TV reviews: ‘Pushing Daisies,’ ‘Aliens in America’
Here they are, folks: the best new hour-long series and half-hour series of the season!
“Pushing Daisies” (Wednesday, ABC): The pilot is one of the most colorful, cinematic, magical TV episodes I’ve ever seen. It’s like a Roald Dahl story come to life, full of dark humor and whimsical fantasy. It’s about a man named Ned (Lee Pace) who has the peculiar gift of being able to bring dead things back to life by touching them. Two caveats, however: If he ever touches the thing again, it will re-die, this time for good. And if the newly resurrected organism remains alive for more than a minute, something else nearby will die to take its place. Ned gets involved with a private detective, reviving murder victims, finding out who killed them, touching them again within 60 seconds to send them back to death, then “solving” the mysteries and collecting the reward money. In the pilot, the victim is his childhood sweetheart, Charlotte “Chuck” Charles (Anna Friel) … and he can’t bear to let her die again. (He lets the evil funeral director take the fall instead after 60 seconds go by.) Now she’s in his life, but he can’t ever touch her.
Filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld (”Get Shorty,” “Men in Black”) is an executive producer and directed the first episode, which helps to explain its fantastic visual style, which rivaled that of most theatrical films. The creator and writer, Bryan Fuller, is a veteran of “Wonderfalls,” “Heroes,” “Dead Like Me,” and “Star Trek: Voyager” — so he knows his cute/clever/fantasy TV. The show has a fairy tale feel to it, complete with a narrator (Jim Dale, famous for the Harry Potter audiobooks). If there’s another show on TV that’s as sweet, funny, original, and all-around delightful as this one, I haven’t seen it. TiVo verdict: Season pass.
“Aliens in America” (Mondays, The CW): Part “Wonder Years,” part “Malcolm in the Middle,” part “Freaks and Geeks,” it’s about an unpopular Wisconsin teenager named Justin (Dan Byrd) whose family gets a Muslim exchange student from Pakistan (Adhir Kalyan), thus giving him an instant friend — not to mention someone to take his spot as least popular kid in school. The first episode was funny all the way through (with no laugh track, thank you very much), skewering American perceptions of foreigners while also presenting a sweet, likable duo in the two nerdy boys. Are there any other Muslim characters on TV right now? And if there were, would they be handled with as much honesty and sharp humor as Raja is on “Aliens in America”? I love this scene from Raja’s first day in school.
TEACHER: Class, today I’m going to put aside our lesson because we have a special guest. For one year we will be in the presence of a real live Pakistani who practices Muslimism. That means we have the opportunity to learn about his culture, and he about ours. So let’s begin a dialogue. Raja, you are so different from us. How does that feel?
RAJA: I am not sure I understand.
TEACHER: Mmhmm. Think about it. How does everyone else feel about Raja and his differences? Yes, Stephanie?
STEPHANIE: Well, I guess I feel angry. Because his people blew up the buildings in New York.
TEACHER: Oh! That’s good!
RAJA: But that is not true!
TEACHER: OK, Raja, in America you have to wait until you’re called on, and I’d appreciate a raised hand. OK, now who else is angry at Raja?
(Most students raise their hands.)
* * * *
My other favorite part: When Raja prays, Justin describes it as “the strangest thing I’d ever seen in my house. And we had a clown die in our living room.” Cut to a shot of a dead clown under a sheet, his big shoes and frizzy hair sticking out from either end. Classic. TiVo verdict: Season Pass.
October 8th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I also watched “Pushing Daisies.” Was anyone else reminded of those old Walgreen’s commercials depicting a perfect world?
October 8th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Agreed totally on Pushing Daisies. The “Pie-lette” was wonderful in so many ways. I’m almost concerned that the series might have a hard time living up to that pilot, but I’m eager to see more.
I’m intrigued now to see Aliens in America, too. Sounds great.
October 8th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
I saw both shows, and I loved them both. Ned’s partner–is he that guy that had his own show called ‘Roc’?–made me laugh just about every time he was on camera. I even watched the pilot again when it was re-aired Saturday night and insisted my husband watch. (He liked it, too). I was surprised that ‘Aliens in America’ was so good, but it looks like it will be a solid show. ‘Muslimism’ had me laughing out loud. I definitely agree that these are the two best network shows to debut this fall.
October 8th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Roc was played by Charles S. Dutton. Ned’s partner is Chi McBride, the guy who was on the board trying to get Dr. House fired during the first season of that show.
October 9th, 2007 at 3:19 am
Thanks Eric! I rarely watch any shows on CW (have my hands full keeping up with the major networks), but I watched the pilot for “Aliens in America” online because of your review. I really liked it and I will definitely continue to watch.
October 9th, 2007 at 7:52 am
I spent much of “Pushing Daisies” trying to figure out where I knew his partner (Chi McBride) from. At the end (and before resorting to IMDB) I remembered: “Frighteners.” He was the 70s Afro-ghost.
I really enjoyed “Pushing Daisies” as a pilot and I think it could have made a really interesting movie. However, as much as I enjoyed it and am willing to continue watching it, it didn’t really set itself up as a series to me. It seemed almost too stand-alone. Various random things that were set up in the pilot, played themselves out in the pilot (the aunt who lost an eye, for example). I’m really interested to see where this show goes, but the pilot alone didn’t necessarily provide a good indicator as to where it’s heading.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Thanks, Eric Herman. I knew he looked familiar.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I think that was intentional, GWGumby. It seemed to me that the show was trying to leave its viewers ready to expect either a serial, soap opera-ish type of format or a more episodic structure in the next episodes. I think they could have handled it better but the pilot was really good in my opinion.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:23 am
“Pushing Daisies” makes me nervous. Chuck will die if she touches Ned, even accidentally. If that were me, I’d want to stay at least ten feet away — or, even better, in another part of the country entirely. Yet they frequently sit or stand right next to each other. My mind is constantly screaming at the TV, “No, don’t let him hand you that coffee; your fingers might touch! For heaven’s sake, back away! It’s not safe!”
October 11th, 2007 at 7:13 am
Chi McBride was also the principal on that show a few years ago about a highschool. That show also had Jeri Ryan.
Watched Pushing Daisies last night and was almost stunned at the imagination of its creator. [SPOILERS FROM LAST NIGHT] I, too, wonder just how long it can be sustained. It will be interesting to see if they run out of truly funny material. And having Ned and Chuck kiss through the plastic body bags was a great touch. And having Chenoweth do that singing bit was great. I do hope that their creative team can keep it up.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Pushing Daisies is awesome. Its by far the most creative show on TV and I love each character. I cant wait for the season 2 premier on Oct 1. Woohoo!