Pushing Daisies - Pilot - Short Review
I just watched the Pilot of the new show Pushing Daisies and I have to say that I found myself utterly enchanted. My first impulse to watch the show came from its lead actor Lee Pace, with whom I fell in love when he played Jaye’s neurotic older brother Aaron in Wonderfalls. He brought such a wonderful quirkiness to that character that he left a lingering impression on me ever since, so I was thrilled to see him on his own show as a lead character. ♥
The premise of Pushing Daisies isn’t overly original, it’s the execution that sets the show apart. The show is about young Ned, who one day finds that he can bring the deceased back to life, simply by touching them, but if he touches the same person again (or the person accidentally touches him), they drop back dead. So far so good, the universe has to be balanced though, so there is a clause: if he brings someone back to life and the person doesn’t return to its death-ly status again within one minute, someone else, who happens to be in close proximity, will die instead. The discovery of his ‘gift’ turns into a troubling series of events for Ned and he finds himself 20 years later as a pie-maker with an odd occupation for his spare time: helping a private investigator uncover unsolved murders, ‘cause y’know, who knows better about how they came to kick the bucket than the deceased themselves, right? *g*
If you now think, ah Six Feet Under meets Dead Like Me, then you are quite mistaken though. The show can best be described as Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket meet Tim Burton (Big Fish & Charlie and The Chocolate Factory era rather than Batman), add a shot of Jeunet’s The wonderful world of Amélie and you get the picture. This is not (at least not for the Pilot) about the angsty confrontation with our own mortality. It’s a colourful, bright, magical fairy tale world, with playful settings and a jaunty tune as score set in the background. The animating story of Ned is charmingly told by Jim Dale as the narrator from the off, who brings just the right amount of ironic vibe into the narration to deliver the sometimes slightly morbid voiceover for the story.
The characters are all quirky, funny and loveable and the dialogues are wonderfully light-hearted and sophisticated. The romantic subplot is very predictable from the beginning, but that’s just how these kinds of stories go, it’s part of the fairy tale and hence comes logically with the package, but Lee Pace and his childhood sweetheart played by Anna Friel hit just the right note between sweetness and playfulness without turning too sugary.
This is absolutely the show that I was looking for this season. Light-hearted, humorous fun, with a light edge and enough eccentricity to keep me interested. If you like movies like Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, Tim Burton’s Big Fish or the aforementioned Amélie, this show will entertain you. If you look for drama, action and special effects this might not be your cup of tea, but I for one am curious to see if they manage to hold up the expectations and standard they set up with the Pilot!
The premise of Pushing Daisies isn’t overly original, it’s the execution that sets the show apart. The show is about young Ned, who one day finds that he can bring the deceased back to life, simply by touching them, but if he touches the same person again (or the person accidentally touches him), they drop back dead. So far so good, the universe has to be balanced though, so there is a clause: if he brings someone back to life and the person doesn’t return to its death-ly status again within one minute, someone else, who happens to be in close proximity, will die instead. The discovery of his ‘gift’ turns into a troubling series of events for Ned and he finds himself 20 years later as a pie-maker with an odd occupation for his spare time: helping a private investigator uncover unsolved murders, ‘cause y’know, who knows better about how they came to kick the bucket than the deceased themselves, right? *g*
If you now think, ah Six Feet Under meets Dead Like Me, then you are quite mistaken though. The show can best be described as Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket meet Tim Burton (Big Fish & Charlie and The Chocolate Factory era rather than Batman), add a shot of Jeunet’s The wonderful world of Amélie and you get the picture. This is not (at least not for the Pilot) about the angsty confrontation with our own mortality. It’s a colourful, bright, magical fairy tale world, with playful settings and a jaunty tune as score set in the background. The animating story of Ned is charmingly told by Jim Dale as the narrator from the off, who brings just the right amount of ironic vibe into the narration to deliver the sometimes slightly morbid voiceover for the story.
The characters are all quirky, funny and loveable and the dialogues are wonderfully light-hearted and sophisticated. The romantic subplot is very predictable from the beginning, but that’s just how these kinds of stories go, it’s part of the fairy tale and hence comes logically with the package, but Lee Pace and his childhood sweetheart played by Anna Friel hit just the right note between sweetness and playfulness without turning too sugary.
This is absolutely the show that I was looking for this season. Light-hearted, humorous fun, with a light edge and enough eccentricity to keep me interested. If you like movies like Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, Tim Burton’s Big Fish or the aforementioned Amélie, this show will entertain you. If you look for drama, action and special effects this might not be your cup of tea, but I for one am curious to see if they manage to hold up the expectations and standard they set up with the Pilot!