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Belcher Column: Tonight's A Yardstick For 'Pushing Daisies'

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By WALT BELCHER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 19, 2008

Fans of "Pushing Daisies" are sending flowers to ABC.

But they are not in mourning yet. This is an effort to persuade the network to keep the Wednesday night fantasy/comedy/romance/mystery series afloat.

There's a petition at savedaisies.com (more than 40,000 have signed). And some fans are sending seeds, too. That's cheaper and less messy than sending pies.

There have been conflicting reports about the fate of this clever-but-low-rated drama about a pie-maker who can bring the dead back to life.

The series wrapped production on its 13th episode last week, and industry sources are buzzing that the network does not plan to order any more.

An ABC spokesperson has said no decision has been made, and series creator Bryan Fuller told the Hollywood Reporter trade magazine last week that he has not heard a verdict.

"Spirits are high and hopeful, and everyone here is very proud of our work and this show," he said.

Reportedly, ABC executives will be gauging tonight's audience and next week's ratings to see whether "Daisies" will get an extended life. But it doesn't look good. "Daisies" has averaged a modest 6.6 million viewers this season, ranking No. 67 among all the primetime offerings on the broadcast networks.

It debuted in the fall of 2007 but its season was cut short because of the writers' strike.

Its demise would be sad because "Pushing Daisies" is a refreshingly quirky adult fairy tale set in a whimsically surreal world.

Lee Pace stars as Ned, the wistful owner of The Pie Hole who has the mysterious ability to bring dead things back to life by touching them.

But if something is revived for more than a minute, something of similar "life value" drops dead, as a form of balance. And, if he touches the revived thing a second time, it falls dead permanently.

This is good news and bad when he brings his murdered childhood sweetheart Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (Anna Friel) back to life. He has saved her but he can never touch her again.

The show is filled with rich eccentric characters, such as Chuck's aunts, Vivian and Lily (Swoozie Kurtz and Ann Greene) and the singing Pie Hole waitress (Kristin Chenoweth).

On tonight's episode, Fred Willard guest stars as a magician whose animal assistants are mysteriously dying.

THANKSGIVING MOVIE: Jacqueline Bisset stars in the Hallmark Channel's "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving" debuting at 9 p.m. Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.

The star of the 1977 thriller "The Deep" is playing a grandmother in this heartwarming film. She's 64, still stunning and still working. She did a seven-episode run of FX's "Nip/Tuck" in 2006 and has two more films being released in the coming months.

Set in the 1800s, "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving" is about a widowed mother of four (Helène Joy) who is struggling to put food on the table.

Her oldest daughter, an aspiring writer, sends a letter to her estranged and very wealthy grandmother (Bisset) urging her assistance, much to her mother's disapproval. When the grandmother arrives, old wounds are opened but eventually healed.

Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654.

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