Pushing Daisies

I was watching a re-run of the Pushing Daisies premier last week, when I realized that a couple of things were tickling my memory, as well as my sentimental attachments.

First of all, the visual style reminded me of something...the movie Amelie. Great; I loved that movie. No really-- I have seen it in French, Italian and German, I loved it so much. There is the same prevalence of the color green, and the vividness of colors, not to mention quirky characters living in a 'fantastic' atmosphere in which anything can happen. It doesn't hurt that Anna Friel (supporting character Chuck) reminds me strongly of the whimsy that Zooey Deschanel imbues all of her characters with. I also loved the appearance of Ellen Greene (Audrey, from the 1986 version of Little Shop of Horrors) as one of Chuck's aunts. As an aside, I loved her as Sylar's mummy dearest on Heroes and I can't believe it was her in Leon/The Professional! I had no idea, until I just IMDB'd her.

Secondly, I was caught by the narrator's soothing and airy voice. I knew I had heard it before, and as the opening credits appeared at the bottom of the screen, I realized that it was Jim Dale, narrator of the Harry Potter audio books. I adore Mr. Dale's readings of the magical series. I think he does a truly worthy job, and there is only one other (male) voice actor who really comes close to being competition; Roy Dotrice. Incidentally, Mr. Dale has the record for the greatest number of character voices.
In any case, it was delightful to hear a voice I enjoy do the narration for the show, kind of like Ian McKellan's on Stardust.

So, you are probably wondering if I actually liked the show. I did, at least enough to want to watch a little more. It won't supplant Grey's Anatomy or Battlestar Galactica on my Tivo or anything, but it was a good time. I will tune in for more, and I am happy to see that ABC is taking some chances with their programming. I don't, however, believe that the show will make it more than a season. I am happy to be proven wrong though--at least there is no "reality" to the show (read: contest, like Dancing with the Stars).