[Televisionary]

Doesn't seem like forever ago that we first watched a remarkable new series about a Pie Maker who could bring the dead back to life with a touch ? Yes, folks, I'm talking about Bryan Fuller's gleefully imaginative Pushing Daisies , which sadly ended its truncated first season run last December due to the WGA strike. It's incredible to believe that it will have been about ten months since we last saw Ned, Chuck, Emerson, and Olive. (To say nothing of former Darling Mermaid Darlings Lily and Vivian.) Fortunately, the wait for Season Two (which will hopefully--fingers crossed--be much, much longer than Season One) is nearly over and ABC has made a promo for those of us still under Pushing Daisies ' spell to get a taste of what Bryan Fuller is cooking up for the series' sophomore season... and it looks like Season Two will include clowns, mimes, pigs, nuns, secret doors, bees, and, of course, pie. Pushing Daisies relaunches on October 1st at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC.

It was absolutely remarkable to see Chuck 's Josh Schwartz, Lost 's Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, Pushing Daisies ' Bryan Fuller, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ' Josh Friedman together on one panel. I thought the stage might collapse under the weight of their collective genius. The panel, part of Entertainment Weekly 's Visionaries series, was moderated by the magazine's in-house Lost guru Jeff Jensen, who did an absolutely brilliant job of asking insightful, intelligent questions and keeping the action moving. I go to a lot of these industry panels and typically the moderators are loathsomely awful, so it was a refreshing change of pace to have Jensen take the reins on this discussion and steer it in the right direction. This being a panel consisting of showrunners on some of my favorite series on the air today, I was glad to see that Jensen didn't let them off the hook with questions designed to help promote their respective series. Inste

It's that time of year again as the Television Critics Association has announced their nominations for the TCA Awards, which will be handed out on July 19th in Beverly Hills. Making headlines: AMC's Mad Men has tied HBO's The Wire with the top number of nominations. (For those of you looking for a sign that critics are clearly behind the itty-bitty cabler and the recent Golden Globe winner for Best Drama, there you go.) This year's group of nominees are quite exciting choices (as seen from the full list below), with some of Televisionary's favorite programs represented, including multiple nominations for Damages, 30 Rock, Lost, Pushing Daisies, and Flight of the Conchords , to name but a few. The full list of nominees for the TCA Awards is as follows: Program of the Year: John Adams Lost Mad Men Ken Burns' The War The Wire Comedy: 30 Rock The Colbert Report The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Flight of the Conchords The Office Drama: Damages Friday Nigh

I've been going to the Paley Festival for a few years now, ever since I moved out here from New York about, oh, six years ago now. (Good god, has it really been that long?) Even when the panels aren't that, well, exciting, they still manage to entertain and provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse at some of your favorite series. I needn't have worried about Saturday evening's Pushing Daisies panel being dull, especially with the uber-talented Bryan Fuller and nearly the entire cast--save narrator Jim Dale and Swoozie Kurtz (sadly at her ailing mother's bedside)--assembled at the historic Cinerama Dome at the Arclight in Hollywood. I cannot explain how magical it was to see Fuller, writer Peter Ocko, Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Kristin Chenoweth, Ellen Green, and executive producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen all up on stage together as their series is about to begin its second season. (Take that, cancellation mongers!) Instead of screening an entire episode (lik

ABC has opted to give nine scripted series early renewals this season, including Lost (guaranteed two additional seasons after the series' current fourth season), Brothers & Sisters, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy , and Desperate Housewives . These series will all return next season for a place on ABC's fall schedule and have each received a full season pickups for the 2008-09 season. "The strength of our schedule this fall was unprecedented and speaks for itself," said ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson in a statement. "We're looking forward to building on that success." The Alphabet also granted reprieves to three first-year dramas and one freshman comedy; Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice , and Samantha Who? will join the above series on the schedule next season. Good news, right? Well, yes, I am happy that they've gotten another shot on the ratings merry-go-round but as of right now Pushing Daisies and these oth

The PR machine is in overdrive for the 2008 William S. Paley Television Festival, the fest's 25th anniversary installment, which moves its location this year from its cramped quarters at the DGA to the Cinerama Dome at the Arclight. (Wahoo!) While the festival's organizers are being pretty coy about the full lineup and schedule this year, what with teasing us about a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reunion , they have quietly nailed down some dates for some of the panels: March 14th: Elvis '68 Comeback Special (Opening Night Selection) March 15th: Pushing Daisies March 17th: The Comedy World of Judd Apatow & Friends March 18th: Chuck March 20th: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reunion March 21st: Dancing with the Stars March 25th: Dirty Sexy Money March 27th: Mad Men (Closing Night Selection) The full lineup and schedule, including the date for the previously announced panel for Gossip Girl, is slated to be revealed on February 4th. Individual tickets for members of the Paley Cen

It pays to be a member... of the Paley Center, that is. As with most years since I moved out to Los Angeles (five years ago, for those keeping score), I'm planning on attending as many William S. Paley Television Festival events as I can (and as many as my wallet will allow). The festival's organizers--from the Paley Center for Media--have been particularly canny this year, teasing the audience with little glimpses into this year's lineup (March 14-27 at the Arclight, in the Cinerama Dome, no less), which so far includes panels for Pushing Daisies and Gossip Girl and a special evening with Judd Apatow. If that wasn't enough, they then made me drool with sweet, sweet anticipation with their latest tantalizing unveiling of the schedule, which features panels for Chuck , Dirty Sexy Money , Dancing with the Stars , and Mad Men . And, oh, a reunion of the cast from a little show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Yes, that's right, ladies and gents, the cast of the cult

Um, wow. If you saw last night's brilliant and heartbreaking episode of Pushing Daisies ("Corpiscle"), you know exactly what I'm talking about. (And if you didn't catch it, shame on you for missing out on the most astoundingly inventive series to come along in years!) While this installment was sadly the last produced episode of Pushing Daisies before the strike, it was the absolute perfect cliffhanger--in scope, tone, plot, and characterization--to nine episodes of whimsy, charm, and the very best witty dialogue this side of Dashiell Hamnett. The facts were these: this week's episode--written by Lisa Joy and directed by Brian Dannelly ( Saved! )--itself revolved around a murder spree in which the bodies of insurance adjusters from Uber-Life Life Insurance turned up outside the home of a boy thrice turned down for a heart transplant, but it was also about the fractured relationship between Ned and Chuck, who recently learned that her childhood sweetheart had

Ah, awards season is upon us, but I can't seem to muster the same enthusiasm this year, what with the strike still going on and no sign of resolution anywhere to turn to. Still, it's a little bit of comfort to know that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, in handing out their nominations, did decide to include some of my favorite series this year around, including Pushing Daisies, Big Love, 30 Rock, and Damages. So thanks to the HFPA for recognizing creative genius and innovative television. My hat is off to you! So which series and actors got nominated and which ones got left out in the cold? Below is a list of the TV award categories and their nominations, along with my reactions to the major categories. BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA: BIG LOVE (HBO) DAMAGES (FX NETWORKS) GREY’S ANATOMY (ABC) HOUSE (FOX) MAD MEN (AMC) THE TUDORS (SHOWTIME) While I loves me some Big Love (and I am absolutely pickled that the HBO polygamy drama has gotten some much-deserved recognit

Is it just me or does ABC's deliriously deliciously drama Pushing Daisies have the best guest stars this side of 30 Rock ? Last night's episode of Pushing Daisies ("Bitter Sweets") was no exception, giving us a boffo appearance by Molly Shannon as taffy emporium proprietor Dilly Balsam and Mike White as brother Billy Balsam. If that's not outrageous stunt casting along the lines of Paul Reubens playing a scent-obsessed utilities worker, I don't know what is. Shannon was pitch-perfect as Dilly, a conniving, mercenary of a business owner who proved that she's willing to break any rule in pursuit of running the competition out of business, whether that's pretending to have a stutter, that she's legally blind, or calling in the health inspector to the Pie Hole. (Hell, she even messed with their neon sign to read The Pie Ho. Classic.) Still, I am not sure how Ned explained to Olive the entire room filled to the ceiling with rotten fruit. What possible

It's always distressing when an episode of one of your absolute favorite series fails to meet your expectations. It's especially distressing when the series in question is the typically charming and witty Pushing Daisies . I felt that the idea for last night's episode of Pushing Daisies ("Bitches")--in which the gang investigates the murder of a innovative dog breeder who turns out to be a polygamist (Joel McHale) with four sister brides--was a good one, as it served to underpin the conflict existing between Ned, Chuck, and Olive in their non-sexual love triangle and advance the romantic plot. Can people share their love among many people (or in Ned's case two people)? Can Ned reconcile the fact that he can kiss the girl he doesn't love but can't kiss the one he does? All worthy questions worth discussion, but I didn't feel that the script for "Bitches"--from husband and wife team Chad Gomez Creasey and Dara Resnick Creasey--lived up to

Is it just me or is Pushing Daisies getting even better and better with each new installment? Last night's episode of Pushing Daisies ("Girth") was no exception to this rule, with an installment that filled out Olive's backstory as a female jockey (though Cheno had told me that herself over the summer) as well as explained some of the oddness of Ned's psychological/emotional history and heightened the tensions between romantic rivals Olive and Chuck. The script for "Girth" was written by the exceptionally talented Kath Lingenfelter, Pushing Daisies ' executive story editor. Lingenfelter, as Bryan Fuller told me , was hired on the strengh of her spec script, about a man with pork chops for hands. Ned. Love that Ned kept the wooden arm from last week's episode and is using it as a scratcher for Digby. Seeing just what happened to poor Ned at the boarding school explained quite a lot about this psychological state as an adult and his emotionally

I'm still on a high after last night's episode of Pushing Daisies ("Pigeon"), a sweet as pie installment scripted by Rina Mimoun ( Gilmore Girls ) that upped the romantic quotient while still remaining true to its quirky off-beat drumming. (My high might also have something to do with the sinfully delicious piece of cherry pie my fiancée brought home for the occasion.) Wednesday nights have truly become a highlight of the week since Pushing Daisies launched. I can't tell you how much my face hurts after an episode, what with all the grinning. And last night's episode was no exception. What other series could take a plot about jewel thieves, a downed crop duster, a one-armed man, windmills, a mono-winged carrier pigeon, and bees and make it into pure, unadulterated joy? (None, I tell you.) Plus, Chuck and Ned's rooftop waltzing trumped any B&B-related romance with Jim and Pam, making these star-crossed lovers the only ones I can't get enough of la

Get a fresh piece of pie: there's one new series that certainly won't be pushing up daisies by midseason. In a move that instantly made me jump out of my chair and do a victory dance, ABC has ordered the back nine episodes of freshman drama Pushing Daisies . The order brings the episodic total for this season of Pushing Daisies , which stars Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, and Kristin Chenoweth, to 22 episodes. (In your face, naysayers!) Personally, I feel that the news of Pushing Daisies ' pickup validates the belief that America deserves more than cookie-cutter procedurals and endless reality series and that there truly is an audience out there for series that unique, intelligent, and quirky. Pushing Daisies , created by Bryan Fuller and produced by Warner Bros Television, airs Wednesdays at 8 pm on ABC.

Wednesday nights have become sheer Televisionary bliss, in every sense of the word now that ABC's deliriously delicious Pushing Daisies has come along. The only thing that would make it even better? A piece of the Pie Maker's sinfully sweet pies. Last night's installment of Pushing Daisies ("The Fun in Funeral")--written by series creator Bryan Fuller--recaptured the magic of the original pilot episode. Personally, I'm not bothered by Jim Dale's tongue-in-cheek narration like some other reviewers. To me, it adds another dimension to the story and places it in a sort of meta-context, as though the action of the story is being further distanced from reality and additionally heightened by dint of the fact that the story is, well, self-aware that it's being told as a narrative. Plus, I just love Dale's velvety voice. Ned. I'm glad that the writers have continued to place Ned in a moral quandary about his revival of Chuck and, specifically, its un

It's Thursday morning, so naturally, I'm already itching to talk about last night's installment of the whimsical "forensic fairy tale" Pushing Daisies , which aired its first episode after the brutally brilliant pilot. (You can read my advance review of the pilot here .) While most new series would have seriously toned down the quirkiness in the second episode, Pushing Daisies did just the opposite, keeping the energy, quirk, and flagrant originality of the pilot, well, alive in the second episode ("Dummy"). And under the pen of Pete Ocko--creator of CBS' short-lived medical drama 3 Lbs. and a writer on Bryan Fuller's Dead Like Me --our characters truly came to life, with a zany plot (crash test dummies and a car that runs on dandelions), some unrequited love, a heartfelt song, and a loony villain who just happened to look like that balmy criminology professor on Veronica Mars (Patrick Fabian). The effect? Pure magic. Ned. I absolutely loved