Pushing Daisies Premiere – Absolutely to Die For!
By stephanie - Thursday, October 4th, 2007
If you have read this blog regularly you know I don’t gush much. I do have my shows that I am loyal to but more often than not I have a lot of lukewarm things to say at best. Last week I was happy to give a positive review for Reaper, which totally surprised me in its fresh take on what could be a tired premise.
But that did not prepare me for the shock and awe I felt at watching the first episode of Pushing Daisies. I’d heard some of the hype…but thought, “How new and interesting could a show about bringing the dead back be? It’s probably just a poor Dead Like Me clone.”
How new and interesting indeed? Well, when you consider it’s coming from the TV genius who brought us the fantastic and sadly short-lived Wonderfalls, prepare to be astonished.
From the opening sequence, where our hero is running through a field of yellow daisies as a child, to the first shot of his mystical pie shop, to the bathroom in a funeral home, we’re drawn into a beautiful, mysterious world. The series is filmed more like a magical movie than a typical fast-paced television show. Pushing Daisies is a feast for the eyes – bright colors, fantastic locales, and a set design that says today while retaining a mythical, timeless quality.
The comparisons to Tim Burton are inevitable, but notably to his pinnacle film Big Fish (one of my favorite movies) and not necessarily his cheesy excess. I sat there and felt I was watching a movie, not a TV show…and that’s a wonderful feeling to feel during prime time. To feel that sense of wonder and magic from plain ole television…all I can say is…wow…
I don’t want to get into the whole story…but sufficed to say, we have a guy who can bring back the dead (but with consequences), a girl he loves but he can’t touch (literally), and a host of quirky characters (including the fantastic Swoosie Kurtz).
I was concerned that the mundane aspects of the television concept – bringing back the dead to discover their murderer – would drag the show back down to TV banality. Instead, they use the opportunity to provide insightful and humorous observations on the human condition while pushing forward the obvious character development…and the meat of the show, which is the budding love between two people who have the chasm of death between them.
Quirky, well-written, and filled with heart, Pushing Daisies is not sure to be a hit (since it will be over some people’s heads) but it is sure to become a cult classic at least.
Not everyone will get or enjoy this show. This is a show for dreamers, for people with imagination, for people who still believe that somewhere fairy tales are real. But for me, this show was so sweet – and sweet is the word for it – and heartwarming that I could not help it but cry at the end by a simple gesture of our star-crossed lovers.
Whether the show can continue the magic week after week remains to be seen, but I will be forever touched by episode one. Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow.
Please, ABC, give Pushing Daisies a chance! Don’t be stupid and pull it if it doesn’t catch on immediately! Let it breathe!
October 7th, 2007 at 3:46 am
You are a brave soul trusting ABC….some friends and I were tempted, but we just don’t trust this network…looks good though.