Pushing Daisies – Season 1

Archived review:

Perhaps the lesson learned from both Heroes and Friday Night Lights' second-year decline is that it's awfully hard to keep a much-hyped show going with the same enthusiasm as when it first entered the map. Celebrate Pushing Daisies then, whilst it still feels so fresh. It's a "forensic fairytale comedy" that focuses primarily on Ned (Lee Pace), a piemaker who can solve murder cases by bringing the dead victims back to life. When his childhood sweetheart Chuck (the adorable Anna Friel of Brookside-lesbian-kiss fame) gets killed, he brings her back and they begin a sweet and intriguing relationship (interesting because they're not allowed to touch lest she die again, for good). Pushing Daisies' influences are clear; It retains the same comedic outlook on death as the show's predecessor Dead Like Me (fortunately losing that show's unfortunate melancholic tone) and stylistically looks like it came from Tim Burton himself. Parallels with Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events have been made, although I haven't seen this.

So why is it such a treat to watch? Let's make it clear, this is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it show. You're either going to be drawn in or repulsed by its quirkiness (where musical numbers can occasionally happen without warning) and its over-the-top sugary commentary on love and life. For the moment though, it's still brimming with new ideas that keep the whole thing feeling fresh, and fortunately the writers still know how to pace ongoing storylines well, neither forgetting nor rushing continuing plots/questions from previous episodes. Having said that, a couple of revelations were made in the final pre-strike episode that may have had more impact later on in the show's lifetime. Kudos also to Chi McBride and Kristin Chenoweth, who in true Will & Grace style have already made their characters Emerson and Olive outshine the leads by being so damn funny and intriguing. Whenever this show returns after the strike (and this actually does seem like a certainty), I can't wait for more madcap adventures and snappy one-liners.