DEAD is alive. Again.
This time it’s called “Pushing Daisies,” and it’s ABC’s turn to cash in on the wonderful, fun life of corpses.
Ever notice that at least one and usually two networks try to revive the dead each season with a fanciful show about living stiffs?
“Pushing Daisies” – which happens to be created by Bryan Fuller, who brought you “Dead Like Me” and the mega-hit “Heroes” – is about a guy who can bring back the dead. The caveat? He can never touch them ever again or they’ll die again for good.
So far the show’s advance reviews have been sparkling – once someone has a hit like “Heroes,” he becomes a media darling who can do no wrong.
And trust me, I wish I were as taken by this show. But frankly, if you close your eyes you’ll think you’re listening to the latest sequel of “Babe.”
It’s got the same fanciful narration (“Babe” had the great Roscoe Lee Browne; “Daisies” has the equally phenomenal Jim Dale), the same fairy-tale colors, the same gingerbread landscape and the same fairy-tale plot.
Co-created with Barry Sonnenfeld (“Men In Black”), the camera zooms in on Ned, who is 9 years, 27 months, 6 days and 3 hours old when the show opens.
He is romping with his dog, who runs into the road and is hit by a semi. Young Ned touches the dead doggy, and it comes back to life.
He also discovers that with the gift of life comes the death of something or someone else if he allows them to stay alive for more than a minute. He also discovers that if he touches the living dead again, they die forever.
Fast forward 19 years and 49 weeks and we find Ned (Lee Pace) and the dog doing well. Apparently Ned never had the inclination to say “shake hands, boy” by mistake again.
Ned’s now a pie baker which gives the narrator ample opportunity to say “the pie baker” many times.
Ned’s restaurant, “The Pie Hole,” has one over-ripe, amorous waitress (Kristin Chenowith) whom the pie baker never touches, ostensibly for fear he’ll kill her. But I think it’s because she’s an idiot who says things like “I used to think masturbation meant chewing your food.” Gosh, that’s exactly what I don’t want to hear from my waitress.
Ned, who revives dead fruit for his pies, meets a private eye over a piece o’ pie. The PI called Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) discovers Ned’s talent and induces him to wake up mur der victims to find out who killed them. That way they can collect the reward.
It helps that newly-dead Chuck (Anna Friel), the love of his life, has been murdered on a cruise ship much to the horror of her synchronized swimming aunts (Swoozie Kurtz and Ellen Greene).
Ned brings Chuck back to life but can’t touch her or she’ll drop again. I’d say that “Pushing Daisies” is really a metaphor about the frustrations of desire – but that would make me sound like The New York Times.
Just let me say: “Pushing Daisies” is fanciful and fun, but sometimes pushes the daisies too hard.
“Pushing Daisies”
Tonight at 8 on ABC