Every now and then there comes a show that has so much buzz surrounding it you go into it almost expecting it to fail. Thankfully Pushing Daisies is not that show, it’s the exact opposite. It more than lived up to its hype and in some ways it exceeded it. From the mind of Bryan Fuller, the guy that brought us other great shows like Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies is about a pie maker named Ned, played by Lee Pace, who has the ability to bring death things (dogs, flies, fruit, humans, etc.) back to life. Unfortunately there are a few caveats tied into his ability: he can bring something back to life but if he ever touches it again, it dies instantly and can’t be resurrected again and if he keeps it alive for more than a minute, something else within close proximity will die to take its place with the circle of life.
The show opens with Ned and his dog running through a hilly field filled with vibrant yellow flowers simply jumps off the screen, especially in HD. Unfortunately Neds dog Dibney is hit by a truck and instantly killed, lucky for him Ned develops his power for the first time and revives Dibney. With his new found powers Ned is bringing everything back to life and that includes his mother, who happens to have a fatal aneurysm while baking a pie one afternoon. As she falls to the floor, Ned revives her and she pops back to life as though she had slipped and knocked herself out. Since Ned was still learning about his powers he had no idea at the time that keeping his mom alive would cause another person to die, and unfortunately it was the father of his beloved girl next door Chuck. Neds day only got worse as his mother tucked him into bed and gave him a kiss goodnight, unfortunately it’d be the last thing she’d ever do.
Because of his abilities Ned’s become a bit reluctant to share any human contact with anyone, much to the dismay of Olive, played by Kristin Chenoweth, a waitress at the Pie Hole, Neds pie shop. While Ned tries to avoid human contact he has no qualms about using his powers for his own financial well being. Ned’s partnered with a Private Detective name Emerson, played by Chi McBride. They go around trying to solve suspicious deaths with reward money attached, Ned then animates the corpse to learn who killed them and often times the case is “solved” and they pocket the reward and move on to the next case
The money has allowed Ned to do the thing that matters most to him, baking pies. All is fine and dandy until he finds out that the latest murder victim was his long lost childhood sweetheart Charlotte “Chuck” Charles, who’s gotten herself murdered while on a cruise. So Ned and Emerson head back to Ned’s childhood home of Coeur d’ Coeurs to revive Charlotte but Ned finds himself in a bit of a Sleeping Beauty quandary and he can’t bear to let Charlotte die again, especially as she never saw who her killer was. Needless to say, Chuck remains alive but Ned’s now stuck with never being able to touch her again or else she’ll die. This has to be one of the hardest things he’s ever had to done and can really make for some great stories and emotions. Who was the killer and what happened? Well I can’t give away everything can I? Go and watch it and you’ll thank me.
Pushing Daisies is everything you’re looking for in a tv show. Perfect writing coupled with the perfect cast. It’s safe to say that this was the best series premier this season hands down. I just hope that they can pull it off week in and week out. If so they’ve got a sure fire winner on their hands. If I had to say just watch one new show all season this would be it, that’s how good it is.