ABC Sucks!

I'm in mourning today. ABC has just cancelled one of my very favorite shows, Pushing Daisies. Well, the network isn't officially using the word cancelled, but their failure to pick up any additional episodes beyond the 13 already produced for this season amounts to the same thing.

The show did pretty well in its first season last year, but then thanks to the Writer's Strike it disappeared from television for nearly ten months. By the time it came back, the ratings were down and this is the end result. It's especially sad because the show has been even better in its second season.

I almost didn't tune in at all last year when it started. I read a description of the show's concept and it sounded sort of silly: a man can bring the dead back to life for one minute by touching them and helps solve murders by asking the victims who killed them. It didn't sound like something I'd really want to watch.

But then I heard that Kristin Chenoweth would be one of the stars and I saw a preview that included the show's adorably sexy lead, Lee Pace, and I thought I'd give it a chance.

I was so glad I did. Pushing Daisies was like nothing else I'd ever seen on TV, with its fairy tale style narration and vibrantly stylized look and its sweet nature colored by a strong dose of life's darkest aspect, death.

The lead characters, Ned & Chuck (the latter being a female, played by Anna Friel), loved each other but could literally never touch since Ned had brought Chuck back to life and another touch would mean she was dead for good. Imagine a show that sets it up from the first episode that its love interests can never be together, at least not in a way that most of us would consider 'together'.

The love between Ned & Chuck would almost have been too sweet to take if it wasn't for the character of Emerson Cod, the sarcastic Private Detective whom Ned solves murders with (perfectly played by Chi McBride). Emerson was always snarking on them from the sidelines, rolling his eyes at them the way most regular people would if they had to be around them all the time. Somehow, this just balanced things out perfectly.

If the show had tried to sell its concept with a more realistic setting and tone, it never would have worked. Such a premise calls for an over the top presentation, and most would have gone for the dark, edgy sort (which is how I originally pictured it when I thought I'd pass on watching), but Pushing Daisies went for exactly the opposite, making it a modern day fairy tale, and it really worked.

Take all of that and throw in Kristin Chenoweth as Olive Snook, a waitress at Ned's restaurant, the Pie Hole, always pining over Ned and just generally being awesome and watchable in a way that only Kristin Chenoweth can be, and you had real magic on the screen.

I've spent the last month loaning out my nine episode first season DVD box set of the show to friends and co-workers, hoping to win over new viewers, and now ABC goes and pulls the rug out from under it all.

My only consolation is that there are still seven episodes which have already been shot to look forward to before its all over.

Bryan Fuller, the openly gay creator of the show, had similar luck with two earlier shows he created, which were both pretty incredible in their own right, and which were cancelled far too soon. Dead Like Me aired for two seasons on Showtime, and Wonderfalls (which had Lee Pace in a supporting role) only aired four episodes before Fox cancelled it, although thirteen episodes were shot and are available on DVD.

Fuller seems destined to be the creator of wonderful shows that gain cult status after being yanked off the air far too soon. More and more people will probably discover Pushing Daisies on DVD after it's too late, which is what happened with his other two shows, Wonderfalls in particular.

It's probably worth noting that Bryan Fuller was also a producer and writer on Heroes during its first season, back when most people were actually enjoying the show. There's been some speculation that he may return to try and revive that show now.

Whatever happens, I know I'll follow Lee, Kristin, and Bryan on to whatever roles and shows they create next, but I'll never quite get over what could have been with Pushing Daisies.

I should also add that ABC cancelled Dirty Sexy Money as well, a show which featured a transgendered character played by real life trans actress Candis Cayne and was created by the openly gay Greg Berlanti of Brothers & Sisters. I watched the first season of Dirty Sexy Money last year and enjoyed it, but like Pushing Daisies it disappeared from the screen for many months after the writer's strike and I never ended up tuning in for the second season.

Berlanti was dealt a double whammy by ABC, since they also cancelled another show he produced and wrote for, Eli Stone.