Pushing Daisies was definitely called off before it's time, I can tell you that.
This is a wonderful story about a man, Ned 'The Pie-Maker' (Lee Pace) who has this wonderful (?) ability to bring back dead things to life--but there's a catch. He can only bring the thing back to life for a full minute, or else something else would have to die in it's place. The first touch brings the person/animal back to life, but a second, would leave the person/animal dead again, this time, forever.
Ned is now a pie-maker and owns a pie place, 'The Pie-Hole'. I would be lying if I said it didn't make me crave pie every time I watched this show. Dean Winchester, I understand your obsession.
A PI, Emerson Cod, comes across this ability Ned has, and teams up with him to solve crimes together.
So far, the show sounds a little morose, yes?
But no.
This is such an amazing, feel-good show! One often feels like you're reading off a children's story-book when watching this show. The story-telling itself is very unique, with a narrator in the background telling you what the 'facts' of a situation are (I am SO going to miss listening to the narrator saying, "The facts were these..." and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to find a way of easing that phrase into everyday conversation). It reminds me of Arrested Development in a sense. Ah, what an amazing show that was! Listening to Final Countdown still makes me laugh, and I know it'll always bring a smile to my face. But that's for another post.
The show starts off with Ned bringing back his childhood sweetheart, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles back to life after Cod and himself decide to investigate her death. That's what they do; they bring back their dead victims to ask them what they know and to thus make their crime-solving easier. However, they get only one minute to ask their questions, which makes it otherwise harder I suppose. Ned, instead of making her 'dead' again, keeps her alive for more than a minute, thus bringing her 'back to life', leaving them both in a predicament: they can now never touch each other, because if they do, she will go back to being dead, and she won't come back. They fall in love, needless to say, and they thus find themselves in what is probably the cutest love-story ever told.
Now onto the characters themselves.
This show is modern, and when I say 'modern' I mean it tends to, and consistently does, break all the rules of the usual story-telling process, and it doesn't stop there either. It breaks stereotypes and gender roles, and it's just so refreshing.
We have Ned, the lead, with this super-power which will make you think he's this big-shot with a big ego and confidence levels that reach the sky or something, but nope. He's this sweet, shy, clumsy, socially-awkward, cutie-patootie who often finds himself surprised with what his finger can do more than the others around him. He knows he has this 'magic-like power' but he doesn't know squat on how to deal with it, until Cod comes around.
Cod is a PI, a money-minded-but-not-greedy, 6-foot-something, BIG as HECK African-American who has an equal amount of sass to fill up that body, to bat. And he also likes knitting, and pop-up books, and is a big 'ol softie. And none of these 'hobbies' are ever used as comic relief like most shows would, but instead portrays them as perfectly normal hobbies to have. Hurray for that.
Chuck is a wonderful character, and she's sweet and caring, and would do anything for her two aunts. She knows when she's being demanding, is very apologetic about it, and I think the best part about this love-story, is that it's not strained or adrift with the usual drama TV likes to have. The relationship is sweet, and kind and compromising on both parts. And honest. And did I say sweet? And did I say there's no drama? Because I cannot stress how feel-good this show is.
Ned works with Olive, who's a waitress at The Pie-Hole and who's also a little bit in love with oblivious ol' Ned. SPOILER ALERT but not really because you kind of realize that in Episode 1 itself: they don't get together, because of wonderful Chuck. But that doesn't stop her from pursuing love itself, and though you often find yourself feeling sorry for her, there's not one moment where you start to resent her for getting 'in the way' (ahem, spoiler!) She is a rational, smart character who realizes Ned will not love her, and deals with it, in a dignified and often hilarious ways. She's strong in that sense; she knows what she can and cannot have, and most importantly, she's honest. The awkwardness and hopeless love you have for someone you cannot have but still dream about, is very elegantly portrayed, and it's honest, but it's never messy.
The character gets as much screen-time as the others and that's what's great; you have the chance to love each and every one of them in your own way, and you can relate to all of them as a result.
Which is why I love this show! All the characters have this nice-ness to them (maybe that's why it's so children's-story-book-like?) and they all live and let live, and the only drama is caused by the investigation itself. And you have no idea how refreshing and relieving that is when a love-story is almost the primary story-line in a show. Also, Olive likes breaking out in song randomly. That's a plus for me.
It lasted just two seasons, and that makes me sad. It should have lasted longer, definitely, and it would have too, if it weren't for the Writer's strike. The show was penned to last more than two seasons, like most shows are, and I'm quite sure that the producers must have realized they weren't getting a third only after half (or more) episodes were already shot, because the last couple of episodes (especially the last one) hurries to tie up the loose ends and leaves you with a very unsatisfactory sense of closure. The finale was good, sure, and it was a happy one (obviously) but it seemed rushed. Still, most shows that try to tie up ends in the last episode or so have a tendency to royally screw things up. Therefore, this show, even if it DID end too quickly, and even if the finale WAS a little too rushed, still did the job quite elegantly.
It just struck me. It ends like a story book would end too.
With a happy ending, wherein you want to know what else happens, but really, you're still quite happy about where you left off the characters.
All in all, 3.5 stars on 5.
Now, I'm sure I can never quite capture the feeling of watching the show itself, but hey, I can try and be a critic, too.
This show is modern, and when I say 'modern' I mean it tends to, and consistently does, break all the rules of the usual story-telling process, and it doesn't stop there either. It breaks stereotypes and gender roles, and it's just so refreshing.
We have Ned, the lead, with this super-power which will make you think he's this big-shot with a big ego and confidence levels that reach the sky or something, but nope. He's this sweet, shy, clumsy, socially-awkward, cutie-patootie who often finds himself surprised with what his finger can do more than the others around him. He knows he has this 'magic-like power' but he doesn't know squat on how to deal with it, until Cod comes around.
Cod is a PI, a money-minded-but-not-greedy, 6-foot-something, BIG as HECK African-American who has an equal amount of sass to fill up that body, to bat. And he also likes knitting, and pop-up books, and is a big 'ol softie. And none of these 'hobbies' are ever used as comic relief like most shows would, but instead portrays them as perfectly normal hobbies to have. Hurray for that.
Chuck is a wonderful character, and she's sweet and caring, and would do anything for her two aunts. She knows when she's being demanding, is very apologetic about it, and I think the best part about this love-story, is that it's not strained or adrift with the usual drama TV likes to have. The relationship is sweet, and kind and compromising on both parts. And honest. And did I say sweet? And did I say there's no drama? Because I cannot stress how feel-good this show is.
Ned works with Olive, who's a waitress at The Pie-Hole and who's also a little bit in love with oblivious ol' Ned. SPOILER ALERT but not really because you kind of realize that in Episode 1 itself: they don't get together, because of wonderful Chuck. But that doesn't stop her from pursuing love itself, and though you often find yourself feeling sorry for her, there's not one moment where you start to resent her for getting 'in the way' (ahem, spoiler!) She is a rational, smart character who realizes Ned will not love her, and deals with it, in a dignified and often hilarious ways. She's strong in that sense; she knows what she can and cannot have, and most importantly, she's honest. The awkwardness and hopeless love you have for someone you cannot have but still dream about, is very elegantly portrayed, and it's honest, but it's never messy.
The character gets as much screen-time as the others and that's what's great; you have the chance to love each and every one of them in your own way, and you can relate to all of them as a result.
Which is why I love this show! All the characters have this nice-ness to them (maybe that's why it's so children's-story-book-like?) and they all live and let live, and the only drama is caused by the investigation itself. And you have no idea how refreshing and relieving that is when a love-story is almost the primary story-line in a show. Also, Olive likes breaking out in song randomly. That's a plus for me.
It lasted just two seasons, and that makes me sad. It should have lasted longer, definitely, and it would have too, if it weren't for the Writer's strike. The show was penned to last more than two seasons, like most shows are, and I'm quite sure that the producers must have realized they weren't getting a third only after half (or more) episodes were already shot, because the last couple of episodes (especially the last one) hurries to tie up the loose ends and leaves you with a very unsatisfactory sense of closure. The finale was good, sure, and it was a happy one (obviously) but it seemed rushed. Still, most shows that try to tie up ends in the last episode or so have a tendency to royally screw things up. Therefore, this show, even if it DID end too quickly, and even if the finale WAS a little too rushed, still did the job quite elegantly.
It just struck me. It ends like a story book would end too.
With a happy ending, wherein you want to know what else happens, but really, you're still quite happy about where you left off the characters.
All in all, 3.5 stars on 5.
Now, I'm sure I can never quite capture the feeling of watching the show itself, but hey, I can try and be a critic, too.
