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61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easily one of the greatest series in the history of television, April 21, 2009
There is no more tragic early cancellation in the history of television than ABC's ill-advised and ultimately baffling ending of PUSHING DAISIES. One of the finest shows in the history of television, DAISIES in its first, strike interrupted season garnered critical acclaim and honors to match any show on television. It was named one of the American Film Institute's Ten Best Shows of 2007. It received more Emmy nominations than any series on television. It made every critic's Top Ten or Top Five list in 2007. Then it came back for the beginning of the 2008-2009 season and turned out to be even better than in its debut season. But like most of the shows that did not go back into production following the writers strike of 2007-2008, it failed to gain back its audience. With the Wall Street crisis and the general economic malaise ABC panicked and did something that with hindsight it will certainly regret: cancelled not just its best show, but arguably the best show ABC had ever produced.
PUSHING DAISIES is a television series of rare beauty and exceptional magic. It starts with the look. Visually its only parallels are not other series, but movies like AMELIE or BABE or the films of Tim Burton. The colors are vibrant, impossibly bright, almost penetrating. Every shot almost overwhelms you with its gorgeousness. Nearly the first shot shows young Ned, later to be the Pie Maker, running with his dog Digby through an impossibly beautiful field of bright yellow flowers. That sets the tone for the entire series. Almost every shot is lush, almost (but not quite) overdone. The music is a perfect match for the sets and colors, at times tragic, sometimes romantic, always full of yearning.
But what makes DAISIES especially memorable is its success at attempting to be a romantic fairy tale. Ned, the Pie Maker, has a gift. He can bring any dead thing back to life merely by touching it. It is, however, a circumscribed gift. Whatever he touches can only live a minute without consequences, namely, that something else must time in its place. Not only that, but if he touches anything a second time, it then dies again, this time forever. In the very first episode Ned learns that his childhood sweetheart, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles, was murdered. In concert with his partner, detective Emerson Cod, he goes to the funeral home to touch his beloved and discover her killer's identity. In one of the loveliest scenes I've ever seen on television, Ned with subdued passion touches his childhood love, brings her back to live, but then finds it impossible to touch her again within the requisite minute. Someone else dies in her place, she lives, but with the qualifier that he can never touch his true love again, lest she die for good.
There is no more poignant love story ever on television (with one exception, surprisingly the Sci-fi series FARSCAPE, in the story of Aeryn Sun and the two Crichtons - anyone who loves a great romance should check that series out - but be patient, the big payoff doesn't come until midway in Season Three, whereas PUSHING DAISIES is extraordinary right out of the gate). Two people who love each other purely and passionately, but who can never touch directly.
But PUSHING DAISIES is far richer than just the love story of the Pie Maker and a girl called Chuck. The show features one of the most talented and brilliant casts ever assembled. Broadway legend Kristin Chenoweth (who, yes, sings a few songs on the series) plays pie waitress Olive Snook, a retired high stakes jockey who is hopelessly in love with Ned. But Ned is does not love the girl he can touch but the one he cannot. I remain absolutely incredulous that Chenoweth did not win the Emmy for Best Supporting Actress (I'm even more incredulous that the woman playing Christina Applegate's mother on SAMANTHA WHO? Did - I'd be happy for anyone to watch the two shows side by side and explain that one to me). I love Olive Snook, with her frustrated love, her impossibly infectious smile, and her wide array of waitressing miniskirts. Equally as good is Chi McBride as detective Emerson Cod. Verbally dexterous, colorfully and loudly and colorfully (yes, the adjective bears repeating) dressed, and possessed a love for money, knitting and pop up books, and his long lost daughter, Emerson Cod delivers many of the show's best lines and has a tendency to steal nearly every scene he is in. Chuck's aunts also play a wonderful in the series, two retired synchronized swimmers who performed as the Darling Mermaid Darlings, Vivian and Lily Charles. They are played by two great Broadway veterans, Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene (in fact, it was Kurtz who presented Chenoweth with her Tony that she won for YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN). But holding their own with this exceptional collection of talent are Lee Pace as Ned and Anna Friel as Chuck. Friel is another of the seemingly endless stream of British or Australian actors populating American TV, but unlike some, you'd never guess. She brings great charm and pathos to the role of the Alive Again girl, just as Lee Pace, who many will know from an earlier series by DAISIES creator Bryan Fuller called WONDERFALLS. And last, but not least, the cast is rounded out by The Narrator, voiced by the great Jim Dale, whom many will know as the voice for the Harry Potter audio books. In fairness I have to report that some people don't like the Narrator. I also have to report that I can make no sense of that. Dale's narration in my estimation makes a very special series even more special.
What doesn't this show have? The writing is simply as good as you could ever hope to find on TV. And do you love words? Few shows in the history of TV evince a love of words to match PUSHING DAISIES. Perhaps BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and Joss Whedon's other shows, with Whedon's unremitting obsession with the games you can play with words. Or Amy Sherman-Palladino's THE GILMORE GIRLS. In fact, I would be willing to bet that the two shows in the history of TV that contain more words per minute than any others are PUSHING DAISIES and THE GILMORE GIRLS. Both shows feature people talking fast yet very, very well. If you love words, you will love PUSHING DAISIES.
And if you love romance, you will love PUSHING DAISIES. In tone it is a comedy, with piles and piles of wonderfully funny moments. But at its heart, it is a love story, of a Prince Charming who rescues his love from death, only to be cursed with never being able to take her in his (bare) arms.
Worst. Cancellation. Ever. The ratings were down a bit, but PUSHING DAISIES was one of the most critically acclaimed shows on television and completely on top of its artistic game. The plot was thickening and the best was clearly yet to come. But ABC, instead of showing a bit of courage, chickened out and cancelled what was easily their best series (only LOST came close). The decision remains mind-boggling. If you haven't seen DAISIES, do so and you'll be as baffled as the show's many fans.
Whenever I sat down to watch PUSHING DAISIES and the opening image would come up, with a rising orchestra backing a flower coming back to life after being magically touched, I would chock up a bit. I don't know that there has ever been a show that has made me so purely happy as PUSHING DAISIES. Almost, in fact, a bit ecstatic. It brought poetry, magic, and beauty to the small screen in ways that we'd never seen before.
When Bryan Fuller realized that there was a good chance that PUSHING DAISIES was going to be cancelled in midseason, he shot two sets of scenes. Edited one way it would have served as a midseason transition to the second half; edited another it provided a bit more closure than otherwise. As a result, the series will end with less of a cliffhanger than originally conceived.
Does PUSHING DAISIES have a future? As a television series, no. But Bryan Fuller has announced plans to follow in the footsteps of Joss Whedon, who did a canonical continuation of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER by producing BUFFY Season 8. Pending permission by Warner Brothers, Fuller has stated his hopes of continuing PUSHING DAISIES as a comic book on Marvel Comics (where, he says, Ned can perhaps touch Captain America). His goal, he says, is to complete Chuck and Ned's story. The series leaves their story unresolved and he feels that that is not fair to the show's fans. I can't express strongly enough how much I appreciate Bryan Fuller's commitment to letting everyone know how this story is supposed to end.
If you love TV, you need to watch this series. This is not your average TV series. It isn't your average exceptionally good TV series. When I say that this show is unmatched in the history of TV for sheer physical beauty, I am completely series. The series will make you smile, laugh, cry, and mourn. And you'll join me is insisting that it is THE most stupid cancellation in the history of television.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pushing Daisies: The Complete First and Second Seasons, July 25, 2009
Pushing Daisies: The Complete First and Second Seasons
I purchased this hoping for a "boxed" set, possibly bonus materials.
Since this set is an additional $4.51,
the best value is to purchase Season 1 and Season 2 separately.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Show Ever Made!!!!!!!!!, July 9, 2009
Pushing Daisies was my favorite show of all time. I am still shocked and exceedingly mad that they cancelled such an amazing show. This show had it all comedy, mystery, drama, and romance. As the previous review stated it is a huge mistake made by ABC. Every week I got soo excited when this came on and would tell everyone to leave me alone until it was over. I found the witty banter very entertaining. Also, Ned and Chuck's love story was so sweet. I'm getting this to show my mom just how wonderful this show is since she missed it on tv.
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