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STUDIO: Warner Brothers
MSRP: $29.98
RATED: Not Rated
RUNNING TIME: 379 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Pie Time: Time for Pie” featurette collection
The Pitch
A young man resurrects young love.
The Humans
Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Anna Chenoweth, Alan Dale, Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene
The Nutshell
Ned is a simple piemaker. He holds a secret from his childhood that some might consider otherworldly. Whatever he touches, he can bring back from the dead. But, if he touches them again…they’re worm food. After the death of his childhood sweetheart, Ned brings her back and keeps her alive. Not knowing the cost of his actions or how long he can go without touching her, Ned has to find a way to make the relationship work.
The Hollow Man loves them petite and preachy.
The Lowdown
The love triangle between Ned, Chuck and Olive (Kristen Chenoweth) has provided for one of the best surprises of the 2007/2008 television season. Series creator Bryan Fuller has a history of developing interesting shows that barely last a full season. But, teaming up with creative CGI background style and the careful eye of Barry Sonnenfeld, Fuller has stumbled onto something different. We get his charming quirk coupled with eye-popping visuals. Television is slowly moving into the big-budget realm of film and it’s nice to see something so dazzling on the small screen.
The hottest lady on American Television now. Sorry, Jenna Fisher.
The piemaker Ned is a revelation. His work with detective Emerson (Chi McBride) opens the series, as a plot device to explain why Chuck comes into the picture. Ned’s childhood love Chuck (Anna Friel) was murdered aboard a cruise ship and had her body dumped overboard. Ned brings Chuck back, but this starts a new world of possibilties. When Ned and Chuck were children, Ned discovered his necromantic abilities. He brought his mother back from the dead, but it killed Chuck’s father. When Ned slipped up one night, he ended up killing his mother as well.
This is what happens when you get off Skid Row.
This give and take of Ned’s predicament is what informs the nine episodes of this first season. Fuller slowly opens the world up by showing events playing off the talents. Only Olive gets a little subplot about her days a horse jockey during the Halloween episode. Season 2 promises to go even further past Ned and delve into the characters. Which can only be an improvement. You can only spend so much time on Ned’s predicament before he becomes a supernatural Ross Gellar.
This series has broken the cancellation curse for me. Anything that’s unique and dares to think outside of the box can survive on television. You don’t need action or even big names. A warm heart and a charming story about love conquering all can bring together the right elements for a healthy life on network television. Now, if they could just do something about Ellen Greene’s voice. Every time she speaks on this show, I feel like someone should slap a helmet on her.
Perfection.
The Package
Pushing Daisies – Season 1 comes
to
DVD
with a toned down offering. The WGA Strike of 2007/2008 cut the season in half, but we still get nine wonderful episodes with brilliant A/V Quality. Throw on a collection of mini-featurettes that focus on the production of each episode and you’ve got a nice TV on DVD release. But, that’s not the best thing about this release.
This release will give you the chance to catch the wave on an underrated show. You don’t want to be a poseur among your friends and develop an interest in the show after it has gained its popularity. What you want to do is head out and buy this release. You will believe that the dead can rise. Even, if it’s just the adorable Anna Friel.
The most romantic scene in American television for the past decade.