Feb
06
2008
TV critics love PUSHING DAISIES. So much so that PUSHING DAISIES was named the best show in TelevisionWeek’s semiannual survey of TV critics nationwide. This was the show’s first appearance in the poll, so a #1 spot was a surprise.
As for what the critics are saying about the show, Ellen Gray of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote that “Daisies” is “sweet without making your teeth hurt, smart without making your head hurt; this one’s actually living up to the promise of its pilot.”
PUSHING DAISIES appointment at the top of the leader board is impressive considering its company.
Top Ten Best Series (per TV Week’s Critics Poll)
1. Pushing Daisies
2. Mad Men
3. Dexter
4. 30 Rock
5. Friday Night Lights
6. Damages
7. House
8 (tie). The Office
8 (tie). Ugly Betty
10. Californication
The list of the worst shows after the jump
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Dec
21
2007
PUSHING DAISIES not only made it on to Entertainment Weekly’s Best Shows of 2007, but it came in at #2….quite impressive.
Here’s what EW had to say about it…
Filled with mermaid divers and windmill farms, Pushing Daisies is a fantastically fantastical, bubble-gum-colored fable about a pie maker named Ned (Lee Pace), who magically brings his childhood love, Chuck (Anna Friel), back to life with his touch but will kill her if he ever makes contact again. Between solving oddball mysteries involving puppy cloning and scratch-’n'-sniff empires, Chuck and Ned banter and moon at each other. (As Ned’s gruff detective buddy, wonderful Chi McBride undercuts any excess sweet.) When so many TV couples are bickery brats, there’s something strangely mature about this chaste pair. It’s easy to whip up a juicy drama about evildoing bastards — it takes a boatload of creativity to make all this niceness so mesmerizing.
Bravo….bravo!!
Dec
05
2007
It’s Wednesday! Sadly there is no Pushing Daisies to watch tonight. Need your Ned and Chuck fill? How about spending your time with us, talking about Pushing Daisies?
ThePieMaker.com presents our first Pushing Daisies PieCast! From the town of Coeur d’Coeur these two Pie Hos talk about the genius of Pushing Daisies’ first 8 episodes. Which episode was our favorite? Which episode disappointed us most? Which guest star had the best death? Which Ned and Chuck moment made us squee and much much more.
It’s all here as Ned (dan.) and Chuck (Kath) don their aprons and roll out some delicious Pushing Daisies chatter.
Listen Online: PieCast #1
Subscribe and Listen via iTunes
This podcast has been posted as a special edition of the Ducky Does TV & Give Me My Remote TV Podcast. If this becomes a popular post we may make this is a permanent fixture at ThePieMaker.com
Nov
01
2007
Thursday morning means a whole mess of bloggers talking about last night’s episode of PUSHING DAISIES “Girth”. Here’s a round-up of reviews/recaps for your enjoyment. As always, leave your comments on last night’s episode at our “Girth” post!
South Dakota Dark
It Happened Last Night (Zap2it)
The AV Club
BuddyTV
TVJab
TV with MeeVee
TV Guide
More reviews/recaps on the way. Stay tuned.
Oct
11
2007
We here at ThePieMaker.com loved last night’s episode of PUSHING DAISIES entitled “Dummy” but we may be a little biased. We were all mush after watching Ned and Chuck have their bodybag kiss and later hold gloved hands. Squeeing all the way until this morning.
So, to get some other opinions we once again head on into the world of online reviews and blogs to see what the masses are saying.
Buzz Sugar
If you thought “Pushing Daisies” couldn’t get any cuter than last week’s pie-lette, think again. This week’s episode brought us a singing Kristin Chenoweth, knitted gun cozies, and a car that runs on dandelions. I thought it was perfect, but was it too twee for you? Read the rest of the review at Buzz Sugar
Give Me My Remote
I wish I could properly convey just how much I love PUSHING DAISIES. I love it so much I want to marry every single second of it. Only two episodes in and it’s already in the Top 5 of my favorite shows of all time (and that’s not a category that I take lightly). Now that’s love. I’d tell you about last night’s episode but I wouldn’t know where to begin. There was so much going on from the visuals, to the dialogue to me obsessing over just how close Ned & Chuck came to touching that I was left feeling overwhelmed…but the good kind of overwhelmed. Read the rest of the review at Give Me My Remote
TV With MeeVee
The danger of a brilliantly charming pilot is that it sets the bar very high for the second episode. Doing it right once is much, much easier than doing it right every time. Fortunately for “Pushing Daisies” - and for us - they’re two for two Read the rest of this review at MeeVee.
MediaVillage
Right off the bat, this show is triumphant in its self-awareness. It’s kooky, it’s weird, it’s cute, and as Ned puts it, it’s “eccentric in a quaint way, like dessert spoons.” All the little details in the first few scenes were great. Up until she was in her teens, Chuck thought a refrigerator was called a cheesebox. Read the rest of the review at MediaVillage
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Oct
04
2007
I hope everyone has recovered from last night’s premiere of PUSHING DAISIES because this morning I’ve still got visions of sugar plum pies dancing in my head. For those of you still in a coma from all the greatness, snap out of it because we’re just getting started.
Chuck and I wanted to gather as many TV Blog reviews as possible because let’s face it, the real honest opinions are those of the bloggers. They’re opinionated, catty, hilarious, and as obsessed with television as we all are. The best cure for a sugar high is to continue feeding those cravings.
ThePieMaker.com compiles online reviews:
*Updated - 10/5
More reviews after the jump Continue Reading »
Oct
02
2007
There’s no doubt about it - PUSHING DAISIES is the most talked about pilot of the 2007-08 TV season. Critics from all over are singing the praises of this unique forensic fairytale. Here are some early reviews of the show from critics across the globe. We will continue to add to this post over time. If you see a review of the show not listed here leave a comment or contact us and we will post it.
Most reviews will contain spoilers for the pilot.
Picture-Perfect Daisies: Chicago Sun Times
Excerpt: Here it is at last, the new TV show with the biggest buzz among critics. I almost hate to say this (since I can be a contrarian at times), but “Pushing Daisies” deserves its high praise. It’s the best new drama of the fall, finding sweet hope in morbid tragedy…The debut is a luxurious beast of a fairy tale that finally brings “Amelie’s” French-daydream rhythm and soul to the small screen. If viewers take to “Daisies” the way critics have — I can’t imagine this won’t be at least a cult hit — a field of copycats may bloom next fall, and American TV would become a Frenchier landscape of fresh fantasies. (continue reading at the Chicago Sun Times)
Bottom Line: Pushing Daisies: The Hollywood Reporter
Excerpt: You’ll know it when you click on “Pushing Daisies.” Instinctively, you’ll reach around for your sunglasses. Few shows give your pixels a workout like this one. Of course, there’s more to “Daisies” than an arresting color palette, but the show’s stimulating optical quality is one of the more obvious differences between this unusual, whimsical dramedy and just about everything else on the air. (Continue reading at The Hollywood Reporter)
Fall Preview: Pushing Daisies: GiveMeMyRemote.com
Excerpt: PUSHING DAISIES is like nothing you have seen on TV before and it will make you fall in love with TV all over again. The show will satisfy your senses with its vibrant look and its decidedly delicious, distinctive and daring dialogue. There is not one moment wasted in this incredible pilot - the best one I have seen since LOST. (Continue reading at Give Me My Remote)
A Letter of Recommendation: Adam Rucker
Excerpt: Altogether, the show’s character craziness, visual variety, and altogether unique way of storytelling means that it will either be extremely successful, or not at all. I’m naturally hoping for the successful side of that argument. (Continue reading at Adam Rucker’s Blog)
Continue Reading »
Sep
18
2007
You’ll be hard pressed to find a review of the upcoming premiere of PUSHING DAISIES that doesn’t praise the shows originality and in the same breath question its sustainability. Critics and viewers who were lucky enough to get a sneak peek of the pilot are lavishing the show with words like “brilliant”, “daring”, and “near perfect”, but many still worry that the show may be too different and that it will have a hard time finding an audience.
A similar idea is heralded in a recent article from The Hollywood Reporter. It seems like you just can’t win these days. That’s why it’s so important for you to help spread the word of PUSHING DAISIES. We are sure that if an audience tunes in they will love it. For suggestions on how you can help promote, Pushing Daisies, click here to contact us.
Once in a great while a TV series pilot comes along that grabs your attention. So spectacular is this opening installment that it single-handedly restores your faith in the medium, leaving you practically salivating for the next episode.
The new ABC series “Pushing Daisies” fits that bill, which is exactly why I fear it is doomed.
Don’t get me wrong: “Daisies” is head and shoulders — maybe even knees and toes — above the rest of the largely ho-hum 2007-08 broadcast pilots. But as we stare down the barrel of another TV season, “Daisies” might end up a reminder of how easy it is to overestimate the value of a good pilot, which can be a notoriously misleading indicator of a series’ future viability. (Continue reading at The Hollywood Reporter)
Sep
14
2007
The LA Times gives us a glimpse further into the world of PUSHING DAISIES on a recent set visit (lucky ducks). In this great article Lee Pace (Ned), Chi McBride (Emerson) and creator Bryan Fuller talk about what viewers can expect as the world of PUSHING DAISIES moves beyond the confines of The Pie Hole.Warning: The article and corresponding pictures provide small spoilers for upcoming episodes. Continue reading at your own risk.
Every moment is precious…
Even when Fuller gives us the ages of his characters, it’s both refreshing and telling. When viewers first meet Ned, he is “9 years, 27 weeks, 6 days and 3 minutes old.” But then flash-forward “19 years, 34 weeks, 1 day and 59 minutes” and Ned is an adult baking pies who moonlights as a private detective partnered with Emerson Cod (Chi McBride).
“I just thought that every minute was precious,” said Fuller, who spent last year on the writing staff of “Heroes.” “So when the narrative talks about how old somebody is, the motivation is that at the end of your life, down to the minute, you look at every minute as precious.” (continue reading at The LA Times)
