Pushing Daisies Season 1 Episode 1

It was sad and funny. This had wonderful picture editing and directing for Barry Sonnenfeld

I really didn't think Pushing Daisies was going to be for me. It seemed so cutesy and twee, but since Bryan Fuller's name was attached and I loved Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls, I decided to give it a shot. Pushing Daisies is extremely colorful, so much so that it feels like an alternate reality. It could have easily been way over the top, instead it toed the line to being charming and different.



I loved this episode, it set up the characters and their colorful quirks perfectly. Ned the Piemaker: reserved, thoughtful, and with a secret ability to raise the dead; Chuck Charles: bright, sunny, dead, and the love of Ned's life; Emerson Cod: large, grumbling, knitting P.I. in it for the cash; and Olive Snook: former horse jockey, now pie jockey in love with the pie maker.

The first thing I thought of when I was watching this show was the Lemony Snicket movie. I didn't particularly like the Lemony Snicket movie, and this is not a kid's movie. I get the idea of trying to set your show apart from everything else that is on Television today, but I am not sure that cutesy and fairy-tale like was the way to go. I never really intended to watch the show until I read a synopsis that made it sound clever and original, but after watching this episode I am not sure that this is the case. I get the premise of the weird gift of being able to bring people back to life, but the plot twist of bringing back his childhood sweetheart either should have been saved for a season-ending cliffhanger, or they should have just made this story into a movie instead. And honestly, do we care how many days and minutes and seconds old each person is? Really? I might give the show a second chance next week, but that's about the most time I will waste on it.

This is an interesting one. It is a story that is told in a colorful world that is not our own. You have to look past the silliness and the bright colors to see the show for what it is. And what it is... is pretty good. I liked the pilot due to it being a pretty well thought out and finished story. The characters work well together and I would like to see where they end up going.


There were a few parts that made me laugh out load and that doesn't happen much with tv shows. This is a fresh show and I think I will keep watching it.

You'll never bake a pie the same way again. Pushing Daisies pilot was as refreshing as the first days of spring. Visually fantastic and full of creative ideas it should remind you of Tim Burton's films and all these twisted productions that break the established rules. The male protagonist ability reminded me of Six Feet Under and of course Carnivàle as he can bring people back to life. But every alchemic gift comes with after effects and Pie-lette covered these issues. From the boy to the man we witnessed Ned growing up and learning how to use its unique ability. He should quickly grow on you as the actors, playing the young and adult Neds, did a good job at portraying a quite authentic and friendly character.





But of course a man's story would be boring without its princess, Chuck. Their relationship is a fairy tale with its lot of happy and sad moments. Life can be cruel and they experienced it when they were still children. In some way it prevented them from becoming normal adults but instead of letting their trauma gets the best of them, they instead chose to just live and not let their fear destroy them. In some way Ned and Chuck's story reminded me of Lolita because when you're in love at ten years old, right before becoming a teenager, and that you're brutaly separated then it's harder to grow up. You tend to live in the past, trying to catch up everyday and forgetting to live in the present. So the episode had that naive vibe that only made the characters even more likable. Thirty something years old adults trapped in children bodies ? Maybe and Ned's curse made their relationship even more dramatic. There was even something Shakespearian about it. So if you're a romantic you should definitely fall in love with them and be touched by their exciting adventure. If your heart is a paper rock then Pushing Daisies should soften its structure and progressively turn it into a… pie ?





Strawberry pie. Apple pie. Kiwi pie ! You name it as that world is full of vivid colors and filmed with surprising camera angles. In fact some scenes are so well directed and designed that they almost look like animated paintings. From the decorative patterns in the restaurant to the digital visual effects Pie-lette felt like a surrealistic journey in a land where the time has stopped and only life matters. Of course the acting could be better and I'm not sure the cast was well done but overall nothing should prevent you from diving into such a fruity pool. Last but not least even if the format is obviously episodic, because of the on-going investigations, Chuck & Ned love story is intriguing and charming enough to convince anyone to follow them anywhere.

I liked it instantly. The British narrator (uncannily alike Liam Neeson by the way) was a nice twist.


The way it's shot, made, is refreshing. It's new and kinda free. It's got this... silly feeling about it. The show doesn't 'take itself so seriously', if you know what I mean.





Anyways, the actors were all really good, especially Lee Pace and Chi McBride. The episode was funny, interesting and innovative. (As is the show in general).





The whole "He was 21 years, 3 weeks, 6 days, 18 hours and 22 minutes old" thing sort of identifies the show. This hasn't really been done before, not on a regular basis anyway. I think this will probably become the Pushing Daisies trademark.





If I'd use one word to describe this show with, it would be: UNREALISTIC


(in a good way)

When he was about 9 years old, young Ned discovered he had a gift - he could bring people back from the dead, with nothing but his touch. He started by doing it on his dog, Digby, and small bugs. But one day, his mother suddenly died, and he gave her his "touch of life". Unfortunately, a minute later, someone had to die. Instant Karma! So, his neighbour, the father of his sweetheart, Charlotte Charles, also known as Chuck, died, while watering the plants in his front yard. The only thing Ned didn't know was if someone he brought to life touched him again, that person would die forever. And so, kissing him good night, his mother died. Both funerals took place at the same time, allowing Ned and Chuck to meet, and share their first kiss. After that, Chuck went to live with her aunts, Lily and Vivian, and Ned left to boarding school. They never met again.


Until the day Chuck died.


By that time, Ned was a full grown man, who owned a pie shop - The Pie Hole. In paralel, he works with Emerson Cod, solving murders and collecting rewards. He wakes the vitims up, asks them about what happened and then, before the 60 seconds run out, he touches them again, killing them forever. Then they try do solve the case!


Until the day Ned finds that the dead person is Chuck, his neighbour and sweetheart from when he was a kid, and is unable to put her asleep again.


From that day, Chuck, who is suposed to be dead, moves in with Ned, living a secret life, and never being able to touch the man she loves.

In Coeur d'Coeur, young Ned is 9 years old and playing with his dog Digby, which is hit by a truck. When Ned touches Digby, the dog comes back to life. They run off to play, unaware that a squirrel has died.





Chuck lives next to Ned, he watches her playing and remembers a time when they both playing together once. Whilst making Pies, Neds Mom dies. He touches her and she comes back to life, unaware of anything happening to her. He looks out of the window and sees Chucks father die, he realises that in order for his mother to be alive Chuck's father had to die. Later he realises that the effect is cancelled out if that person touches him again, as his mother kissed him goodnight, she dies again, but this time e can't bring her back.





As children, Chuck and Ned share one kiss, before he goes off to boarding school and she goes off to live with her eccentric aunts.





Ned is the owner and worker in his own pie shop, in the present day. Emerson is there, a PI who is Neds friend after witnessing his powers for himself, they use them to solve murders, where there is an injustice done and a reward that they can split nicely.





They head off for the funeral home to talk to the deceased, whom it was alleged was attacked by his own dog and was killed. The resurrect him, discover the true reasons behind his death, all in less than a minute and solve that case for the reward money.





In the pie shop, there is a news item regarding the mystery death of a cruise liner passenger, a reward of $50,000 which iterests both of them. The victim was a Charlotte Charles aka Chuck from Neds past. Of course they must solve this one.





In the funeral home, Ned does the asking on his own, but seeing how beautiful Chuck still is, decides that he can make her fully not dead again. So the questions run over a minute, she agrees to go back into the coffin, in the meantime the funeral director dies.





Ned goes back to see Emerson with the details, he goes off to sort them all out, leaving Ned to chase after the coffin to the cemetry, which he succeeds in doing so. Then hides her in the flat, telling her not to leave it. She watches the news and understands what Ned is upto, ventures downstairs to the Pie Shop, where Emerson figures things out straight away. They go off to the travel agency and then onto chucks aunts, the guys go in, chuck watches from the windows, checks on her bees and then climbs inside the house to see her old room, finds the monkeys.





The aunt, after a struggle with an intruder, saves Ned from the intruder by shooting the intruder, but her vision is impaired and therefore doesnt see her niece in the bedroom.





They solve the case and give the aunts all of the money.

This show is just awesome, I love it it is a very entertaining, a fast paced funny drama that will keep me intrested for a very long time, I like all the characters Ned the protagonist is just great I thing he is probably the best thing about the show very well acted by Lee Pace. Chuck is great aswell (Anna Friel is a great British actress I really like her),Emerson Cod is cool aswell. The first episode was very funny but also abit sad I feel sorry for Ned he killed his mum, His dog is great does it live forever? anyway now I'm just asking questipons about this great show so all in all a unique show with great actaing, story and pilot episode.

The episode is calls ''Pie-lette'' and tell us the story of Ned, a man who discovers when he was a kid, he can revive people from dead with a touch, but only for 60 seconds, if he doesn't touch the victim before of that time, a person who is close of the victim dies. Ned also fall in love of his neighbour, Chuck; and they share their first kiss on his mother's funeral and her father's funeral.


Years later, Ned became a pastrycook and also he helps Emerson to resolve crimes, using Ned's power to revives victims and find out who kill them, and later Ned and Emerson collect the reward.


The business is very good, until Ned knows the die of Chuck, his first love. He goes to her funeral and touches her, and she revives. The mix of their mutual feeling for each other, makes that Ned, doesn't touch Chuck for a second time and, instead the director of the funeral parlor dies.


Later, Emerson finds out about Chuck, and the three of them decide find who murders Chuck. After discover who kill Chuck, Ned and Chuck find two monkeys that their value is more than sentimental.


I really enjoyed this episode because it had a great mix between comedy and drama; but I loved the relationship between Ned and Chuck, it is like the classic fairy tales, about a beautiful princess and prince charming.

Ned is a simple pie maker who has the power to make the dead come back to life, with consequences. He learnt this at a young age when he revived his dog. He revived his mother, accidently killing Chucks dad, then his mother died forever. He finds out that a dead person is his young love, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles. He revives her, killing a fat jewish guy. The guy who killed chuck tries to kill her aunts Vivian and Lily, but Chuck and Ned stop him while Lily shoots him (she can't see Chuck cos of her eyepatch) anyway, what a great start

I watch a ton of pilot episode's every season hoping to find something special and there have not been alot of those lately. However among the midst of crappy reality shows, and recycled plots - I found this. This show is about Ned, and pie maker, who as a kid finds out he can bring the dead back to life, but only for sixty seconds. If he doesn't touch them again before the sixty seconds are up, they stay alive, but someone close has to die to save their place. He learned this when he was a kid, and he brought his mom back to life, unfortunately killing the father of his next door neighbor, Chuck. At her fathers funeral, Chuck gives Ned his first kiss. However, Ned learns there is one more rule to his power, once he brings someone back to life, he can never touch them again, or else they will die, forever.


Now, Ned is working with a man named Emerson. Together the two of them bring murder vitcims back to life, ask them who killed them and then pluck the reward.


Ned learns that his childhood sweetheart, Chuck has been killed. He brings her back to life and explains to her his power. It is obvious they still have feelings for eachother but, since Chuck can never touch her, there romance can't be physical.





I think this is such an amazing concept for a show. I love the fairy-tale narration, and I love the romance between Ned and Chuck, I think the media relies to much on 'sex sells' so have two people in love who can't touch each other is an amazing idea.

Es increible saber que todavia las grandes cadenas de TV se arriesgan por series tan fuera de lo convencional. Pushing Daisies es un excelente ejemplo de lo que debe ser un programa nuevo, arriesgarse en la trama, buscar nuevos talentos para no sentirse aburrido y además mostrar otra forma de producción. Esta serie es muy buena, tiene mucho tema para convertirse en una serie muy especial que siempre será recordada. Estoy seguro que pasará a segunda. En este episodio nos damos cuenta de lo especial que es la vida de Ned y la forma tán pacífica en que el personaje principal enfrenta sus pequeñas tragedias personales, causadas por el desconocimiento de su poder.

Excellent premise. Great narration style. When you take something like Bionic Woman and compare to this you can see the gulf between what is very good and what is bad. Strange thing is, that I acutally thought Id prefer Bionic Woman to the the premise of this show. As it is, it I will be looking forward to more episodes of this, while watching hte last few shows of the prematurely cut BW. The style reminds me a lot of Tim Burton/Desperate Housewives.





A great introduction that was fast paced, exciting, intens, yet surprising. Cant wait for the next episode and this show promises so much. Im now left wondering where the writers will take us and if they will fulfil the potential shown in this first episode.

From the age of 8 Ned was in love with Chuck, the girl nextdoor (well actually opposite but nevermind). It's around this same age that he discovers he can bring dead things back to life but only for a minute without taking another in close proximity. First is his dog who swaps his life for a gray squirrel (fine by me, they're complete pests are the grays) and then a fly who swaps life for his mother and then when he brings his mother back...Chuck's dad.





This is where the show starts and it's a darkly humorous one dressed up in cheery vibrant colours and with fast talking, eccentric character's. The narrator sets the tone of 'post-modern fairytale' and the show feels like it's taken elements from Disney films and in particular movies like 'Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate events'. The narrator himself instead of being there to fill in gaps takes a humorous, knowing and magical take on proceedings. In fact the only narrator that is as funny (but not as coherent) is the voiceover guy for the E4 ads.





The character's themselves are very humorous, Ned (who brings strawberry's back to life to make really good pies and then Chuck after she's suffocated with a plastic bag for smuggling ornamental monkey figurines) is intelligent and charming despite the fact he has restrained himself from human touch for years. Speaking of which, how the hell has his dog lived 19 years without touching him. Anyways, Chuck (Charlotte) is cheery and a loving character who for years has looked after her socially depressed Aunts. She's also quite clever but feels that she ought to do more with her life. When she is brought back to life and meets Ned again it seems that she's found that something she was missing. Shame she can't touch him otherwise she'd die for good.











The back story and the police investigation thing is something that can be played with later on but it's not massively important to the story at this point and seems a tiny bit like giving more character purpose to Ned. This is a show one part fairytale, one part love story, half part police investigation.





Bravo to ITV1 for putting it in primetime hours as the channel is notoriously crap at showing it's american imports at decent times. I don't know how they'll keep the momentum going with this series as it may become samey samey each week, but this episode was truly fantastic to watch, and I look forward to seeing more.

Ned works in a pie store and seems to lead a perfectly normal life. This, however, is far from the truth. Ned can, with the touch of his hand, wake people from the dead. But another touch will kill them again, for good, and if he keeps them alive for more than a minute, someone else in close proximity dies. He decides to use this ability of his to solve crimes, but it grows complicated when he gives life to his childhood crush, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles, and decides to let her keep living. This show, is really, really great. I really enjoyed watching it. I dont think I have ever watched anythink like this, its so different. I got to say, I loved Ned's dog, it is so cute. I cant wait until next weeks episode.

Excellent show!! It's totally different from the ones we are used to. It's colorful, vivid and reminds me the film A Series of Unfortunate Events, maybe because of the narrator and the sensation of a fantasy world.


It's interesting the way they count people's ages (years, days, months, hours and minutes). I love Ned's dog too! He is so cute!


The only thing I didn't like is after 19 years without not even seen each other, Ned and Chuck realationship is the same. They are so close...and when she got back to life she asked for a kiss!! This is too unreal, even for this kind of show!


Generally, I loved it! It's already in my favorite's list!

I loved this pilot, it really got me hooked on Pushing Daisies. I mean, it had great comedy, and I wanted to see what Ned found out about his powers when he was younger. I was sad when the dog got hit by the truck, but then, well, he came back to life, so, yeah, no longer sad. I just saw the look on Young Ned's face when that happened.





So, yeah, a very good pilot episode. If you have not seen or watched any episode of Pushing Daisies, watch this one first, it's one of the best, and, it's the pilot.





9.7 out of 10.

That was a really great episode. It was so original and i felt like i was in another world. The characters are great and the story is so witty. Ned can bring a dead person to life but only for a minute, if that takes more than one minute then someone else has to die so that the dead person can live and this brings a good taste because ned felt that dilemma even when he brought chuck to life, the girl he has loved since he was a boy. I hope this show goes on like it started. A great episode indeed.

Ok so i have been waiting for this for ages and it still hasnt came on ITV over here in the UK, so my mate brought the first episode into college today because he knew I would like it, it was great, I loved the character Ned and Chuck are great How funny was it when the man died on he toilet or at the start when he saves his dog or when he kills that man with half a face, I asked my mate to bring it in again next week so I can watch the next episode, I loved it, some great dark humour I cant wait to see more.

This is the very first episode of Pushing Daisies and it is a good one not dull or boring is really good and looks very colorful and not dull has a good story to start out with and Jim Dale does a great job as the narrator of the show makes you laugh when it is fine and makes the series part good as well the acting is good the writing is good basically every thing is good and that is what makes this show a great show all around that is the end of my review my rating is 9.9

What an invigorating and fun new show. Undoubtedly this was the most touted show of the season, and for good reason ... it's tremendous!!! I was very pleased with the bright details of the show. The way the set is reminds me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's surreal and amazing. The characters are peculiar and interesting. The storyline is imaginative and creative. I think this will be a big hit since it's so different from what we have out in TV land right now. I'm really keen to keep watching this show and I can't wait to see what the writers have in store for us next week.

Hearing reviews and praise for "Daisies," I decided to check it out. After viewing the episode, I thought it was quirky and wanted to give it a chance. But after viewing it for a second time, I realized that this was, by far, the best pilot I had ever seen. A terrific story (and in general, idea) combined with fast-paced wit, lovely setting, lovely music, and quirky characters made up the amazing episode. I could not wait for more from this promising new series, just judging on the "pie-lette" (as it's so cleverly called). It wasn't just a pilot--it felt like a mini-movie, effortlessly edited into a forty minute slot. It is probably "Daisies" best episode, though facing competition from "Smell of Success" and "Pigeon". I can't stop raving about this particular episode. You can watch it online, and I highly recommend it. I can watch it over and over again, without tiring from it--the mark of a truly amazing episode--and it was only the first!

I didn't know what to expect from Pushing Daisies. The premise was questionable, there was a lot of hype surrounding it--and the product never seems to live up to it's billing, from my experience--and it seemed just plain wierd.





But, after my initial dismissal of Arrested Development--and subsequent rediscovery and love-affair with the show after it was cancelled--because I dismissed the hype and critical acclaim surrounding it, I didn't want another show garnering the same accolades to go unnoticed, or at least unsampled, before I wrote it off.





Pie-Lette was hilarious, fantastical, well written and one of the most original hours of television I've watched in a long time. The acting was great particularly by lead Lee Pace, great dialogue as well. It was just really different, and I liked it. It took the old and made it new with some awesome twists--the ol' unrequited childhood love, finally able to resume it's path only to be hindered by some ridiculous circumstance--I think Pushing Daisies beats anything I've seen or heard: he can bring her back to life, thus killing someone ele if kept for longer than a minute, but he can't touch her again or she'll drop dead! Awesome.





Truly original and just a lot of fun.

Although many complain about the heavy Amelie/Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Tim Burton influence in this show, I thouroughly enjoyed the fact that it could showcase such influences, while still being unique. I will admit that after watching the pilot, I was little concerned that the series would have nowhere to go. To a certain extent, it's been a bit a of a problem for the series - I still enjoyed the pilot episode the most out of the episodes that have aired thus far - but it's worth watching. There's great writing, some humor, romance, and mystery. Fans of the short-lived Wonderfalls can appreciate the fact that creator/writer Bryan Fuller is finally experiencing some of the success that he deserves.

I didn't know what to expect in the beginning... I was just looking at the boy and the dog running until the dog got hit by a truck and I was like "O-kay... so the dog gets killed?"


But then Ned touched it and he came back to life... I was thinking that it was kinda weird, but it seemed interesting, so I kept watching...


And then her mother dies, he thouches her and the neighbour dies instead? Weird things happen... But then she touches him again and dies... he tries to touch her and bring her back to life, but he can't.


So, basically he can only touch them once, otherwise they die again.


But then things get complicated when the girl that died was his first kiss...


It looks like an impossible love, I mean, he can't touch her again, otherwise she'll die...


But it was a good beginning for a tv show. I loved it. Now it's one of my favorite tv shows.

Ned has the ability to bring someone to back to life with his touch. However, if he touches them again he will kill them. If the person he touches is alive for longer than 60 seconds, someone else dies. In the case of flies, another fly will die; with humans, another human has to die.





He owns a pie store and is often called the Piemaker by the narrator. He helps a private detective solve murders by reviving the victims and asking them who killed them. He then makes sure to touch them again so that they die within 60 seconds.





Except for when his childhood sweetheart, Chuck is found dead. Then he just can't quite bring himself to kill her again. However, while he is hopelessly in love with her he cannot ever touch her again because she will die.





This was a very fun episode of a fun show. The bright colors and humor of the show are enthralling.

so much hype about this show, it looked dumb 2 me but my friend convinced me to watch it, it's abc, it might be another twin peaks, my so-called life or lost. well, it turned out to be amélie 4 americans. i can see how women would watch it because it has all the innocent love of a boy for a girl without wanting sex from her. Pure American fairy tale, even amelie had sex. it has the cinematography & locales that's a cross between the movie toys & edward scissorhands. i find it hard to believe that ned never touched his dog after it was run over as most kids would have hugged it immediately. It seemed like an o.k. show until we met olive, I have problems with unrequited love characters. It's incredibly frustrating & mostly unbelievable. Yes, I can accept that a guy can bring people back to life but I can't accept that he wouldn't return the affection of the waitress. She isn't an irksome character so it's dumb that he hasn't returned her affection. Having Chuck ask people 4 their last wish was interesting, but it's going to become annoying if she continues to make the justice part difficult. Emerson was good, that guy can do anything (boston public, 6 degrees). I'll try a few more episodes.

My pick for the best new fall series isn't that hard. It's Pushing daises. A series that seperates from the all the other series. I love it the format is silly, the humor is silly. The series is promising. even the narration is superior. I like the begining. a man who have the power to bring people back from the dead and the power to put people back to death. He brough back someone he'd love and is a fear that the same power could kill her. the opening episode is wonderfully made. I like the beginning. I planning to see the show every week.

An amazing "pie-lette" to what I'm sure will be a great series for the next few years at least!





I won't go into the premise and rules of his "ability" since other reviews and the synopsis cover that, instead I will focus on what made this episode great!





+ points:





~ Original. Sure, it has similarities with a certain Torchwood episode involving a "glove from space", and some have likened it to "Dead Like Me"... but it goes far beyond those 2 concepts and comes into its own.





~ Genuinely funny. It's not often I laugh out loud when watching any TV show, but there were a few scenes which were hilarious. It's nice to see an American TV show using dry wit and subtle sarcasm well, since so many shows fail to pull this off. I love the exchange between Emerson and Ned regarding the "random proximity".





~ The Fairy Tale setting. Some may complain it makes it "unrealistic", but come on! It's a show where a guy brings people back to life with a touch! It uses lots of greenscreen effects, overly bright colours and "whooshing" camera movements. (Think Sin City, Desperate Housewives and Shaun of the Dead all being brought together and produced by Tim Burton - Excessively bright colours, obviously computer generated backgrounds and effects, "action" shots with sped up movement via the camera with a deliciously dark humour embedded beneath.)





~ The voiceover. It adds to the whole fairy tale feel, but also helps explain the more complicated points. Normally any show that needs a commentary to explain the plot wouldn't be worth watching (good writing should explain itself!) but it just feels so right with "Pushing Daisies".





~ The metaphorical scenes. Certain camera angles, extra colour, washed out colour, the music. Everything helps set the tone and visually show you the mood of the scene. Hidden meanings via what is being portrayed. An obvious example is the washed out colours used when telling the backstory of the aunts career slowly spiralling down the drain.





- Points:





~ The above is a little inaccurate, as I only have one negative thing to say about the pilot. Ther were a couple of loose ends. He revived that fly in his house before his mother... so where was the consequence of the fly staying alive for 60 seconds? Also, it could have better explained the whole "monkey" plot, and the ending felt a bit rushed. Ignoring the revived guy who was found dead at the end seemed a little odd and out of character. Especially for Emerson in the background who I'm sure would have been pressing for information rather than watch the 2 loversholding their own hands. However, this is a very minor quibble in an otehrwise perfect show!








I can't wait to see where this series goes, and I have very high hopes! A must-see for anyone who appreciates good, dark humour.