Series Premiere: ‘Pushing Daisies’ on ABC

All right, people, simmer down. The new series that it looks like everyone and their mother and her mother has been waiting for with uncontained excitement is finally here. At 8pm EST tonight, ABC will debut the one and only, amazing, and probably invincible Pushing Daisies with the premiere episode “Pie-lette” (Get it? Pilot, Pie-lette, Pie, Pie Maker? Cute…).

While I suspect it’s not necessary, I’ll provide a brief overview for the uninitiated anyway.

Created, written, and executive produced by Bryan Fuller (Heroes, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Star Trek: Voyager) and directed by the equally prolific film and television bigwig Barry Sonnenfeld (Karen Sisco, The Addams Family, Get Shorty, Men in Black), Pushing Daisies tells the fairytale of a quite unique man named Ned (Lee Pace) who possesses the quite unique ability to bring dead people and dead things back to life, simply by touching them. There is a caveat to that magical gift, however. If Ned ever touches the person or thing he has brought back to life again, they die again.

Life, as it often does, goes in an unexpected direction when Ned gives his suspiciously murdered childhood love Charlotte “Chuck” Charles (Anna Friel) a second chance at life one day. She then encourages him to put his incredible power to good use, while he tries to keep his hands to himself when it comes to his beloved. And that’s how Ned becomes a most unusual crusading, pie-making private investigator.

In addition to Pace and Friel, Pushing Daisies stars Chi McBride (The Nine) as Emerson Cod, Kristin Chenoweth (The West Wing) as Olive Snook, Emmy winner Swoosie Kurtz (Huff) as Lily, Ellen Greene (Sylar’s unfortunate mom on Heroes) as Vivian, and Englishman Jim Dale (the U.K. Carry On film series) as the voice-over narrator.

Fans and non-fans alike can take a(nother) look at one of the original trailers for Pushing Daisies right here, right now. Bon appétit!