Pushing Daisies

This post was one of my first from the previous Coeur d' Coeurs website. I wanted to be able to transfer most of the content over to the new blog. Now it's my first post here... Completely apropos since the name Coeur d' Coeurs was inspired by Pushing Daisies.

I am a serious ‘devotee’ of the show Pushing Daisies. Everything about this show is so right - the incredibly fanciful sets, the gorgeous clothes, the charming characters, and, of course, the imaginative storyline. Sadly, the show was cancelled, leaving a mere 22 episodes. Every time I watch Pushing Daisies, I can’t help but feel happy and uplifted - it’s the perfect prescription for a bad day.

With a single touch, Ned, a lonely young pie-maker, can bring the dead back to life. But, if he touches that person again, they die again - permanently. Unfortunately, if poor Ned keeps someone alive for more than a minute, someone else has to die in their place. He works with Emerson Cod, a Private Investigator, to solve murders {and collect reward money}. But when Ned discovers that his childhood sweetheart, Charlotte “Chuck” Charles has been murdered, he brings her to life to find out who killed her - and finds that he can’t bring himself to touch her dead again. When Ned brings his new girlfriend - who’s supposed to be dead - back to his restaurant “The Pie Hole” - where Ned’s waitress Olive Snook pines for the pie-maker - things get tangled more tightly than the lattice top on a slice of strawberry rhubarb. 

“My goal was a storybook come to life. I wanted everything to look almost like an illustration,” says production designer Michael Wiley of the extraordinary sets. The Pie Hole, where much of the show takes place is “vaguely Parisian” - a definite nod to the movie Amelie, which inspired much of the look and feel of the show.

The pies are all real! They always look so yummy.

This is one of my favorite sets on the show - Olive Snook’s apartment. I love a girl who’s not afraid of pattern on pattern!

Set Decorator Halina Siwolop describes Olive’s apartment as a reflection of Olive: “We chose to decorate her apartment in pink-peach tones to highlight her sweet nature and then used every imaginable print to highlight her bold and zany nature.”

 Named after Chuck’s Aunts Lily and Vivian, The Darling Mermaid Darlings - renowned synchronized swimming partners who have since become agoraphobes. 

This set was created for one episode... ONE! That’s how dedicated and talented the Pushing Daisies team was. Could you imagine how much better television would be if every show was as creative as this?

And the casting was spot on. Here is the amazing Molly Shannon playing Dilly Balsam, the super competitive Bittersweets shop owner that is hellbent on taking The Pie Hole down.

Another set created for one episode, the offices of Betty’s Bees.

Can I mention again how good the casting was? Here’s Missi Pyle as Betty Bee.

No article on Pushing Daisies would be complete without a glimpse of the costuming. I want to be this dandelion next Halloween.

 

 

I hope that this makes you want to watch Pushing Daisies - it really is one of my favorite things... and I think you might find it as enjoyable as I do.