I have recently developed a strange fascination with the baking of pies, to the point that I'm embarking on a pie project that will revolutionize...ahem...sorry, I'm drifting off topic, as always. Anyhow, the prospect of baking and eating lots of pie made me nostalgic for a brilliant show from 2007 that was all about pie and, despite that universal appeal, was canceled far too soon. Of course, you immediately realized that I'm talking about Pushing Daisies - the best pie show ever.
In addition to pie, the show features a great cast, superb writing, and really outstanding visual design that makes the show look like a fairy tale about death... and pie. In addition to the ability to bake really killer pies, Ned (the main character) has the ability to bring dead things back to life by touching them once. This seems like a really cool ability but it turns out, if he touches them a second time, they die again (which is really tragic because it means he often can't eat his own pies when he "revives" the fruit for them). Oh, and if he doesn't touch them a second time then they don't die again, but something/someone else dies in their place. Ned uses this ability to help the awesomely named Emerson Cod, P.I. to solve crimes and collect rewards. He also uses it to revive his childhood sweetheart whom he then can't touch again, potentially ever.
It's quirky, it has fun dialogue, it's really pretty to look at, and it has a scene midway through season one where Kristen Chenoweth (Wicked) and Ellen Greene (Little Shop of Horrors) sing They Might Be Giants' Birdhouse In Your Soul. Yes, really. Also, there's pie.
Seriously, if you haven't seen this show, it's time to go stream it from Netflix. This is the perfect time of year (the doldrums between the February sweeps and the May sweeps) to get acquainted - or reacquainted - with a brilliant-but-canceled show.
No comments:
Post a Comment