There's Hope For Us After All : ABC's "Pushing Daisies" Is A Hit

So it turns out american television audiences actually do have taste. While I still remain freshly bitter over the cancellation of Studio 60 and Drive, I'm delighted to hear that the best new show of the season is already a hit and has been granted a full-season run.

Pushing Daisies is one of those shows that defies genre, although I suppose its absurd quirkiness lends it to similarities with early Desperate Housewives and Ally McBeal, but it's oh-so-much-more than either of those. The show centres on Ned the Piemaker, who has the gift of bringing dead things back to life with a single touch. The catch is that if he touches them again then they die forever, and if they stay alive for longer than sixty seconds then something else nearby will die in their place.

What really gets me about the show is the likeability of the characters, and how incredibly well-suited the actors are to playing these roles. Lee Pace is an absolute revelation, fresh from a theatrical background and well-poised to begin a lucrative career in film and television if his performance as Ned is anything to go by. Chi McBride, Anna Friel and Kristen Chenoweth are also unreservedly superb in the immediate supporting cast.

The only foreseeable problem that I can see for Pushing Daisies relates to its aforementioned quirkiness. There's a fine line between quirkiness and kookiness, and if you're not careful then kookiness can lead to zaniness. And nobody wants that. The second episode was a worrying indication of what direction the show could go in if they're not careful, but if they can keep up the same quality of writing then it should be able to tread the line with confidence.