Not to praise 'Pushing Daisies,' but to bury it

Two summers ago I was perusing the Internet when I came across a preview for a television show that looked like none other I'd ever seen.

"Pushing Daisies" was colorful, was quirky, was funny. Even in the trailer, I could tell I'd love this neat little show about Ned (Lee Pace), the piemaker, who raises the dead with a touch. And, as the show is repeatedly reminding us, his power has one, big caveat: If the dead he's raised stays alive for more than one minute, something else has to die to take its place.

I must have watched my illegally downloaded copy of the pilot, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, over 20 times before the show premiered last October.

The narrator of every tale, Jim Dale, starts off each episode with these words, "The story was this:"

Poor Ned learned of his power by accident as a boy, when his dog, Digby, was run over by a tractor trailer. Ned touched the golden retriever and brought him back to life. Digby immediately went back to running around, chasing butterflies.

When the show premiered a year ago, "Pushing Daisies" took people to a fanciful world where a candy-cane-striped color scheme was the perfect choice for the city morgue. Where a hard, cynical detective named Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) passed his time knitting himself gun holsters.

And where Ned, and the love of his life, Chuck (Anna Friel), would meet years after their childhood goodbye kiss, fall madly in love again, only to realize they would never be allowed to touch. You see, Ned had to make Chuck "alive again" to solve her murder, but he couldn't bear putting her back to sleep (much to the detriment of the scheming and kleptomaniacal funeral home owner).

So, Ned, Chuck and Emerson make a business from bringing people back from the dead, just for a minute, to find their killers and collect reward money.

Oh, and then there's Olive (Kristin Chenoweth), Ned's waitress at his "Pie Hole" who is secretly in love with him.

And don't get me started on Chuck's two crazy aunts (Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz)!

Unlike other detective stories, this one combines a touch (pun intended) of the supernatural, a touch of horror (albeit, very light, the make-up's the scariest part), a touch of fantasy and a whole lot of love story into one of the most interesting television shows ever made.

The show's narrator, Jim Dale, who also wonderfully narrates the "Harry Potter" books on CD, starts off every adventure for the piemaker and his gang with such wonderful aplomb, it's impossible not to smile at the ridiculousness of every situation before you even get started on the story.

James' Dooley's whimsical soundtrack provides the perfect backdrop for this strange world, and creator Bryan Fuller has put together the perfect group of writers to bring all the ingredients together every episode.

It's like a Tim Burton film on acid, and that's saying something.

It's wonderfully creative, fun and heartwarming, and even a cynic like myself can't help but enjoy it.

It's taken the place of "Cheers" or "Firefly" as my favorite television show of all time.

"Pushing Daisies" is terribly original, which is why it's about to die.

No touch of the piemaker is going to save this wonderful show, I'm afraid.

The story was this:

This entertaining little show that could was pulled off the schedule, like all of ABC's other new dramas, during last year's writer's strike. "Pushing Daisies" had run through its Christmas episode, and then was expected to kick off Wednesday nights again this Oct. after almost an 11-month outage.

Maybe I should have known the end was coming when I went to Wal-Mart to purchase the Season 1 DVD set, only to find they didn't have it. And when asked, the cashier said something like, "'Pushing Daisies? Ne'er-erd-uf-it.'"

Maybe I should have known the end was coming when my little darling of a show started getting under 6 million viewers a week.

Unfortunately, it's way past time to try and get all of you to watch.

There's likely no saving "Pushing Daisies," and all the TV pundits out there are right when they say it's time just to start hoping for the series' 13-season order to actually air.

At this point, "Pushing Daisies" and fellow Wednesday night drama, "Dirty Sexy Money," another fun little ABC show, are likely done for.

"Pushing Daisies" could conceivably be off the air even while it's nominated for a few Emmy awards, like David E. Kelley's wonderful "Sports Night" was a decade ago.

So, sure, I'd love to see all the episodes air. And I'd love for the series to have some sort of closure. I don't want to have to read Bryan Fuller's comic-book followup for the end of Ned and Chuck's story. But what I most want is for people to give the show a chance.

I want others to see how incredible this bright little spot on TV's bleak landscape can bring an hour of fun to their lives once a week.

"Pushing Daisies" is like a little dessert, brought to us by a master piemaker, Fuller, to enjoy between all these crime scene shows and all this reality nonsense.

Unfortunately, it's going to die before its time.

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