Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Pushing Daisies soon to be pushing UP daisies

The election is over, so let's get to more important things. The fate of one of the best shows on TV...Pushing Daisies.

It seems like everywhere I look, people have condemned this show to cancellation, just because the ratings are down. I admit the ratings are down, that happens, especially if a show isn't on for 10 months. The writer's strike took this show away right as it was hitting its stride, and the geniuses at ABC decided to not show reruns over the summer in favor of God knows what.

Pushing Daisies is something different on TV now. I had a bit of dialogue with my friend over at If You Write It about this exact same thing. It seems like everything that's on these days, has to be a dark, crime drama, and/or a spin off of CSI or Law & Order. While I respect those shows, and the longevity they have, they just don't stack up to this show.

This is the second season for Pushing Daisies, and the time off hasn't hurt the story lines. Unfortunately, people don't want to watch a light hearted show that won a few Emmys.

Then again, with all the crap that's on TV, now I can't say I'm surprised. I love this show, and ask that anyone who hasn't watched it, give it a shot, and tell a friend to do the same. It comes on Wednesdays at 8 pm (EST). Next week, though, it won't be seen because of those ungodly CMA's. (why those things can't stay on the country music stations is beyond me, but that's for a whole different blog).

For those who don't know what the show is about, here is the synopsis from wikipedia
Pushing Daisies centers on the life of Ned, a pie-maker gifted with the mysterious ability to bring dead things back to life by touching them. There are a couple of conditions to this somewhat unwanted talent, however. Ned quickly learns that if something is revived for more than exactly one minute, something of similar "life value" in the vicinity drops dead, as a form of balance. Additionally, if he touches the revived thing a second time, it falls dead again, this time permanently.

In the pilot episode, Ned discovers his gift as a child by resurrecting his Golden Retriever, Digby, after the dog is hit by a truck. He later brings back his mother when she dies of an aneurysm. However, he accidentally causes the death of the father of his childhood sweetheart, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles, as the "price" of keeping his mother alive. Even worse, Ned's mother then falls dead permanently when she gives him his good-night kiss (which is how he learns the effect of the second touch). Ned and Chuck are separated; her agoraphobic aunts Vivian and Lily move in to take the role of her parents, while he is shipped off to a lonely boarding school by his father.

Inheriting his mother's baking talents, Ned becomes a pie-maker who owns a restaurant called "The Pie Hole," which he runs with the help of waitress Olive Snook. The restaurant is failing financially when private investigator Emerson Cod accidentally discovers Ned's gift and offers him a proposal: Ned will bring murder victims back to life, inquire about the circumstances of their untimely death, then touch them once more, all before his set limit of sixty seconds is up. Emerson will then solve the case and they will split the reward money.

The scheme succeeds until they learn that Chuck, whom Ned hasn't seen since childhood, has been murdered on a cruise. When her body is shipped back home, Ned revives her, but can't bring himself to touch her a second time. Against his better judgment, Ned allows her to live and the larcenous funeral home director falls dead in her place. Ned and Chuck fall in love again and he brings her home to live with him under the unique circumstances of their never being able to touch each other. Chuck is extraordinarily grateful upon receiving a second chance at life, and as such she starts to appreciate life as a truly precious resource and Ned, witnessing his vivacious beauty's happiness, begins to break out of his lonely shell.


If that wasn't enough, this should catch you up:


Please help me save this show! It truly is one of the best on TV, shame it comes on at the same time as Bones, though. Thank goodness for Monday night reruns!

***Note: I didn't know that the Dancing With the Stars results were coming on tonight instead. So, for those that tuned in to watch, I apologize. Check it out on-line and/or wait 2 weeks and it'll be back.

2 comments:

Blazing Minds said...

I Love Pushing Daisies, it's fun and probably one of the best shows I've seen for a long time, it seems such a shame that "big wigs" always take great stuff away from the general public only to replace it with some dribble that they prefer to have because it probably lines their over flowing pockets even more!

J. said...

I so love Pushing Daisies too! It is so different from all the other series. Not too heavy and no sex scenes! We all know how rare that is for TV shows nowadays! This was recommended by Frances of TopazHorizon.com and I am so glad I gave it a try. I sure hope they don't kill the show!:D