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The cast of ABC’s new fairy-tale Pushing Daisies

The bliss that is summer in the city has obviously slowed down my production output. This raises several significant problems. The first being less content for you, dear reader. The second is the fact that the network pilots tend to change as fast as we’re able to watch them (the mess that was ABC’s Cavemen has all ready recast a role and decided to write a new pilot episode).

So here I am, finally committing some thoughts to type weeks after first seeing ABC’s crop of dramas that the network hopes will ultimately wow millions across America. A few of the series are strong contenders, a few others should just be forgotten before the embarrassment is broadcast to an entire nation, and one is really, really great. Despite the high (or not so high praise) remember, these are just previews, not reviews. A lot can change between now and air — and probably will. The full breakdown down after the break…

Pushing Daisies (Wednesdays, 8:00pm)

What is it?
Starting with the best, Pushing Daisies is brought to us from Bryan Fuller the creator of Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me, two shows that were much loved by fans and critics alike before ultimately being canceled (there’s nothing a network hates more than passionate fans and adoring critics). Here, the story follows Ned, a pie-maker who has an unusual gift. When he touches something that is dead, it comes back to life. What complicates matters is touching it again kills it — this time for good. It’s actually far more complicated than that as his “gift” works under a seemingly endless series of rules and asterisks none of which particularly matter once the story gets going. Pushing Daisies is so light-hearted and fun it’s hard to get worked up over continuity. It is, after all, a fairy tale at its heart.

The real drama comes from the relationship between Ned and Charlotte (Chuck), his first love, who he brings back to life after being murdered on a cruise ship. Brilliantly, Pushing Daisies finally solves the long-standing television problem of will-they-or-won’t-they dramatic tension by making it physically impossible for Ned to ever touch Chuck ever again (unless the rules get rewritten, of course).

How’s the pilot?
Strong. It’s very strong. It might be the best I’ve seen this season. Shot with the brightest color palette this side of Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld in what might be his best work since Get Shorty, Pushing Daisies is immensely likable and unlike anything else currently on television. It’s a fairy-tale world complete with an old-man British narrator, deliriously quirky characters, and a pitch-perfect set-up. Despite the long-winded explanation above Daisies accomplishes the unenviable task of getting the mythology out of the way early and doing so at a lightening clip.

Unlike Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me, which I found to be just OK, Pushing Daisies never suffers from quirky-for-the-sake-of-quirky (a problem that plagued the two former series). You also don’t have the sense of manipulation from on high. Here, despite being placed smack dab in the middle of a Tim Burton wet-dream, the characters always feel in control.

Also interesting is how material this potentially dark can play so cheerfully — like everything is made of Technicolor rock candy. After all, the show is chalk full of dead people, some in various states of post-violence gore. It’s a series that looks like Pee-Wee’s Playhouse but whose subject is CSI. Still, there’s a very real and palpable sadness coating everything. All the characters are coming to terms with living in a world where they can’t have the one thing they truly desire.

Is there a dark spot?
Kind of. As good as the pilot may be, we’re left with no clue whatsoever about what future episodes of the series will be like. Will it become a police procedural? It could, as the pie-maker moonlights as the aid to a homicide detective (it’s a lot easier to solve a crime when you can just ask the deceased who killed them). Will it be an Ed-like romantic comedy? Surely, but our two lovers can never get together. I wouldn’t say it’s as dire as Studio 60, where the great pilot only set us up for a bigger kick in the sack the next week when we saw that the show wasn’t only inartful, but just plain silly.

I also question whether a big audience will be willing to go along with it? This is an out-there show in every facet. To me it seems it would work best following Ugly Betty which is already half fairy tale. It’s hard to say whether Wednesday night will ultimately be a positive thing (outside of Lost ABC has had a hell of time getting anything else to stick on this night). It also doesn’t help matters that the show looks like it costs a small fortune (of course, I’m hardly a line producer).

How many episodes am I willing to give this show?
Unlimited.

Check out a preview of Pushing Daisies over at ABC.com

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Women’s Murder Club (Fridays 9pm)

What is it?
We’ve all seen shows about cops. We’ve all seen shows about lawyers. We’ve all seen shows about reporters. We’ve all seen shows about medical examiners. Finally, we’ll get to see a show about all four of them working together. That’s not even the best news; they also happen to be female and sassy! Why would these four women team up to solve crimes? It doesn’t matter! Based on the James Patterson (author of “The Quickie” — Murder never felt so good!) crime fiction series, Women’s Murder Club is about four friends in different facets of law enforcement who get together in a secret location, pool their information, and solve crimes. It’s kind of like Sex and the City but with more CSI

How’s the pilot?
In a word: silly. I actually kind of like the idea of this show, the merging together of several well-worn television genres (though the Law and Order franchise has been doing this for decades), but it simply doesn’t play well on the screen. At least not in this form. The biggest problem (outside of the general “why on earth are these professional grown women meeting up in secret hiding places?” questions) was that of the four main characters, only one seemed to get any screen time — the homicide detective. Because of this the genre-crossing nature of the show isn’t all that genre-crossing. After an hour it was basically like every other police procedural on network television. Perhaps this all plays better in airport-novel form.

Is there a bright spot?
Sure. There are plenty of worse shows on television, and even a few with more asinine log-lines. The show’s strength also happens to be a recurring theme this fall: Sex and the City meets BLANK. The question becomes how much, if any, Sex and the City can the American television audience really stand? To pull this off, they’ll really need to polish up the script a bit. In the pilot there is a major subplot involving the main characters lack of a bed after her boyfriend moves out (and literally takes her bed). The way it’s talked about suggests a low-rent Gilmore Girls — if Lorelai and Rory would stop mid-sentence and canvas a crime scene.

How many episodes am I willing to give this show?
Zero. I’m not the demographic and don’t pretend to be. Perhaps you are.

Check out a preview of Women’s Murder Club over at ABC.com

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Big Shots (Thursdays 10:00pm)

What is it?
Big Shots is exactly we we’ve always wanted on television: a story about four incredibly powerful rich white men and all of their can’t-find-a-woman trials and tribulations. We wanted this right? A — wait for it — Sex and the City for men? Because if there’s one thing men love talking about, its all of their problems with relationships (even if in this particular case the “problems with relationships” tend to be problems with cheating on their wives and/or getting busted nailing a tranny in a public restroom). What’s not to like?

How’s the pilot?
As off-putting as the series sounds, everything is more or less sugar-coated and goes down easy, so in a way it isn’t a particularly painful hour of television (some moments might even pass as charming). That fact is what I ultimately found the most troubling. This should be a far edgier show than it is, and the notion that audiences are suppose to embrace these characters like the oh-so-lovable Desperate Housewives is almost unthinkable.

As far as the actual story, it’s kind of flimsy. For example, one of the “big shots” decides to take his mistress to the same couples therapist that he takes his wife. Really? There wasn’t another counselor in all of Westchester? About halfway through the episode the character played by Dylon McDermott says, “Men, we’re the new women.” Yeah, sorry McD, not really.

Is there a bright spot?
Josh Malina (The West Wing) and Christopher Titus (Titus) are for the most part a lot of fun to watch, particularly Titus whose character seems the most well-adjusted of the bunch. He also has all the good lines. The series gets Grey’s Anatomy as its lead-in, and that has yet to hurt anyone.

How many episodes am I willing to give this show?
Two.

Check out a preview of Big Shots over at ABC.com

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Dirty Sexy Money (Wednesdays 10:00pm

What is it?
Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) plays Nick George, an idealist lawyer who has lived his whole life in the shadow of the Darling family, who his father represented. When his dad dies mysteriously in a helicopter crash, Nick is asked by Darling family patriarch Tripp (Donald Sutherland) to take over for his father. Nick says no until Tripp asks him to name his price: $10 million. Now Nick’s sole purpose in life is to keep this wealthy, entitled and moderately corrupt family in business, selling a little piece of his sole in the process. It’s a lot like Arrested Development if that show had been an hour-long drama and taken place in New York City — in other words, it’s promising.

How’s the pilot?
The biggest surprise about Dirty Sexy Money was how funny it was. The cast is great and the writing is pretty sharp, but its the humor that sells the series. Unlike Big Shots, this series isn’t intent on making the super-wealthy, super-powerful particularly likable and because of this it can get away with more. Also like Big Shots, Dirty Sexy Money has a plotline involving a transvestite hooker. Here its not only funnier but more believable (who would have guessed this was going to be the year for cross-dressing prostitutes?). One of the series best characters is Brian Darling (played by Glenn Fitzgerald), a delightfully sinful reverend, and the one character that seems to hate Nick more than any other. You don’t often get to see a man of the cloth engaged in horrific behavior on network television making it, in a way, a breath of fresh air.

Peter Krause is fabulous on television. After Six Feed Under he was never really able to break too far into the movie biz, and I think for that we are all lucky. Some actors have that larger-than-life presence that translates well to a larger-than-life format. Not having that trait has often been seen as a flaw on an actors resume. This is unfortunate as the value in being a really great television actor has never been higher, and has never led to as many good parts as it does today. Krause is perfect for the format because he never gets Pacino-big. Here, he’s asked to be the rock of the series — frequently on the verge of explosion. He doesn’t. As an actor few people can portray bottled-up rage like him.

I should also state, for the record, that the Dirty Sexy Money pilot has two of the best cameos for a network television series in recent memory. I don’t dare say more, but suffice to say, when they appear on screen you’ll yell out, “Yeah?”

Is there a dark spot?
At the end of the pilot we’re teased about a murder mystery. It’s suppose to be the hook that propels the entire series, but honestly, it just came off as tacked on and really didn’t seem necessary. The previous 40 minutes provided more than enough clues into how the Darling family will drive Nick crazy making him into a gumshoe might be excessive. Unfortunately, this is the trend in network television: mysteries. What I think people have failed to grasp is it is possible to create a series without major season-long story arcs and NOT make that show a procedural.

How many episodes am I willing to give this show?
Unlimited.

Check out a preview of Dirty Sexy Money over at ABC.com

Tags: Fall TV Preview

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 29th, 2007 at 7:14 pm and is filed under ABC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.