Pushing Daisies

As Pushing Daisies begins airing in Malaysia, here’s a press account of an interview the Malaysian writer did with actor Lee Pace…

A SUPPOSEDLY formal press interview with actor Lee Pace turns into an instantly friendly 20-minute chat – Pace is just that kind of guy.The American star of Pushing Daisies is in Sydney, Australia, in February when we meet. Dressed head to toe in black, the tall actor exudes warmth and a laidback personality that, at times, seems a little bewildered and uncomfortable at being the centre of attention.

Actually, if you want to know what Pace is like in person, all you have to is watch Pushing Daisies. Pace is just like the character he plays, Ned: a tad shy, very nice, and an all-round good guy.

“I can’t bring dead things back to life with a touch,” Pace points out one major difference. “(But) I would say he’s a lot like me actually.”

Well, it makes sense: Daisies creator Bryan Fuller wrote Ned with Pace in mind, after all.

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It hasn’t been an easy year for showrunners. From the WGA strike to steepening FCC fines to the rise of reality television, scripted comedy and drama have been taking it on the nose.

In the lead-up to one of the most atypical Emmy seasons in recent memory, The Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd brought together five of television’s most stalwart showrunners: Bryan Fuller (ABC’s “Pushing Daisies”), David Shore (Fox’s “House”), Damon Lindelof (ABC’s “Lost”), Matthew Weiner (AMC’s “Mad Men”) and Craig Thomas (CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother”).

The Hollywood Reporter: How has your business changed since the writers strike?

Bryan Fuller: I think the studios are feeling that some of the money that they hemorrhaged during the strike has to come out of their shows a little bit. So budgets are definitely tighter.

David Shore: Didn’t, during the strike, they take the position they weren’t losing any money?

Damon Lindelof: Not only that, I think that it was actually a boon for them.

Matthew Weiner: Yeah, they had a cash windfall in the fourth quarter that turned into poison in January.

Lindelof: We spent 100 days basically carrying signs and saying that these people were exploiting us and taking advantage of us. And then you go back to work on Valentine’s Day, and you’re trying to act like none of it ever happened. So there was a period where it was like, “I used to be in love with you, we had a huge fight, we broke up, and now we’ve gotten back together.”

Craig Thomas: I never stopped sleeping with the executives. (Laughter.)

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Photo from Lee Pace Org 

Malaysian viewers will be able to watch Pushing Daisies beginning this Tuesday 9:30 PM on 8TV. Here’s a nicely written article from Star E-Central Malaysia:

How could a TV series that’s mostly about death be funny? It’s all in the delivery … especially when it’s a dead person delivering the lines.A GIRL who talks to ceramic animals but is as sane as you and I, another who’s dead but living her fullest life yet, and now, a guy who brings dead people back to life. Such are the weird and wonderful imaginings of American screenwriter and producer Bryan Fuller.

The 38-year-old co-created (with Todd Holland) quirky Wonderfalls with the talking animals, and came up with the brilliant Dead Like Me.

His latest effort, Pushing Daisies, about a latter-day miracle worker, has critics singing praises and viewers watching it in large enough numbers that it was renewed this year for a second season. Daisies made its US debut in October 2007.

Despite the fact that both Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me were well-written and filled with wonderful characters that viewers could connect with – this viewer certainly did! – neither lasted very long. Won-derfalls, alas, only lasted one season while Dead Like Me didn’t make it past two seasons despite its strong cult following.

Well, perhaps that’s the problem: the word “cult” is often associated with Fuller’s series, as they can be quite surreal and hard to pigeonhole.

Pushing Daisies, for instance, is definitely one of a kind. It’s a drama, no, a comedy – no, hold it, it’s a “forensic fairytale” (as its promotional tagline would have it) with a sparkling dash of romance, actually.

For more of that, check the complete article here.

Pushing Daisies, Pushing Daisies in Malaysia

With Emmy nomination selections underway, Variety speaks with some of the possible strongest nominees, including Anna Friel. Some excerpts below…

Finding the best way to portray Charlotte “Chuck” Charles would be a challenge for Friel. Inspiration came from her year-old daughter.

“I watched a lot of her mannerisms and the way she looks at things,” Friel says. “Every single thing to her is new and fresh, and (she’s) not judgmental. But how could I do that and not make Chuck ditsy?”

To figure it out, Friel played nearly every scene three different ways. By the time production started on the second episode, she had found the right tone. Also, she continued working with a voice coach to help her mask her British accent and maneuver through the show’s smart, often rapid-fire dialogue rarely seen since “Gilmore Girls” — efforts that earned the actress a Golden Globe nomination.

(snipped)

Favorite scene: “When she’s by the grave (with Ned) and says, ‘Please wake my dad up. I just want to see him for a minute.’ And he says, ‘I can’t.’ There were quite a lot of choices about how to play it because she has to be forgiving of him and also understand why he made that decision.”

What you like most about your character: “She’s the strongest, sweetest person that I’ve ever come across, which is a complete contradiction. How can you be incredibly sweet but you’re also as strong as a rock? I like that contradiction.”

TV guilty pleasure: “I’ve bought ‘The Sopranos’ DVD sets and I’ll watch five (episodes) at a time. “

Anna Friel, Emmy Awards, Pushing Daisies

How many times has this shown been recognized, I already lost count. Just recently, TV Critics for the TCA Awards has nominated Pushing Daisies as Best New Program of the Year; and the other day, AOL’s online poll results show Pushing Daisies emerging as the viewers’ new favorite program!

After a U.S. prime-time television season notable for its lack of breakout hits, the supernatural fantasy “Pushing Daisies” emerged as the favorite new show of viewers in an AOL poll released on Tuesday.

The ABC series about a pie-maker possessing the power to bring the dead back to life with a single touch — and to dispatch them again with a second touch– ranked as the best new TV show among 24 percent of survey respondents.

The CW network’s hormone-fueled teen drama “Gossip Girl” was No. 2 with 20 percent of the 1.4 million votes cast online for the AOL Television poll.

While neither show achieved bona fide hit status in its freshman season, “Pushing Daisies” was a critical favorite and garnered a Golden Globe nomination, while “Gossip Girl” generated buzz with its provocative “OMFG” promo campaign.

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RadioTimes conducted a survey of which British actors are good or bad at sounding American. There were over 3,000 users polled and the results were contradictory. Anna Friel has the second best accent but the third worst? How is that even possible? Check out the rankings and see what I mean:

BEST

1. Hugh Laurie (House)
2. Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies)
3. Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman)
4. Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers)
5. Minnie Driver (The Riches)
6. Eddie Izzard (The Riches)
7. Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck)
8. Ian McShane (Deadwood)
9. Louise Lombard (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)
10. Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Without a Trace)
11. Lena Headey (Terminator : The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
12. Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica)
13. Matthew Rhys (Brothers and Sisters)
14. Dominic West (The Wire)
15. Lennie James (Jericho)
16. Sean Maguire (The Class)
17. Idris Elba (The Wire)
18. Sophia Myles (Moonlight)
19. Other
20. Kevin McKidd (Journeyman)

WORST

1. Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman)
2. Eddie Izzard (The Riches)
3. Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies)
4. Hugh Laurie (House)
5. Ian McShane (Deadwood)
6. Sean Maguire (The Class)
7. Minnie Driver (The Riches)
8. Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck)
9. Louise Lombard (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)
10. Dominic West (The Wire)
11. Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica)
12. Lena Headey (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
13. Sophia Myles (Moonlight)
14. Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers)
15. Lennie James (Jericho)
16. Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Without a Trace)
17. Matthew Rhys (Brothers and Sisters)
18. Other
19. Kevin McKidd (Journeyman)
20. Idris Elba (The Wire)

Poll results from RadioTimes.

Because we’re avid fans of Pushing Daisies, we’re used to hearing Anna sounding off in an American voice. But have you seen her act and speak in her native tongue? Watch the video below:

Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies, Best and Worst American Accent

September is a couple of months from now, but ABC has been running this promo clip:

Episode details are also slowly coming up on spoiler sites. These spoilers aren’t 100% accurate and some details may be changed as the show progresses. The spoilers follow after the jump…

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Passing up on a roll for a Broadway production of Young Frankenstein to do a show on television, it seems Kristin Chenoweth has made the right choice. Her performance on Pushing Daisies, albeit the very short season, is slowly creating Emmy buzz, particularly her singing of Hopelessly Devoted To You in the series’ third episode.

And to be truthful about it — the woman deserves the honor!

Excerpts from TV Week:

“Bryan Fuller wanted to do it,” Ms. Chenoweth said of adding songs to the hour comedy-drama. “I said that it was OK with me, but only if it works within the episode. I didn’t want to sing just to sing. It had to match the scene, and the way they did ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’ was really good. It was like Olive’s thoughts, her inner feelings, and it was appropriate. Also, the choreography was terrific.”

“Bryan Fuller’s script was just so unusual that I had to go for it,” she said. “This was a part that I wanted to play, and she was so funny and the show was so unusual. I’d never read anything like that. Also, I didn’t expect it to run, honestly. Something with that kind of quality usually doesn’t make it on television. Also, how often do you get to play in such a fantastic, out-of-this-world kind of atmosphere?”

[snipped]

Ms. Chenoweth is uniquely able to play both comic and ingénue roles. Olive is a character part, and that’s just fine by Ms. Chenoweth. “It’s true, she is. But listen, I’ve played Adelaide, not Sarah Brown, in ‘Guys and Dolls,’ and Laurey rather than Ado Annie in ‘Oklahoma,’ so yes, I’m lucky that way.”

As for getting an Emmy nomination, she would be thrilled. “I hope so, but we only did nine episodes [before the writers strike], so I hope people haven’t forgotten us. I think this show should be recognized. I’ve never seen anything quite like it on television.”

The full article.

Thanks to Sergio for the news tip.

And just to remind us once again of her remarkable Pushing Daisies performance, here’s a clip. I never tire of watching or listening to this!

Kristin Chenoweth, Emmy Buzz, Pushing Daisies, TV Week

Some quotes from the Kristin Chenoweth interview, where the talented actress spoke of winning her very first Tony Award nearly a decade ago.

Photoed with Swoosie Kurtz and Ben Stiller from 1999 at the Tony’s. Swoosie is her current co-star on Pushing Daisies.

Which year did you win your first Tony?
My first and only win was in 1999 [Best Featured Actress in a Musical].

For which role and show?
It was for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown . The role was Sally, Charlie Brown’s little sister.

What did you wear?
I wore a gorgeous pink Tommy Hilfiger dress that was tailor-made for me. That year, Gwyneth Paltrow wore a pink dress at the Oscars that I loved, so I wanted the same color. Plus, pink IS my signature color! Ha ha!

What was the first thing that ran through your mind when they said your name?
I was really hoping my dress was on straight, and my hair, too. You see, I changed wigs, too! I had a wig that LOOKED like my hair to save time. When I actually won, I was praying that my “bangs” weren’t at the nape of my neck.

Did you forget to thank anyone?
There’s no way you can remember everyone, but I think I got the most important ones in, although I did owe a shout out to Kim Grigsby, our conductor.

Did you cry?
I did cry a bit, but I really wanted to thank everyone from my heart, not from a list, so I had to pull it together and CONCENTRATE.

If you could relive that night, would you change anything?
I wouldn’t change ONE thing about that night. It was PERFECT in every way. My parents and my beloved voice teacher from Oklahoma were there, as well as my agents at the time, whom I adore still. I was beaming. And THANKFUL.

Did winning a Tony change your life? How?
The Tony changed my life because only New York people really knew about me until then. It opened up doors, which created great opportunities for me. I’m not big on awards, but the Tony is the most prestigious, in my humble opinion. (Not that I wouldn’t take a Grammy or an Oscar.)

Via Broadway

Kristin Chenoweth, Tony Awards, Swoosie Kurtz, Ben Stiller