Ned & Chuck & Emerson & Olive

Every fall season I try to resist the urge to watch new shows on TV. I enjoy Big Love, Weeds, Heroes and Lost not to mention The Office or My Name is Earl. I'm trying to cut down on TV, but then I watch Pushing Daisies and I'm totally hooked. I've never been sucked into any TV show right from the get-go. It's a cross between Chocolat and Joe Vs. The Volcano in 1940's style and 1950's technicolor. It's sweet, it's naughty and they even solve crimes.

Ned is a man who is obsessed with pies and owns a restaurant called The Pie Hole where Olive (Kristin Chenowith from Wicked!) works and pines away for him. Ned has the ability to bring people back to life with just one touch, but they can only stay alive for one minute or else someone close will die instead. (If you're into reality, this show is not for you.) Emerson, a private investigator found out about Ned's secret and is now partnering with him to solve crimes for the reward money. When Ned learns that his childhood sweetheart Chuck has been murdered on a cruise ship, he goes to wake her and learn who murdered her, but after her 60 seconds is up, he cannot bring himself to touch her again so the funeral director dies. Yes, it has a bit of the macabre thrown in as well.

I'm sure I haven't done the show justice, but give it a try. A bonus for you knitters out there, Emerson goes against type as a tough P.I. when we find him in the most recent episode knitting two gun cozies and a vest. Ellen Greene from Little Shop of Horrors and Swoosie Kurtz also co-star as Chuck's eccentric aunts. Pushing Daisies airs on ABC, Wednesday, 8pm EST. (No, this is not a paid post, I'm just really geeked about this show.)