Pushing Daisies Information

Pushing Daisies is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bryan Fuller that aired on ABC from October 3, 2007 to June 13, 2009. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life with his touch, an ability that comes with stipulations. The cast also includes Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Kristin Chenoweth, Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz. The series is narrated by Jim Dale.

Touted as a "forensic fairy tale", the series is known for its unique visual style, quirky characters, and fast-paced dialogue.

The series received critical acclaim including numerous awards. The series received 17 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with seven wins; including Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for Barry Sonnenfeld and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Kristin Chenoweth.

Plot

Pushing Daisies centers on the life of Ned (Lee Pace), a pie-maker gifted with the mysterious ability to bring dead things back to life by touching them. There are some conditions to this talent. Ned quickly learns that if something is revived for more than exactly one minute, something of similar "life value" in the vicinity drops dead, as a form of balance. Additionally, if he touches the revived person or thing a second time, it falls dead again, this time permanently.

In the pilot episode, Ned discovers his gift as a child by resurrecting his Golden Retriever, Digby, after the dog is hit by a truck. He later brings back his mother when she dies of an aneurysm. However, in doing this, he accidentally causes the death of the father of his childhood sweetheart, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (Anna Friel), as the "price" of keeping his mother alive. Even worse, Ned's mother falls dead permanently when she gives him a good-night kiss (which is how he learns the effect of the second touch).

In their childhood, Ned and Chuck become separated after Chuck's agoraphobic aunts, Vivian (Ellen Greene) and Lily (Swoosie Kurtz), move in to take the role of her parents, while Ned is shipped off by his father to a lonely boarding school.

Inheriting his mother's baking talents, Ned becomes a pie-maker who owns a restaurant called "The Pie Hole", which he runs with the help of waitress Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth). The restaurant is failing financially when private investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) accidentally discovers Ned's gift and offers him a proposal: Ned will temporarily bring murder victims back to life, allowing Emerson to inquire about the circumstances of their demise, quickly solve the case and split the reward money with him.

The scheme succeeds until they learn that Chuck, whom Ned has not seen since childhood, was murdered while on a cruise ship. When her body is shipped back home, Ned revives her, but can't bring himself to allow her to stay dead by touching her a second time. Against his better judgment, Ned allows her to live and the larcenous funeral home director falls dead in her place. Ned and Chuck fall in love again and he brings her home to live with him under the unique circumstances of their never being able to touch each other, with the exception of the occasional kiss through the protective barrier of a sheet of plastic wrap. Chuck, extraordinarily grateful for her second chance at life, starts to appreciate life as a truly precious resource; and Ned, witnessing his vivacious beauty's happiness, begins to break out of his lonely shell. Chuck joins Ned and Emerson in investigating deaths for reward money, starting with tracking down her own killer. Emerson initially dislikes Chuck, whom he calls Deadgirl, but often allows her to take part in detecting.

Other storylines include Emerson's search for his missing daughter, after she was taken away by her mother, a con woman. After meeting a publisher of pop-up books, Emerson is inspired to create his own pop-up book, Li'l Gumshoe, hoping that it will be published and that his daughter will read the book and find her way back to him. Olive Snook pines away for Ned. Chuck's aunts slowly learn to accept the death of their only niece, and become friends with Olive, who brings them pie laced with homeopathic mood enhancers baked by Chuck to uplift their spirits. As the series goes on, we find out Chuck is actually Lily's daughter from an infidelity with Chuck's father who was also Vivian's fiancé. We also learn that Ned's father, after abandoning him in boarding school, became the father of twins Maurice and Ralston, aspiring magicians. Ned revives Chuck's father to ask him some questions, and Chuck fakes her father's second death (having him put on a glove so Ned doesn't touch him again) so she can have her father back in her life.

An epilogue at the end of the series reveals that Emerson's daughter returns to him, Chuck is able to reveal that she is alive to her mother Lily and aunt Vivian, and Olive has fallen in love with Ned's friend Randy Mann and opens her own restaurant dedicated to macaroni and cheese called "The Intrepid Cow".

Cast and characters

See List of Pushing Daisies characters for more information

Main cast

• Lee Pace as Ned. A pie maker and owner of the Pie Hole restaurant.
• Anna Friel as Charlotte "Chuck" Charles. Ned's childhood sweetheart, murdered, but brought back to life by Ned.
• Chi McBride as Emerson Cod. A private investigator, Ned's business partner.
• Kristin Chenoweth as Olive Snook. "Pie Hole" waitress, and "hopelessly devoted" to Ned.
• Ellen Greene as Vivian Charles. Chuck's aunt, an agoraphobic.
• Swoosie Kurtz as Lily Charles. Chuck's mother, originally thought to be her aunt.
• Jim Dale as Narrator. Third-person omniscient.
• Field Cate as Young Ned. Becomes a regular cast member in the second season premiere.

Recurring cast

• Sy Richardson as the Coroner (12 episodes)
• Sammi Hanratty as Young Chuck (6 episodes)
• Stephen Root as Dwight Dixon (5 episodes)
• David Arquette as Randy Mann (4 episodes)
• Diana Scarwid as Mother Superior (4 episodes)
• Christine Adams as Simone Hundin (3 episodes)
• Raúl Esparza as Alfredo Aldarisio (2 episodes)
• Alex Miller as Maurice (2 episodes)
• Graham Miller as Ralston (2 episodes)
• Josh Randall as Charles Charles (2 episodes)
• Paul Reubens as Oscar Vibenius (2 episodes)

Guest stars

Production

Production history

The series was greenlit and given a 13-episode order by ABC on May 11, 2007. On October 23, 2007, the show received a full season order. However, scripts for only nine episodes were completed before the start of the 2007"2008 Writers Guild of America strike. Bryan Fuller reportedly made last-minute changes to the ninth episode to allow it to serve as a season finale, adjusting the episode to be a cliffhanger.

Because of the Writers Guild strike, the show completed only nine episodes of a full 22-episode season. Instead of attempting to complete the first season, the writers planned to start work on the second season with production restarting around March to June 2008. Although ABC picked Pushing Daisies up for the 2008"09 television season, when ratings quickly declined ABC opted not to order any additional episodes beyond the second season's initial thirteen. By November 20, 2008, creator Bryan Fuller had confirmed that Pushing Daisies had been cancelled by ABC and expressed the possibility of wrapping up any lingering plotlines in a comic book or movie sequel.

On July 17, 2008, Pushing Daisies was nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Lee Pace), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Kristin Chenoweth), and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Bryan Fuller). It won three; for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (Barry Sonnenfeld), Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Jim Dooley), and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series.

The last scheduled episode of the show was broadcast in the United States on December 17, 2008, leaving three episodes unaired, although those episodes were screened at the 2009 Paley Fest. ABC was in negotiations at one time to forfeit broadcast rights to the shows and make the unaired episodes available exclusively online, but announced on April 3, 2009 the final three episodes would be broadcast on ABC Saturdays at 10:00 pm beginning May 30. According to Chenoweth, these episodes do not provide a narrative conclusion to the series.

The final three episodes aired on ABC on successive Saturdays at 10:00 pm from Saturday, May 30, 2009 to June 13, 2009, having already aired elsewhere around the world. In India, the last episode aired on February 27, 2009 as a world premiere. In Germany, the television network ProSieben showed the last three episodes of Pushing Daisies on March 4, 2009 ("Window Dressed to Kill") and March 11, 2009 ("Water and Power", "Kerplunk"). The three remaining unaired episodes were also broadcast in the UK as ITV announced it would be showing the complete season during its run on the channel.

The original concept of Pushing Daisies was rooted from Dead Like Me. The show's creator, Bryan Fuller, intended for Pushing Daisies to be a spinoff of Dead Like Me.

Visual design

Production designer Michael Wylie told TV Guide that, "My goal was a storybook come to life. I wanted everything to look almost like an illustration." He achieved this by "concentrating on conflicting patterns in different colors, particularly reds and oranges, but per director Barry Sonnenfeld, virtually no blues." Cinematographer Michael Weaver told Variety that he and the producers decided the visuals should "feel somewhere between Amélie and a Tim Burton film "? something big, bright and bigger than life."

The distinctive storybook-esque style is continued within the overall design of the visual aspects. Circular background shapes, circular windows, and framing shots within circles was a common theme consistent throughout the series. Symmetry is also a common theme used in its visual style, and characters are often framed in windows, doors, or background props. A heavy use of patterns within a location was often used, where a similar pattern would be used in almost the entire location"?the wallpaper, window blinds, bedsheets, pillows, furniture, and even clothing, such as Olive's apartment. The series would often use top-down perspectives and over-head shots which would showcase its overall visual style. Regardless of the fact that the show focuses on murder investigations, the morgue is still painted in candy-cane stripes and many of the outfits worn by the characters are vibrantly colored, bright, and cheery (for example, Olive's work uniform is a lime-green pinstriped dress, and Emerson is frequently seen wearing shades of purple). Only Ned consistently wears black.

CGI is very prominent in the series, with much use of blue screen technology (the shop window, similar set pieces and outdoor scenery outside often cast a blue halo tinge) and 3D set-extensions (streets, grass and landscape, the pie shop façade). The use of matte painting backdrops are also used to complete the look.

Automobiles featured in the series are often mint-condition vintage vehicles, though some newer vehicles have been used (such as a mid-1990s Chevrolet Lumina APV minivan, a Hummer, or a 2006 Toyota Prius). Emerson drives a mid-1960s Lincoln Continental with suicide doors in like-new condition. Ned is also seen driving a very old, but like-new car, a Mercedes-Benz W108. Other characters drive decades-old vehicles as well. 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor cars in their ambulance and hearse configurations figure frequently in the series. Old-fashioned trolley cars can also be seen in several shots panning in to the Pie Hole.

Quirkiness

Critics have noted that Pushing Daisies has a distinctive visual style. A NYTimes critic describes it as a "candy-colored, computer-generated bucolic scenery" and another describes a "Technicolor world that seems to exist at right angles to our own" and also note "bizarre dialogue" and the use of alliterative and near-duplicate names of both characters (such as Deedee Duffield, Billy Balsam, the Darling Mermaid Darlings, Charles Charles, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles, John Joseph Jacobs, etc.) and locations (Boutique Travel Travel Boutique, Über Life Life Insurance, Coeur d'Coeurs, etc.). Some of the narration is done in the poetic style of Dr. Seuss.

Music

The show contains original music composed and arranged by Jim Dooley. The first six minutes of the series pilot, "Pie-lette" were composed by Blake Neely. Dooley describes the musical score as having an Amélie type of sound (Yann Tiersen), which is a "wide-angled, adult fairy tale, with a narrator and this super-real world." It was announced on Jim Dooley's website that the soundtrack of the first season was originally going to be released by Varèse Sarabande on October 21, 2008, but was delayed until December 23, 2008, with the album being available in the iTunes Store on December 10, 2008. A soundtrack for the second season was released on April 5, 2011, also composed by Jim Dooley and released by Varèse Sarabande.

Both Kristin Chenoweth and Ellen Greene have backgrounds in musical theater, and have performed musical numbers in some episodes. In "Dummy", Chenoweth sang "Hopelessly Devoted to You" from the movie musical Grease. In "Pigeon", Chenoweth and Greene harmonized on the They Might Be Giants hit, "Birdhouse in Your Soul". Also in "Smell of Success", Greene sang "Morning Has Broken". Chenoweth had requested to sing "Eternal Flame" in an episode, which Bryan Fuller had agreed to accommodate. The song was sung in "Comfort Food". She also performed a cover of Lionel Richie's "Hello" in "Window Dressed to Kill".

Series continuation

Comics

The show's official website included a comic book that was distributed at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con International, which featured new mysteries and background information not shown on the televised episodes. The book also contained recaps of aired episodes.

When the show struggled in the ratings during its second season, Bryan Fuller said that, should ABC not pick up the series for additional episodes, he would release comic books and maybe a movie based on the show in order to wrap up outstanding stories for fans. Warner Bros. has given the okay to Fuller to produce comic books.

Fuller stated that the "third season" comic book series would be twelve issues long, and be a fresh take on the zombie genre starring all of the characters from the show. It was to have been published by DC Comics' WildStorm imprint. On October 13, 2009, Entertainment Weekly reported that Bryan Fuller had just turned in the script for the first comic issue, featuring recurring character Oscar Vibenius, and continued to work with the show's writers on the next three comic scripts. In January 2010, a rumor leaked that the comic series could potentially become a graphic novel instead.

On September 23, 2010, Entertainment Weekly reported the first issue of "season 3" was expected to come out early 2011. Further, Fuller stated that he and the show's composer Jim Dooley had talked about giving the audience a multimedia experience with a Pushing Daisies comic soundtrack, to be released officially or streamed for free online when the comic book was published. Fuller stated that Dooley had started composing musical cues, and that the cast had agreed to sing on the soundtrack, though licensing fees for the actors may have prevented such performances from being included.

In late 2010, DC Comics shut down its WildStorm imprint. On April 23, 2011, Fuller confirmed on Twitter that release of the comic had been postponed by the loss of its publisher. At the same time, Fuller released the first page of the uncolored version of the comic book.

Mini-series/film

On April 1, 2011, at WonderCon in San Francisco, Bryan Fuller was quoted as saying "I am really emboldened by what Starz is doing with Torchwood and I would love to do a Pushing Daisies mini-series on Starz," Fuller says. "This would be a great way to wrap up the show properly. [We could] do six great episodes or even a Pushing Daisies movie. But I kind of like the idea of a Starz mini-series since they really embraced Torchwood."

Broadway musical

On July 16, 2012, when asked about a potential stage adaptation of the show by TVLine's Michael Ausiello, Fuller responded, "Perhaps!". "I can't really say until it's confirmed. but perhaps. We're working on something that is definitely a Pushing Daisies revival, and the idea would be to have as many cast [members] as we can to participate in it."

Reception

U.S. ratings

The heavily-promoted pilot episode ("Pie-lette") attracted 13 million viewers in the United States; it was the most-watched new series and 14th in overall viewership for the week.

Season	Episodes	Timeslot (ET)	Season premiere	Season finale	TV season	Season rank	Viewers (in millions)	Network
1	9	Wednesday 8:00 pm	October 3, 2007	December 12, 2007	2007"2008	#52	9.46	ABC
2	13	Wednesday 8:00 pm (October 1, 2008 " December 17, 2008) Saturday 10:00 pm (May 30, 2009 " June 13, 2009)	October 1, 2008	June 13, 2009	2008"2009	#95	6.10

Critical reception

Critics responded well to the series, comparing the style and direction to that of director Tim Burton. The pilot, before it officially aired, was well received by critics who were able to screen it. TV Guide's Michael Ausiello claimed that "ABC has found its next Lost!" upon review and the series has also been touted as "the fall show with the most spring buzz" by many, including the trade publicationVariety. New York Magazine also provided it with a rave review, calling it "funny, imaginative and smart" while also claiming it "boasts Gilmore Girls-speed wit." Television Without Pity declared it "one of the most original, most genuinely entertaining shows on TV. It's filled with tongue-tying turns of phrase, fabulous set design and a fantastic cast." Time magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 New TV Series of 2007, ranking it at #5. The show was also heavily promoted by E! online columnist Kristin Dos Santos (who guest starred in one episode as the "'30s Woman") and was featured in her Top 10 shows of 2007.

Awards and nominations

The show was nominated for 57 awards, and won 18 of them, including 7 Primetime Emmy Awards.

In 2008, the series received 12 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including 3 wins. Barry Sonnenfeld won for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for "Pie-lette". James Dooley won for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for "Pigeon". Other notable nominations included Lee Pace for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Kristin Chenoweth for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and Bryan Fuller for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for "Pie-lette". The series also received 3 Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Television Series " Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series " Musical or Comedy (Lee Pace), and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series " Musical or Comedy (Anna Friel). Barry Sonnenfeld also won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing " Comedy Series for "Pie-lette".

In 2009, the series received 5 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including 4 wins. Kristin Chenoweth won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series while the series won 3 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

DVD and Blu-ray releases

Season	Region 1 Release Date	Region 2 Release Date	Region 4 Release Date	Episodes	Discs	Bonus Features
1	September 16, 2008	June 23, 2008 September 15, 2008 (Blu-ray)	December 9, 2008	9	3	Pie Time: Time for Pie " An interactive featurette with creators of the show, the set designer and special effects team who all come together to make this show so unique. Special interviews from creator Bryan Fuller and Lee Pace as they discuss their favorite first season scenes. Region 4 DVDs do not contain this special feature.
2	July 21, 2009	May 25, 2009	April 28, 2010	13	4	The Master Pie Maker " Hop into creator Bryan Fuller's mind to discover the inner secrets of Pushing Daisies! From Oven to Table " Follow the production challenges of taking one of Bryan Fuller's script ideas, involving a lighthouse and an egg, and crafting it into reality. Secret Sweet Ingredients " Learn how composer Jim Dooley's music shapes a scene in ways most viewers aren't even aware of. Add a Little Magic " Watch the visual effects team bring a 2-ton rhino to life and learn about the challenges of executing a scene to rival Jumanji!