Pushing Daisies

The accuracy of these episode titles may have yet to be verified, but thanks to The Pie Hole for posting this in their community.

The episode titles are as follows:

Season 1 Episode 1 Pie-lette
Season 1 Episode 2 Dummy
Season 1 Episode 3 The Fun in Funeral
Season 1 Episode 4 Pigeon
Season 1 Episode 5 Girth
Season 1 Episode 6 Bitches
Season 1 Episode 7 Bitter Sweets
Season 1 Episode 8 Smell of Success
Season 1 Episode 9 Rival Darlings
Season 1 Episode 10 Twelve Corpses
Season 1 Episode 11 Fruity Buddha

I’ve linked the first three episodes to their synopsis, if you’d like to know what it’s about…athough some of it may contain spoilers. I will be posting the rest of the episode details as soon as information is released.

The cast and crew are currently filming more scenes in a sound stage where other fantastic favorites like “A Star is Born” and “Wonder Woman” used to be done. This, according to a recent article in the Seattle Times.

We’ve got less than seven days to go before the big premiere (October 3rd 8 PM, lest you haven’t jotted down the date yet).

Who is excited?

Pushing Daisies, Pushing Daisies Episode Guide, Pushing Daisies Episode List, Pushing Daisies Season 1

With less than a week to go before the big TV premiere (six days to be exact), the cast of Pushing Daisies is doing the talk show rounds. Grab a list and jot down these schedules so that you won’t forget. Or better yet, check this site from time to time for updates.

• First stop is on Late Night with David Letterman. Barry Sonnenfeld, who directs the shows’ first episode, will be chatting with Dave on October 1st, Monday.
• Tune to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on the 2nd of October as Kristin Chenoweth, playing Olive, the pie-maker’s assistant and neighbor, is guest.  Chi McBride, who plays private detective Emerson, is dropping by The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
• On Wednesday, October the 3rd, the show’s premiere, Lee Pace, who plays the pie-maker with the extra-ordinary ability, Ned, is visiting the women of The View.
• And days following the premiere, Kristin Chenoweth will be visiting Jimmy Kimmel Live on October 16th.

This particular fan of the series is so eager to watch them all, if I only could. It’s always great to see the actors outside of their own TV show or see them out of character and know how they really are as people. Thankfully, in case you missed these shows, videos captures should be up in a day or two. So I’m keeping watch of those or hopefully upload one myself.

I just noticed though that Anna Friel seems to be out of circulation. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the girl isn’t local (Anna Friel is British), therefore not always within reach. I wonder which talk show is going to grab her very first interview?

Pushing Daisies, Late Night with David Letterman, Barry Sonnenfeld, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Kristin Chenoweth, Late Night with Conan O’ Brien, Chi McBride, The View, Lee Pace, Anna Friel

I know, I know….the show doesn’t even come on until October 3 and most people have not even seen it yet but we are already feeding spoilers. Maybe that tells you how much this show is highly anticipated.

Airing on October 17th, the third episode for Pushing Daisies is entitled “The Fun in Funeral” and carries the following description below. I’m putting this under spoiler for the meantime, since the official episode description has not been out yet:

Ned and Chuck speak to a dead man named Donald Funk, who worked at the same funeral home as Lawrence Schatz, who they find out died 1 minute after Ned brought Chuck back to life. Donald and Lawrence were partners in stealing flowers from graves and jewelry from bodies of clients of the funeral home. — Source: SpoilerFix

So they are going back to the funeral home from the very first episode!

There are no photos or stills to match the episode yet, unlike what we have gathered for the second one. So check back in a couple of weeks because we’re putting them up once the stills are out!

Pushing Daisies, Pushing Daisies episode 3, Pushing Daisies synopsis

Synopsis for Pushing Daisies second episode has been officially released and details are as follows:

The episode titles is: Dummy
The plot: When an automotive expert is found dead (ironically enough) after a strange hit-and-run accident, Ned suspects there’s more to the story, especially when he finds out the deceased worked for a company about to launch an experimental car. Meanwhile, Chuck wants some answers about how Ned brought her back to life. Jonathan Mangum and Riki Lindhome guest star.

Episode dos will air on October 10th, 2007. If you won’t be able to see the episode unfold that night, you can still catch it online since ABC.com is streaming the episodes the day after they air.

Below are some of the photos for EP 2:

I don’t know what this is, but the look has intrigued me.
And I’ve found plenty more of these photos in this gallery!

Pushing Daisies, Pushing Daisies episode 2, Pushing Daisies synopsis

The show has not even premiered yet since it will officially air the first episode on October 3 at 8 PM, but wouldn’t you know it, Pushing Daisies has already won it’s very first award! Well, sort of.

In an poll conducted by E!Online for the whole month of August, Pushing Daisies emerged as the most highly anticipated new TV series with 54% of the votes. And as you can see from the results, the rest of the shows are trailing behind. Potential viewers are responding warmly to this quirky series, which earlier, was predicted by naysayers as a show that might encounter some bumps finding an audience since the premise is idiosyncratic.

Perhaps the current wave Pushing Daisies is now receiving could be attributed to proper marketing and getting many TV critics to give Pushing Daisies two thumbs up also helped.

Incidentally, Watch With Kristin on E! is saying:

Pushing Daisies is without a doubt the best new series of the season.

So, how about a sneak peek, huh?

This video is from the first episode and runs for about 2 minutes, with Chuck learning from Ned what has actually happened to her (SPOILER ALERT!):

Press release from ABC TV, regarding Pushing Daisies “Pie-lette” which is the title of the very first episode :

“PUSHING DAISIES,” A FORENSIC FAIRYTALE ABOUT A YOUNG MAN WITH A VERY SPECIAL GIFT, PREMIERES WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3 ON ABC
From Bryan Fuller (”Heroes,” “Wonderfalls”) and Barry Sonnenfeld (”Men in Black”) comes a new series with an unprecedented blend of romance, fantasy and mystery, “Pushing Daisies,” a forensic fairytale about Ned, a young man with a very special gift. “Pushing Daisies” premieres WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.Golden Globe nominee Lee Pace (”The Good Shepherd,” “Soldier’s Girl”), Anna Friel (”Goal” film series, “Rogue Trader”), Chi McBride (”The Nine,” “Boston Public”), Tony nominee Ellen Greene (”Little Shop of Horrors”), Emmy and Tony winner Swoosie Kurtz (”Huff,” “Sisters”) and Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth (”The West Wing”) star in the visually stunning series from the Jinks/Cohen Company, in association with Warner Bros. Television. Tony winner Jim Dale, reader of the “Harry Potter” series of audio books, is the narrator.

As a young boy Ned discovers that he can return the dead briefly back to life with just one touch. But his random gift isn’t without deadly consequences . . . as he soon finds out. Grown up Ned (Lee Pace) puts his talent to good use by touching dead fruit and making it ripe with everlasting flavor. He opens a pie shop. But his gift leaves him wary of becoming close to anyone, as beautiful waitress Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth) finds out. His life as a pie maker gets more complicated when private investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) finds out about Ned’s secret. Emerson convinces the cash-strapped Ned to help him solve murder cases (and collect a hefty reward fee) by raising the dead and getting them to name their killers.

In the premiere episode, “Pie-lette,” Ned is handed the case that changes his life forever. His childhood sweetheart, Charlotte “Chuck” Charles (Anna Friel), is murdered on a cruise ship under strange circumstances. Her death sends him back to his hometown of Coeur d’ Coeurs to bring Chuck back to life, albeit briefly, and solve the crime. But once reunited with Chuck, Ned can’t send her back. He helps her escape after her grieving aunts, Lily and Vivian (Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene), former synchronized swimmers Darling Mermaid Darlings, think they’ve buried their niece forever.

Chuck becomes the third partner in Ned and Emerson’s PI enterprise, but she encourages them to use their skills for good, not just for profit. Ned is overjoyed to be reunited with Chuck, the only girl he’s ever loved. Life would be perfect, except for one cruel twist: If Ned ever touches her again, she’ll go back to being dead, this time for good.

Guest starring in “Pie-lette” are Field Cate as young Ned, Tina Gloss as Ned’s mother, Sammi Hanratty as young Chuck, Patrick Breen as Leo Gaswint, Brad Grunberg as the funeral director, Sy Richardson as the coroner, Julie Wittner as Deedee, Greg Suddeth as gravedigger 1, Ted Garcia as newscaster 1, Leyna Nguyen as newscaster 2, Terry Anzur as newscaster 3, Geraud Moncure as newscaster 4, David Trice as Martin Miltenberger, Ed Brigadier as minister 1 and Murray Gershenz as the rabbi.

“Pie-lette” was written by Bryan Fuller and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. In addition to Fuller and Sonnenfeld, Dan Jinks & Bruce Cohen (Academy Award winning producers of “American Beauty”) and Brooke Kennedy (”Numb3rs”) serve as executive producers.

This program will repeat Friday, Oct. 5 from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET.

Photo credits: Pushing-Daisies.com

As if Pushing Daisies and its present roster of cast and characters aren’t interesting enough, look who they have signed up to appear as guests on the series!

• Jayma Mays (who played Charlie on both Heroes and Ugly Betty) and “she’s playing Elsita, a woman who leads a life of windmillery (she lives and works in a windmill) in the fourth episode, and she’s fantastic.”
• Molly Shannon (former SNL cast member and talented comedienne) “will play Dilly Balsam, the proprietor of a saltwater taffy shop across the street from our hero Ned’s Pie Hole.”
• Paul Reubens (otherwise known as Peewee Herman) “will star as the unusually named traveling anti-depressant salesman Alfredo Aldorisio, who becomes involved in the whimsical, resurrection-themed goings on.”

Color me super-impressed for this brilliant casting. It just got waaaay better!

Pushing Daisies, Jayma Mays, Molly Shannon, Paul Reubens

The current hype surrounding Pushing Daisies is not unfounded. Most critics are taken by the series’ first episode and I’m rounding up what they have to say, exactly:

• Newsday considers Pushing Daisies as one of the 10 Most Buzzed About Shows this fall.

One of the great over-the-top pilots of the new season, “Daisies” is so visually distinct, so curiously bizarre, so intermittently morbid that this could be the most talked-about show of the new season. Ned (Lee Pace) touches dead things and brings them back to life, and - one can imagine - the practical applications for this talent are enormous. Big stars also abound (Chi McBride, Swoosie Kurtz, Anna Friel).

• Matt Roush Of TV Guide is already a big, big fan.

There’s nothing on TV or elsewhere (perhaps in the Tim Burton canon) that remotely looks, sounds or magically enthralls the way Pushing Daisies does. Holding court to the press at a Wednesday TCA session, Fuller and Sonnenfeld and their sparkling cast convinced me all over again just how special this show is. And not merely special, but fun.

• James Hibberd of TV Week took an early look and liked what he saw.

Naturally some will question whether the premise can sustain itself, and others will wonder if viewers will embrace the series in sufficient numbers. Don’t care. It’s great TV and takes a risk.

• USA Today thinks it’s the best blooming show of the year

More than with most shows, though, it isn’t enough to just read about Daisies. You have to see it — to revel in the witty, candy-colored glow of Sonnenfeld’s visuals, in the warmth of Fuller’s vision, and in the endearingly eccentric characters so winningly played by this great cast. Indeed, if you’ve ever expressed a desire for something different on TV, you owe it to yourself to check Daisies out.

• AOL says Pushing Daisies is this season’s #1 new show.

This cuckoo, slightly macabre fairy tale is like nothing else on television. The whimsical concept is as fresh as, well, a daisy. And it’s just gorgeous to look at it. The whole package feels more big screen than small, like something you might expect from Tim Burton (although ‘Men in Black’ director Barry Sonnenfeld helmed the pilot). The chemistry between the leads is sweet, the supporting characters are adorably quirky and the storytelling is offbeat enough to put a completely new twist on a procedural. Here’s hoping this show lives happily ever.

Pushing Daisies, TV Guide, AOL, USA Today, News Day, TV Week

Ever actually wonder what the phrase “pushing daisies” means? Daisies, lovely blooms that they are, are often a representation of death. And the phrase is an idiomatic expression that refers to the dead or the one already buried.

The famous ‘Babes in the Woods,’ in ‘The Ingoldsby Legends’ (1842), urges us to ‘be kind to those dear little folks/When our toes are turned up to the daisies.’ By 1866, George Macdonald further sweetened this already saccharine expression, by saying, ‘I shall very soon hide my name under some daisies.’ Commoner and more current forms used in America are ‘counting daisies’ and ‘pushing up daisies’.” From “Wordsworth Book of Euphemism” by Judith S. Neaman and Carole G. Silver (Wordsworth Editions, Hertfordshire, 1995)

Source: Phrases.Org

Coloratura Soprano, Kristin Chenoweth is a Broadway veteran and has starred in countless of award-winning productions, notable of which is 1998’s Broadway revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. For her role as Sally in this play, Chenoweth won a Tony Award, among other accolades. Her TV experience includes a short-lived self-titled series called Kristin which aired on NBC in 2001. She also appeared as a recurring character in the critically acclaimed drama The West Wing.

Kristin Chenoweth has been linked to writer Aaron Sorkin, who was said to have loosely based the character Harriet Hayes (of Studio 60) on Chenoweth’s personality and background. A devoted Christian, she also released her own Christian album in 2005.

Chenoweth plays Olive, Ned’s neighbor and assistant at the pie shop, in ABC’s new series Pushing Daisies.

Of Pushing Daisies, Kristin Chenoweth has this to say:

Olive is an ex-jockey. I read a bunch of pilots this year but wasn’t planning on doing television. The I read the script and thought to myself, “what is this odd, most fantastically weird, incredible thing?” I knew it was special. Bryan flew to New York City and explained what they had in store for Olive. I was getting ready to do Young Frankenstein on Broadway and the rest was good karma. I’d like her to have a relationship with Ned. She actually could have a relationship with him while Ned and Chuck can’t touch. So Olive represents this constant temptation for Ned. I also would like to get in on the crime-solving and have Olive add her own expertise. Also, as much horse-racing as possible. And for Chuck and Olive to become friends.

Kristin Chenoweth’s IMDb profile

Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies

Pushing Daisies is composed of a really good supporting cast. Aunt Lily is played by Swoosie Kurtz and Aunt Vivian is played by Ellen Greene, two showbiz veterans, on stage and in the big or small screen.

Both aunts serve as Chuck’s guardian after her father died. Aunt Lily and Aunt Vivian used to be synchronized swimming act. Lily is blind on one eye, the result of a swimming accident and both Aunts have never left their house since their retirement.

Pushing Daisies, Ellen Greene, Swoosie Kurtz

More familiar to TV viewers as high school principal Steven Harper in the series Boston Public, Chi McBride was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and first started showbiz as a musician with a blues band called Convert. Eventually, he landed roles and guest appearances on TV but it wasn’t until the movie Mercury Rising, did McBride, almost in his 40’s at that time, finally got the biggest break as a serious actor. After this, he appeared in the hit series House and became one of the primary characters in the canceled 2006 series, The Nine.

In Pushing Daisies, McBride plays Emerson Cod, a private investigator, who saw what Ned can do with his abilities and convinces him to be his business partner by solving murders and cashing in on the rewards.

Of Pushing Daisies, Chi McBride has this to say:

I really love the cast; I couldn’t pick a favorite. I have great chemistry with Lee [Pace] and love the chemistry we share. Emerson is a guy with questionable morals. His main goals are to make money and go home. Lee’s character is more empathetic but distant due to his power to bring the dead back to life; he’s damaged and looks to Emerson as a father figure. I really like the way [Bryan Fuller] juxtaposes the way Emerson looks at life with the way Ned does. I knew what this series could be when I read the script and, as soon as I saw Barry [Sonnenfeld] in the room, I knew what it would become. It turned out even better than I imagined.

Chi McBride’s IMDb Profile

Chi McBride, Pushing Daisies

The following is a press release from ABC:

(more…)

British native Anna Friel will no doubt become a popular face on American TV in the coming months. Her new series, Pushing Daisies, is sure to make a star out of Anna. She plays Chuck, the lead male star’s (Ned, played by Lee Pace) romantic partner.

Born to an Irish family on July 12, 1976 in Lancashire, England, Anna first made waves on the entertainment shores of America in 1999 in New York, starring in a stage play of Closer. But back home, Anna is already a familiar face on TV and has made quite a controversial appearance in the series, Brookside, sharing a Lesbian kiss with fellow actress Nicola Stephenson.

In real life, Anna is very much attached to actor David Thewlis, with whom she has a daughter named Gracie, born in 2005.

Of Pushing Daisies, Anna has this to say:

I’m much more anxious than Chuck. I worry about things and certainly don’t wake up every day feeling that it’s a fresh start and a beautiful day. (Though I should.) Unlike most of the roles I’ve played in the past, I wasn’t able to channel that mood and anxiety into the character and had to get into a different frame of mind. As for similarities, Chuck lets me express the fun, quirky side of my personality.

Anna Friel’s IMDb Profile

Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies

Leading the cast of Pushing Daisies is Ned, played by Lee Pace, who has previously worked with Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller in the short-lived TV series, Wonderfalls.

Lee Pace started as an actor in off-Broadway plays and was recognized for his roles in productions like Small Tragedy and Guardians. Viewers may recognize him in Soldier’s Girl, a film released in 2003. Here, Pace tackled the role of a transsexual. Trained at Juilliard, Pace diligently prepared for the role and is proud of his very first movie. That performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination and an Independent Spirit Award.

Of Pushing Daisies, Lee Pace has this to say:

“‘Pushing Daisies’ makes you feel good, that’s what I think people are going to get out of it. It’s a show about life, about someone who can touch dead things and bring them back to life. It’s uplifting and makes you feel good”

Lee Pace is born in Chickasha, Oklahoma on March 25, 1979 but has lived in the Middle East, Texas and New Orleans.

Lee Pace’s IMDb profile

Pushing Daisies, Lee Pace, Bryan Fuller, Soldier’s Girl