“Pushing Daisies”

After getting hooked into watching the first episode last year – thanks to some wackily inventive previews -we’ve been big fans of “Pushing Daisies.”

Ned (Pace) seems to be just a simple piemaker – until one looks under the surface, and discovers his gift/curse: one touch can bring people back to life – and another touch can send them back to the slab. Unfortunately, as Ned discovered at a young age, if he doesn’t perform the second touch within a minute, a random person will die to take the would-be dead person’s place.

So how does he make use of this odd talent? He asks the dead how they died, and tries to bring their killers to justice – while scrappy investigator Emerson (McBride) does his best to keep the reward money flowing in.

While that setup already makes the series inventive enough for viewers to invest some time in, in the very first episode the series ups the ante. Going to question a murder victim, Ned discovers it’s his long-lost childhood crush, Charlotte (Friel). Breaking all the rules, he doesn’t deliver her second touch.

Now, as Ned and Charlotte rekindle their childhood friendship and begin a new romance, Ned must make sure he never touches her – or she will instantly revert back to her dead state.

While this sounds rather dark and dreary, “Pushing Daisies” is usually anything but. With a wacky Wizard of Oz-on-happy-pills type of a feel to it, the series pushes wackiness and fun, rather than grim and dreary.

Watching Ned and Charlotte try to express their growing feelings for each other without touch is fun all by itself (a plastic-wrap kiss one of the many ways they try to get past that major stumbling block), toss in a crush on Ned by his pie-shop employee Olive (who knows nothing of his special gift) and Charlotte’s odd aunts Lily (Kurtz) and Vivian (Greene) – who currently believe their Charlotte has “passed on” – and “Pushing Daisies” is filled to the brim with fun.

With the quirky cast and wacky plotlines, “Pushing Daisies” has kept us in high spirits throughout it’s first year – and we’re betting it’s second year is going to be even better.