So, it’s not just a pie-lette; Pushing Daisies is an actual television show with multiple episodes! And judging by last night’s follow-up to the premiere, they’re actually going to be just as good as the first. Ned and Chuck’s romance cooled to a temperature where the sexual tension didn’t drive us all to drink and took a backseat (ha!) to the mystery du jour in “Dummy.”
When an engineer is killed by a hit and run, and a brief interview with his corpse reveals the cause of death to be incorrect, his vague clue (and parting wish) lead the gang to an automotive company that recently designed a dandelion-fueled car. The execution of sublime humor continues here and extends way beyond the writing and the actors’ mannerisms. Even the set design is hilarious. The secretly-flawed car is yellow and shaped like a lemon, for god’s sake!
In addition to solving the surprisingly morbid crime, we also get to know some of our secondary players a bit more. Lovesick waitress Olive Snook (Kirstin Chenoweth) proves she’s worth keeping around with some outstanding, if heartbreaking, physical comedy set to Jim Dale’s poetic narration. She even sings a wittle song. Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) still doesn’t have much of a backstory, but he is given some additional color. Frustration leads him to knitting, and his new three-way partnership is baring lots of gun cozies. The morgue attendant with the charming guttural noises also looks to be a welcome regular.
Any flaws in the episode are dwarfed by the ways in which the show continues to unexpectedly succeed. One issue worth addressing though is that the CGI leaves a little to be desired. The flashbacks to Ned’s youth, in particular, look less surreal comical than they do cheap comical. Everything else is still vivid and crisp, and much more than in the first episode, it gives Daisies a Technicolor noir quality. My only other beef? The complete lack of opening titles! I’m all about avoiding campy credits, but nothing hypes me up for an hour of television like the right tune set to perfectly edited clips. The tendency for programs to merely show a title page to maintain some sort of highbrow credibility is commendable, but it also shows a lack of imagination. And that is the last thing I expected from Pushing Daisies.
Chuck just had it’s first opening credit sequence this week, so maybe it’s coming.
And I wasn’t a big fan of the musical number – not my style. Other than that, the show had me on the edge of my couch, giggling intermittently like a little school girl all night long. Well done.
Heh. You linked to my YouTube video.
the singing wasn’t really a highlight for me, but the accompaniment by the dog and the constant interruptions made it tolerable.
Now I know many people don’t love musicals as much as I do but it was the WAY they did the musical sequence that made it so lovable. Like you said. the dog and interruptions was hilarious.
Anways, yeah, thank goodness its a great SHOW and not just an amazing pie-lette.
the writing is at times a little bit precious for me (“you need to feed your mind a class of milk and a turkey sandwich and let it curl up in a sunny spot and take a nap.” – Ned to Chuck at the opening of ep 2… BLARF), but this show is so beautiful and so adorably macabre that i’m not sick of it….yet. i say that because i inevitably start to hate all the things in my life that i love, and i do love this show right now. the sexual tension is enough to make me keep tuning in.