.
Ned discovered these abilities, their limitations, and their consequences as a child living next door to Chuck (Anna Friel), his boyhood friend and first love.
Years later when Chuck is killed mysteriously over some ceramic monkeys Ned brings his childhood love back to life and invites her into his life much to the dismay of his private eye business partner (Chi McBride) and his friend and co-worker (Kristin Chenoweth).
Oh, and did I mention Chuck is survived by her shut-in aunts (Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene) a pair of former syncrinized swimmers until an unfortunate cat box incident?
Pushing Daisies is a fairy tale complete with fantastic occurances, humorous omniscient narration (Jim Dale), and hopeful, yet sad, endings. It’s look, style, and serious yet whimsical take on life death remind me strongly of one of my favorite Tim Burton films – Edward Scissorhands.
The strike shortened first season only lasted nine episodes, but in these are painted a world full of color and possibilities. What can you say about a show that includes a one-armed killer in love with a windmill operator (”Pigeon”), a car that runs on dandelions and a crash test dummy killer (”Dummy”), a genetically bred perfect dog in the middle of multiple murders (”Bitches”), and a jockey returned from the dead to run down those responsible (”Girth”)? This isn’t your average show.
Name me one other show on television where a quote like the one above might not only be found but expected. The odd, but somehow funny and still hopeful, tone of the show plus the entertaining stories and humorous naration create a fairy tale about pies, love, friendship, and death. It may be a bit of an acquired taste, but for those looking for a little magic on the reality-deadened boob tube you need look no further than Pushing Daisies.