JohnDoe
Bryn
BrentonPushing Daisies - Season 1
May 6th 2008 00:04
Pushing Daisies – Coming to DVD this September.
The cast of Pushing Daisies
Starring: Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Jim Dale, Chi McBride, Kristin Chenoweth, Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene,
Reading the Daily Orble stats today John Doe noticed that, despite not posting on a TV related topic in over 6 months he is ranked number “1” in the TV Blogs category.
This seems unfair to all the brilliant TV writers floating around the Orbtastic community. Dedicated Telephiles like Nina’s delicious TVbabble, Meggie on TVchitchat, and the newest member of the bunch Mike Wheeler at Extremecritic all deliver quality copy. So today is the start of incorporating a little more regularity with small screen contributions in order to earn the accolade.
At home in the Pie-Hole
Amongst the wave of new shows that launched pilot episodes last season the shiny sunflowered plaything of choice in this house has been Pushing Daisies.
Coming to DVD September 2008, Pushing Daisies is like a paisley Tim Burton vision that’s penned as if Edgar Allen Poe had a sunny disposition. Funny, touching and twisted, again Creator/Producer/Director Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Heroes) tackles the macabre and unexplained with a sly humour that illuminates it’s morbid darker edges.
Quirky and luminous, “The facts were these”…Ned the Pie Maker (Lee Pace) is different. He has always been different. As a child young Ned discovered that he could bring the dead back to life by touching them. As these things go, there is a balance, this no miracle without a price. Once his flesh has come in contact with the deceased a second time they immediately return to eternal slumber. If Ned tries to tempt fate and let someone live beyond their minute reprieve from expiry, then someone close by die’s instead.
Ned is NOT touched by an angel
The adult Ned now owns a pie shop and assists Private Investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) in solving mysterious murders. One day the pair stumble upon a girl named Chuck.
“Well, it's pretty much I bake pies and wake the dead. I live a very sheltered life.” - Ned
Ned on the case with Emmerson Cod and a primate
Charlotte Charles aka Chuck (Anna Friel) was Ned’s youthful sweetheart and after years of separation Ned still has the bug, so of course once he reanimates her pre rigamortuous limbs, he refuses to obey the rules. Someone close by dies.
“You said you wanted to know who killed me so that justice could be served. See, I don't think that "Justice" was on the menu. Maybe as a side dish, but not as an entrée.” - Chuck
Anna Friel as Chuck
Unable to hold hands, kiss or do the other their’s is a uniquely complicated relationship. Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth) is the singing waitress whose flame burns bright for Ned, emotions that will never be reciprocated. That’s the character introductions as of the first episode, so no spoilers.
Kristen Chenoweth is Olive
To look directly at the delectable cinematography exploding with a vibrant palette of colour widens the orbs of the iris. The synthetic atmosphere bolstered by the exaggerated sincerity of the narrator’s solemn voice (Jim Dale) forms a sweet peach tone that’s tasty on the buds and delectable to digest.
The riddled screenplay of quick minded, snappy banter toys with vocabulary and character emotions are invariably phrased to remember.
The cast are a chemical concoction, a Neapolitan flavour of bubbly, spontaneous and cynical behaviour. Expanding on what he bought to the screen as Jaye’s brother in Wonderfalls, Lee Pace (Infamous, The Good Shepard) as the always playing-catch-up Ned is likeable and charming.
Anna Friels (Me Without You, Goal) is sweet without annoying, optimistically avoiding the pitfalls of her Chuck love interest character type. It doesn’t hurt that she is cute in a Zooey Dreschnel way because of freedom from stereotype.
See what Johnny means about Anna Friel?
For John Doe it’s Chi McBride (Narc, The Frighteners) as Emmerson Cod that manages to garner the most laughs aside from the narrator. His tough as nails without the heart of gold matter of factness is unwavering in amusement levels.
As Chuck’s grieving paternal Aunt’s Lillian and Vivian Charles, Ellen Green (Leon: The Professional, The Cooler) and Swoosie Kurtz (Huff, Rules of Attraction) deliver there dry sardonic lines with aplomb.
Not as saccharine as it may first appear there is an abundance of wit and originality to be found in every episode. Each chapter has a cinema quality to it’s inception that guarantees JD follows every new story with joyful eagerness.
Pushing Daisies Trailer
An impromptu musical number, Olive Swoon covers Olivia singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You"
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Comment by Cibbuano
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why are you in the TV category?
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
This is no Six feet Under ripoff, in fact it was originally intended to be a spin off of the Dead Like Me Series.
I would even say that both Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies deal with death in a far more complex and inventive way than Six Feet Under.
As for the TV thing, I used to do quite a few posts on Television shows like Deadwood, Oz, Battlestar Galactica, Outer Limits, Dexter, Heroes, Dead Like Me etc, but just slacked off in the last 6 months....my site is after all subtitled Film and TV on DVD.