studioAT A victim really of the 07-08 writers strike this show deserved longer. It was very quirky, didn't really fit a box in terms of genre, and had a good cast, including Brit, Anna Friel.Sadly some of those plus points I mentioned also worked against the show. It was really overly quirky, to the point I expected to see Tim Burton's name on the credits, and the fact that it didn't really fit a box in terms of genre I'm guessing didn't make it easy for TV bosses to market.In the UK it was also sadly shown in the big Saturday night slot on ITV, where people I don't think expected to find such an 'out there' show.It's a real shame.

james-726-893190 I've marathon-ed this baby and I still crave for more. Despite the rushed ending it still covered the highlighted issues of all characters. I also grew fond of the hilarious PlayStation-like CGI. The acting is superb, the characters all have this endeavoring individualism that you can pinpoint whose who and what's who. Every episode has its own language and the series itself was just a mouthful of tasty pie. Real, addicting, pie. Sadly it was running during the time where most shows were canceled to avoid the risk of loss. O' well, maybe Fuller will think of reviving it someday but I wish the original cast to remain if so.

stormcatcher-2 If you're familiar with Bryan Fuller's work ("Wonderfalls", "Dead Like Me", and probably the only decent bits of "Heroes", which was otherwise less than stellar), you'll probably like this. It has many of his usual tropes: strong-minded female characters (although this time around, he main character is male), at least one female character with a male nickname, dark humor, and an element of the paranormal.Be warned, though: more so than any other series he's worked on, this one purposefully goes over the top with its style. Justifiably described as a "forensic fairytale", the colors are vibrant and lush, the names and places whimsical, and the humor dry and offbeat - with the occasional bonus of a musical number courtesy of Kristin Chenowith, as Olive.In the end, maybe that's why "Pushing Daisies" didn't make it. In spite of the dark humor and semi-morbid subject matter, there's a much bigger sense of hopefulness and joy at work here, and under that candy-coated exterior, a surprising amount of depth. But you have to be willing to look for it a little - so if you have a short attention span or are otherwise fairly cynical and enjoy things like watching other people fail, you'll hate this series. Go watch one of the many horrible and formulaic reality TV shows that are unfortunately still out there.Luckily, the rest of us can buy this show on DVD and bask in its exuberance anytime we want. It's pie, all right. And it's absolutely delicious.

MartinHafer "Pushing Daisies" was a marvelously original show--so much so that it had to fail. After all, good television is like the sentiment 'no good deed goes unpunished'! And, like a wonderful show, it manages to start off with a real bang--with an episode that keeps you wanting more.Apparently, the idea for "Pushing Daisies" was originally a plot idea for "Dead Like Me"--another show so good that it quickly failed. In the show, they had planned to have the reapers learn that some of their victims had mysteriously returned to life--the result of a guy with magical life-giving powers. Well, the idea was re-tooled for this ABC series and was done independently of "Dead Like Me". However, unlike "Dead Like Me" the atmosphere, costumes and set design had a much more other-worldly appearance--like it was filmed in a magical fictional land--full of LOTS of primary and secondary colors! I could try to explain the series, but frankly it defies explanations. Plus, IMDb has a summary. Instead, lets' focus specifically on what they got right...other than everything (which is true but a bit vague). The characters are exquisitely written and easy to love...very easy to love. The dialog is even better--very, very snappy, intelligently written and clever. And the plots generally very good--specifically so in this pilot. In this case the entire lore of Ned's magical powers is explained as well as the set-up for the series--his partner Emerson (my favorite character), how he accidentally brought Chuck (a girl) back to life as well as his strange but lovable employee (Olive).