When Murder Meets Romance in a Quirky Tim Burton Style Fantasy — “Pushing Daisies”

Actor Lee Pace posted some behind the scenes photos on Instagram yesterday from his 2007 ABC production “Pushing Daisies” and brought me back all the good memories. On the list of my favorite TV shows, “Pushing Daisies” is definitely Top 1 in the romance genre, sadly it’s also one of the shortest, as it got cancelled after merely 2 seasons.

The story of “Pushing Daisies” is about a puppy face pie-maker Ned (Lee Pace) who has a super power to bring the dead to life with one touch. When working with private investigator Emerson (Chi McBride) to solve murder cases, he accidentally woke up his childhood crush Chuck (Anna Friel). Since then, Ned is busy building relationship with Chuck without touching (the downside of his ability is that the waking dead will be dead again after a second touch), and dealing with his lovesick neighbor/employee Oliver (Kristin Chenoweth).

The plot is quite simple, so if you only watch the trailer (link at the end of this article) or the short intro, you would think it’s nothing but another murder-mystery drama with some romance elements to attract female audiences (ok, a disclaimer here, I was among many girls who were once totally charmed by Ned’s smile), but only take you another episodes or two, you’ll realize how charming the show really is!

Bryan Fuller, who is maybe now better known as the writer of Hannibal and Star Trek: Discovery, is the talented creator who blended a bit of mystery, some drama, quite many romance, and a lot of exotic ingredients into the show. I haven’t seen such a lovable show ever since its cancellation in 2009 (NBC’s “The Good Place” may come close, can see my review here)

With a master producer team including Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, who were also the producers of Tim Burton’s fantasy drama movie Big Fish, no wonder people say “Pushing Daisies” is very classic Tim Burton style. Nevertheless, I would say “Pushing Daisies” has its own “white Tim Burton” vibe, given the technicolor tone throughout the show has outlined a whimsical world full of bright and positive energy. And sometimes that’s all we need, a bit of shininess and colors to make life promising again.

The hopeless romantic scenes between good-old Ned and optimistic Chuck are another highlight of the show. Just as those great love stories in history, the couple who can’t be together by destiny almost always make it a compelling read. In the show Ned and Chuck are set to be never able to touch each other, so they find their own creative way to express their love; either it‘s a plastic wrap kiss, a side by side hand-holding in the back, or a backscratcher-surrogate for touch. They just can’t be any sweeter!

 All in all, I’m glad to hear from the show after so many years. Thanks to the recent heat in streaming service, many classic shows are coming back, and it’s always such a delight to see these familiar faces. For those of you haven’t experienced the young Lee Pace charm or am a fellow fan of fantasy drama, click the trailer below before solving crimes with a pie-maker on HBO Max.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fliFS-BfGZ0

Disclaimer: copyright of all the pictures in this article goes to ABC.

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