Pushing Daisies Season 1 thread

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

I saw this weeks ago.

And it is my new favorite show.

I fell in love with this right away.
Such superb storytelling.
Wonderful characters.
Colorful, imaginative, dark and wonderful.
Full of creativeness and life.

Molly Shannon will be in a few episodes.
Paul Rubens(Pee-Wee Herman) is reportedly going to be in a recurring role as a traveling salesman for anti-depressants

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

Like every Bryan Fuller series, there has been lots of behind the scenes drama during the production. I'm betting that this one will, like his previous efforts, be more than worth an hour of my time each week.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

I'm looking forward to watching this one. It looks so funny and has some good actors in it.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

A month ago, USA TODAY released their TV top 10 picks
for 2007.

At the top of that list was Pushing Daisies.

USA TODAY says "It may be the best pilot since Lost, the
kind of show that revives your faith in network TV.

I'll be tuned in! Hope we picked a winner here!

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

There are two words in the pilot that I saw, and I'm curious to know if ABC(Disney) will let them air it in Primetime.

The two words are Bitch and masturbation.

I can see Bitch getting by, but not masturbation

Seeing how heavy Who's Line is it Anyway? gets edited.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

I just recently read this is a Bryan Fuller creation. For that reason I will be watching this show. Wonderfalls was one of the best shows that no one got a chance to see until it came out on DVD.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

I am quite impressed with Bryan's work. From Wonderfalls, Heroes, Dead Like Me and now this wonderful pilot of Pushing Daisies.
I hope people give this show a chance since it doesn't fit in to the cookie cutter sitcom template.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

What's the time slot again, hopefully not the same time as Bionic Woman.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

One important difference is that 'Whose Line' is an improvised show and can't be reviewed for content until after it's recorded, where 'Pushing Daisies' is scripted and the network approves the script before the pilot is even filmed. So my bet is that both words will be intact.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

Really looking forward to this. Even more since I listened to an interview of Bryan Fuller and Barry Sonnenfeld on NPR recently.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

8 p.m. EDT. Bionic Woman is on in the 9 p.m. EDT timeslot.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

Pushing Daisies is very ambitious and looks beautiful but i'm not so sure this crime and proceedural show minded society is ready for a show quite like it.

Time will tell.

As for me i'll need time with this one, to me the show seemed like the offspring of Baz Lurhman, Tim Burton and the Cohen brothers, in fact if this show were a movie i'm sure of the following...

It would look like a stop-motion Tim Burton movie with Johnny Depp as 'Ned' and Helena Bonham Carter as 'Chuck', it may feature musical numbers and it would feature a score by Danny Elfman.

Very surreal, whimsical and dream-like show and i'm afraid it may prove to be it's undoing in the long run but like I said we shall see. I keep bringing up Burton because he is single handedly responsable for ruining my perspective when it comes to this sort of fanciful storytelling, his dark and twisted sensabilities have tainted my view of such productions, when I see sets and environments as on display here they aren't sweet or cute to me, they're actually a little sinister and I always feel that something dark lurks just under the surface and that's all thanks to Tim Burton.

I wanted to really like it but I need to see more before commiting myself to it.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

The whimsical qualities of this show is probably going to be a tough sell to the general TV viewing public. But it does have a charm about it.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

Show has a lot of charm. But with it already gettting buzz about going way overbudget and having numerous behind-the-scenes changes, I worry about how this show will hold out. Ron's note about how well thought of this show is reminds me of "Studio 60" No matter how good or well reviewed something may be, it's consistency and it's ability to hold ratings that matter. I enjoyed it, but I'm thinking this is going to be a show that will have a hard time finding die-hard viewers who will drive ratings.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

It was kinda weird. And depressing. And then weird again.

I don't know how I truly feel about the pie-let. I liked the narration. The sets were amazing. But, the pieman was so depressing. Mom died. Killed his loves father.

I may try another episode to see, but I really couldn't say that this is one I'll give much of a chance.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

I liked it. A lot. I like the Tim Burton comparison (and was thinking the same thing while watching it), but I think it's actually better than a Tim Burton production. I always thought Burton was all style and no substance. This show actually has substance.

I think I could actually see mainstream America liking this show...the question is whether they'll actually ever watch it.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

I thoroughly enjoyed the pilot (aka the "Pie-lette.") It was beautifully executed on every level, IMO!

I am not sure how Daisies will play on a weekly basis, but I think the fact that it is an ABC show certainly can't hurt. The network has demonstrated that it knows how to make "offbeat" work and appeal to a mass audience year after year (Desperate Housewives.) Even when ABC's successes have been more short-term (Twin Peaks, Batman) they still succeed in making a large initial splash with unconventional programming. I fear this may prove to be the case for Pushing Daisies too, but I for one, will enjoy the ride while it lasts!

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

LOVE, LOVE, LOVED IT!

This show definitely had a Tim Burton feel to it, which is why I probably loved it so much. The story was fantastic in every way possible. I can see this show becoming my favorite.

I wasn't able to watch it when it aired (working), but I came home and yes, I watched it twice. I don't get too excited over pilots, but this one just had me glued to my seat wanting to know more.

Can anyone tell me if one of the aunts was infact Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors?

Cannot wait til next weeks episode!

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

Gets two thumbs up from me and the wife. They did such a good job with the back story in this episode it opens up a whole new world for them to play in.

Can't wait till next week!

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

I really liked "Pushing Daisies"...

It has the Tim Burton oddball fairytale vibe that made movies like "Edward Scissorhands" such a success.

The question is whether or not the show can keep it going for 20 some odd eps...and keep going over multiple seasons.

This show follows a long line of what I consider to be these high-concept "gimmick" shows in recent years.

Every show has a situation to create drama (and comedy), but there have been many shows the past several years that have very defined structures to them.

For example, "My Name is Earl" is essentially pigeonholed into having Earl find ways to cross names of people he wronged off of a list. They have tried to get away from that gimmick, but they are pretty much stuck with a really, really defined concept.

This show has its own gimmick -- touching people, bringing them back to life (short term) to solve a mystery, then touching them again to take life away.

In some respects, it is a quirkier and cuter version of "The Dead Zone" that has firmly planted itself in the Tim "Burtonverse."

Audiences typically end up liking shows with "less" structure that have more generalized setups -- the CSIs and Law & Orders of the world.

The good news is that the show isn't serialized, but I can't help but feel that some viewers who tune in after the premiere will be left saying, "huh?"

I hope the show lasts because we need more of the "avant garde" fare on network television. It has a nice/sweet vibe that we don't always see a lot of on television these days (and it looks great in HD).

But like "Chuck," the show feels like it might've made a better movie than a multi-year series. Both shows are well crafted and have very likable cast members, but the question is whether or not the general public will stick with it.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

This is what I am afraid most people are going to think of the show. Not ordinary enough.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

It was a great pilot and kick-off. Someone above said off-beat, I think that's apt.

There was also mention about Desperate Housewives and Tim Burton. When DH premiered, it almost had this same vibe as Daisies, the Burton kind of music score, the hyper-real sets. This show takes it to next level. I kind of compare it to the way Batman hit the screens in 1966. Bright and colorful and full of fun.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

Mikel, are you merely agreeing with me about my assertion that most won't embrace it because it's so off the beaten track or are you saying that I feel that way? I can't tell from your post.

Believe me i'm all for new concepts, i'm sick of all the same stuff on television now.

My only problem with the show is it's visual style and that's rooted in my "Burton demons" as I like to call them, it's my problem not the shows, if I can get by that than the show is just fine.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

Ellen Greene. Yes, yes it was.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

That was actually incredible. I didn't like what I saw of Wonderfalls, but loved what I saw of Dead Like Me, so I wasn't sure which way this one would go. Turns out it's the best TV I've seen in a while, and definitely the best pilot. Can it sustain this level throughout an entire season, I don't know. I hope it keeps its charm and underlying sweetness. I don't remember specifics right now, but there were several moments where I was barking with laughter, which is kind of rare for me. The comedies I've seen lately only get me to muster an occasional smile. One example was when the Kurtz aunt blasted the guy out the window, followed by Chuck kicking him.

I've never seen Anna Friel before, but how cute is she?

There's no question that I'm coming back next week. It's almost the spiritual successor to Big Fish. To think that I had zero plans to watch this show, and just set up a recording at the last minute. Well, I could go on raving, but that's enough for now.

I may have to track down Wonderfalls and give it another chance.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

Both made it to air.

This is definitely the best new show of the year.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

The "Pie-lette" will be rebroadcast tomorrow (Friday) night, on ABC.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

Anna Friel reminded me of a young Barbara Hershey and yes she was pretty cute.

I have a question, did Ned's mother drop dead because Ned neglected to re-kill the fly within a minute? If she died because of a fly than that's pretty damn funny, sad but funny lol.

Re: Pushing Daisies Season premiere 10/03/07

I'm having a hard time thinking of a show with more structure than Law & Order.


I really liked this, although I worry that some folks might shy away because of how deliberately off-putting it is. It wants you in an odd place and doesn't back away from that.

I'm also a little worried about whether or not TV directors will be able to work within the style Bryan Fuller and Barry Sonnenfeld established for the pilot. Clearly, a lot of time went into making this, and I'm not sure it's possible to maintain on a weekly schedule.