Don't Eat the Daisies... or something.

[caz963]

So... Pushing Daisies.

It's an interesting and unusual premise, it's got a great look - the colours are absolutely gorgeous and it has this whole Tim Burtonesque surreal quality going for it (not to mention the mock Danny Elfman music as well). Oh, and Kristen Chenoweth gets to sing which is never a bad thing.

BUT.

It's just not doing it for me. I've seen three episodes so far (which are 1, 3 and 4 because of ITV's scheduling cock-up), and so maybe that's not enough on which to form a proper judgement. Although, isn't that the point? Shouldn't it have grabbed me by now?

The problem for me is that it thinks it's cleverer than it is, and that I'm starting to find the narration too intrusive. Last night, for example, there was a point early on where two characters were interacting and it was one of those instances where you could tell what they were really thinking - but we got told anyway. Why? I'm not stupid. I can work these things out for myself, thank you very much!

And while yes, the premise - guy brings back first love from the dead but can never touch her or she'll die again - is definitely unusual, where can it go from here? I get that it's supposed to be a "sweet" romance. But surely, there's only so much of that an audience can take before we want something to actually happen. (Or before we want to grab Ned and Chuck by the shoulders, give them a good shake and yell at them!)

I'll stick with it, because let's face it, there's nothing else on at 9pm on a Saturday night. Although I can tell you now, without a shadow of a doubt, if West Wing was still on More4 at the same time, I'd have given up on the brand new show and gone back to watching repeats I've seen several times before. Which is pretty sad - on my part (I know!) and on the part of the current crop of TV shows, IMO.

Comments

[foreverdreaming.livejournal.com]

I'll be honest, I'm actually loving it. I downloaded episode 2 (Stupid ITV) but haven't seen last night's yet. I adore the visual qualities (like you say, very Tim Burton-esque) and all of its little quirks.

The voiceover hasn't started to annoy me yet and I honestly spend the entire time watching it grinning like a fool because, to my mind, watching this show is like curling up in bed with chocolate and a trashy movie.

I certainly don't think it's ever going to be intellectually stimulating like TWW , but as far as sheer entertainment value, for me, it ticks pretty much all the boxes. That being said, I do also wonder where on earth it can go, given the no touching thing....

[caz963.livejournal.com]

Well, I wasn't watching it for intellectual stimulation, but it's not doing it for me on any other levels either. It's too... cutesy right now. But like I said, there's nothing else on so I'll stick with it for a while.

[cantbesilent.livejournal.com]

I actually love the "where can it go" thing, because thats a question the characters are asking along with the audience. Chuck should just pack her bags and move across the country, but she doesn't, because they *need* each other. So how do you work that out, on top of all their other issues? To me the physical aspect is less about sex and more about the small things. He can't hold her when she's upset, can't hug her when she's happy, he can't even hold her hand. Its very dark and depressing under the candy-coated surface.

Basically, I just don't think its as cellophane as its made out to be. I'm like you, though, I love it. It makes me smile for so many reasons, from the funny to the cute to the clothes.