Pushing Daisies!

When I first heard about this show I was a little afraid that it was going to be one of those quirky but brilliant shows that gets canceled prematurely because it never quite finds the right audience, like Bryan Fuller's last show, Wonderfalls (which I really need to blog about someday...it's beyond awesome). Usually I blame these kinds of situations on the networks. But this time around, I'm happy to say that ABC has done an extremely good job promoting the show. In the Philadelphia area where I live I've been seeing ads for it on buses for weeks now and on Wednesday, I was walking to class in University City and there were people on the street handing out daisies with little tags advertising the premiere that night! So cute!

And cute really is an operative word here when describing the show. The look of the show is quite different...the only thing I can think of comparing it to is Big Fish. And it is sort of fairy-tale-ish, thanks in part to the narration by Jim Dale, who does the Harry Potter audio books. Lee Pace plays our protagonist, Ned, the lonely pie maker with the strange gift, and I love him! I loved him back on Wonderfalls and I'm so glad he's leading his own show now. Anna Friel, yet another British import, plays Chuck, his childhood sweetheart. I really like her too...I just recently saw her in Our Mutual Friend (a BBC miniseries...yes, I'm still obsessed with those) and despite initial misgivings, she really won me over. Also in the cast are Kristin Chenoweth, who's SO TINY next to Lee Pace (though I guess I'm not one to talk...I'm probably only a inch or so taller than her), Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene as Chuck's aunts, and Chi McBride (bouncing back from last season's doomed The Nine) as a private detective and Ned's "business partner." I really like that the cast is more varied and not just a bunch of pretty people like a lot of the other new shows this season.

I don't really want to recap the episode since I really encourage everyone to go watch it themselves, but there's a really sweet but kind of doomed romance, lots of quirky characters and details (uh, honey for the homeless?), and enough of a procedural element that will give the show structure but not overwhelm it. I do already have some questions about Ned's "gift" but I'll hold off to muse on them since well, it's only one episode.

So definitely yes to Pushing Daisies. I'm eagerly awaiting upcoming episodes, and I hope you all will check it out too!