Could the most magical crime dramedy in TV history be making a comeback? Its creator sure hopes so!
Bryan Fuller is well known in TV circles for crafting some of the most unique shows ever put on networks. Wonderfalls, Hannibal, American Gods and worked on several Star Trek series. Yet the one show of his that fans cite as the best is easily the 2007-2009 ABC series Pushing Daisies. While it ended in 2009 after two seasons and 22 episodes, the series maintains a massive cult following.
That came up when Fuller was promoting his new film Dust Bunny with The Mary Sue, who asked if Fuller had any hopes of a third season of the series.
“Absolutely. We have a season three pitch, and the entire cast wants to come back, and we’re hoping we get to return to them. We just have to find somebody who wants to make it.. We’re trying to do another season this year.”
This is wonderful news for the fans of this amazing series. When it premiered in 2007, the show was instantly hailed by critics as one of the best of that year and even earned Kristen Chenoweth an Emmy award. Sadly, like every show of that year, the 2007 Writers’ Guild strike affected the series, cutting the first season to just 11 episodes. ABC had renewed it by then, but the ratings were poor and so it ended after 22 episodes.
Yet the show maintains its following thanks to being like no other television show before or since.
Why Pushing Daisies is so magical
Just what is Pushing Daisies about? Well, as the omnipresent narration of Jim Dale would put it, “The facts were these.”
Ned (Lee Pace) is a piemaker in the quirky town of Coeur d'Coeurs with Olive Snook (Chenoweth) as his waitress. Ned has the strange gift of being able to bring the dead back to life with a touch. However, if they’re alive for more than one minute, someone else has to die to maintain the cosmic balance. Besides operating the Pie Hole diner, Ned helps private investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride), who sees the benefits of a partner who can bring a murder victim to life to reveal who killed them.
Ned is thrown when the latest victim is his childhood love, Charlotte “Chuck” Charles (Anna Friel). He brings her back, but can’t bring himself to kill her again. They thus live together in a romance despite being unable to touch, keeping away from Chuck’s aunts (Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene) and solving crimes.
The show is impossible to describe in its style. It’s like a fairy tale laced with deaths that are equal parts gruesome and hilarious. The series had a gorgeous atmosphere with the strange town, nutty characters, brilliant wordplay and writing and the heart of the Ned/Chuck romance. The flashbacks to the crimes and backstories of the characters were joyful with intriguing twists. One watch and it’s easy to get hooked and marvel at how it’s sheer television perfection.
Fuller has talked in the past of reviving the show as a comic book, yet television is always where it belongs. It would be a joy to see it continue as the series still had some fun mysteries, along with stellar special effects for the corpses brought back to life.
It may be a bit of a challenge to pick up the tale nearly twenty years later. However, the cast has continued to succeed in various TV roles and clearly would all jump at the chance to return to this beloved show. If anything, the series would be better in today’s streaming world, with a place like HBO or Netflix letting them get more creative than 2007 network TV would allow. It would also help with shorter seasons, keeping the storylines tight.
Fingers crossed this happens, as if any TV show of the past deserves a sequel, it’s Pushing Daisies to finally bring this beautiful tale to closure.
Pushing Daisies is available to stream on HBO Max.
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