Pushing Daisies: ABC's Homage to Burton-esque Wonder Works

Pushing Daisies proved as delightfully fragrant as their infinite garden of promos promised. It had all the intrigue ABC executives were wringing their hands in hope for. Mystical narrator and all, Daisies resembles Tim Burton-esque mastery.

Filmed and written as if Big Fish's movie reel mated with that of Edward Scissorhands, Daisies is a modern day fable of a man who has the power to kill with a touch, and bring back life similarly by simply grazing a dead guy's hand with the tip of his finger. The lead, Ned (played by Lee Pace), is more often referred to as his occupation--"the pie maker"--than his birth name, and commands the necessary on-screen awkwardness that comes with such a character's idiosyncrasies.

Imagine: you can't even flirt with the hot blonde (Kristin Chenoweth) with the "Santa Baby" sexy voice living next door, no matter how bad you wanted. Now picture her parading around the room, hair down, a robe loosely kissing her nakedness, practically begging to be violated. Aye Carumba! Hands in pockets, the pie maker appears to unknowing characters to be shier than a schoolboy on the sidelines of a seventh grade dance, but to viewers he visibly carries the hardship associated with his great power.

Pilots are known for flying, but this one soars--whisking viewers away by propelling into Ned's whacked out childhood before fast forwarding to a modern day Ned, who finds a friend, rather a business accomplice, in Detective Emerson (played by Chi McBride). Emerson first stumbles upon Ned and his uniqueness when chasing down a burglar who falls off a rooftop trying to escape the police. Falling to sure death, the burglar lands awkwardly on the side of an open dumpster. But as the burglar's body hits, he bounces backward, inadvertently touching the pie maker who was below him tossing garbage from The Pie Hole into the trash. Realizing he just wronged destiny, Ned quickly taps the burglar again, killing him for good.