There are so many eye-catching visuals and exposition squeezed into the first 15 minutes of ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” that the viewer might seem a little overwhelmed at first. As young Ned and his dog frolick through their idyllic hometown, a somewhat ominous-sounding British narrator (Jim Dale) relates the story of Ned’s amazing power. When his young dog was run over, Ned discovered he had a special gift: His touch could bring the dead back to life. But the boy soon realized there was a catch—if he does “heal” someone, another person in the immediate vicinity must perish. And if Ned touches the now-revived person a second time, they’re dead again. For good.
Cut to a grown-up Ned (Lee Pace, playing it a bit too deadpan), who now runs a pie shop and partners with the only person who knows his secret: Emerson (Chi McBride), a PI who figures a guy who can revive the dead should be a valuable asset in solving murder cases. Then there’s the stifled romance with his childhood crush, “Chuck” (yes, she’s a girl), whom Ned has restored to life. Except now of course, he can’t touch her.
From its melange of black humor, romance and whimsy, to its surreal, Tim Burton-esque visuals (the yellow hills of Ned’s hometown, the odd camera angles and close-ups), Daisies is trying its best not to resemble anything else on television. While producer/director Barry Sonnenfeld (director of Men in Black, The Addams Family and their sequels) and producer/writer Bryan Fuller (“Heroes,” “Wonderfalls”) have conjured up an ingenious premise and collection of offbeat characters (Kristin Chenoweth as a sultry waitress in Ned’s pie shop, Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz as Chuck’s reclusive aunts), it all went by rather fast; it was only on second viewing that I was able to appreciate the stunning scene of young Ned and Chuck sharing their only kiss in an almost-glowing cemetery. At this point, the show’s most appealing feature is that you can’t tell where it’s going.
Will it become a kind of live-action “Fractured Fairy Tale,” a chaste romance or some sort of supernatural “CSI,” probing into murders and other ghastly acts? So far, it’s hard to predict, and in the copycat world of network TV, that’s a good thing.
Cut to a grown-up Ned (Lee Pace, playing it a bit too deadpan), who now runs a pie shop and partners with the only person who knows his secret: Emerson (Chi McBride), a PI who figures a guy who can revive the dead should be a valuable asset in solving murder cases. Then there’s the stifled romance with his childhood crush, “Chuck” (yes, she’s a girl), whom Ned has restored to life. Except now of course, he can’t touch her.
From its melange of black humor, romance and whimsy, to its surreal, Tim Burton-esque visuals (the yellow hills of Ned’s hometown, the odd camera angles and close-ups), Daisies is trying its best not to resemble anything else on television. While producer/director Barry Sonnenfeld (director of Men in Black, The Addams Family and their sequels) and producer/writer Bryan Fuller (“Heroes,” “Wonderfalls”) have conjured up an ingenious premise and collection of offbeat characters (Kristin Chenoweth as a sultry waitress in Ned’s pie shop, Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz as Chuck’s reclusive aunts), it all went by rather fast; it was only on second viewing that I was able to appreciate the stunning scene of young Ned and Chuck sharing their only kiss in an almost-glowing cemetery. At this point, the show’s most appealing feature is that you can’t tell where it’s going.
Will it become a kind of live-action “Fractured Fairy Tale,” a chaste romance or some sort of supernatural “CSI,” probing into murders and other ghastly acts? So far, it’s hard to predict, and in the copycat world of network TV, that’s a good thing.
