Life, Loss, Touch, and Laugh

Neither commanding nor blatant, Pushing Daisies is a slightly off-beat sort of funny. The latest project from Bryan Fuller, the man behind Dead Like Me, it is without doubt witty and well-written; the aesthetic is reminiscent of that of a Tim Burton film (one of said reviewer’s top directors), and the music accompaniment, created by Jim Dooley (who’s composed for everything from Harry Potter and Spiderman 3 movie trailers to entire film soundtracks for The Da Vinci Code and Madagascar) is melodic and instrumental, which, combined with the Lemony Snicket-esque narration by Jim Dale, plays well into the "forensic fairy-tale" nature of the show.

The premise for the show involves a young boy’s realization that he has the ability to return life to the dead.

At age nine, through a rather unfortunate encounter involving the death of his dog, Digby, Ned discovers that with a single touch, he can bring the deceased back to life. However, he shortly thereafter learns that this remarkable gift comes with some very explicit exceptions. While he can restore life, he can only do so for a minute without imposing death on another like-being in the area, unless he touches the being again, at which point they are dead forever. Both of these lessons are learned rather tragically, though the deaths of his own mother, and the father of his romantic interest, the girl next door, Charlotte, who he endearingly calls Chuck.

As his mother was baking a pie when she died, Ned, nineteen years later, owns and works in a pie shop, called The Pie Hole. He is aptly often referred to as "The Pie Maker" in the narration.

Through a chance encounter, Ned’s gift is revealed to Private Investigator, Emerson Cod, and the two become business partners: they join forces to solve murders and split the reward money. All is well until the deceased is none other than his childhood love, Chuck. After questioning her, Ned cannot bring himself to put her back to death and consequently re-falls in love with her. They accordingly must endure their love without physical affection, an interesting twist of nature.

The show approaches the reality of life, death, and human contact without being overbearing: while other shows (even by this very creator) handling the subjects have been relatively quick to be taken off air, Pushing Daisies’ approach is slightly more optimistic, and its wit, humor, and romance allow it to broach the topics without excessive morbidity.

While it isn’t difficult to grow weary of (or annoyed by) Chuck’s at times overly played eagerness and naivete, the consistency of Ned’s charm more than makes up for it. The characters are well-thought, well-developed, and well-played and it is easy to find oneself growing attachments and returning weekly.