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Exclusive Interview: 'PUSHING DAISIES' CREATOR/WRITER BRYAN FULLER TALKS SEASON TWO - PART ONE - iFMagazine.com Send to a friend
© 2008 ABC and Kate Turning Kristin Chenoweth in PUSHING DAISIES

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Exclusive Interview: 'PUSHING DAISIES' CREATOR/WRITER BRYAN FULLER TALKS SEASON TWO - PART ONE

Yes more Kristin Chenoweth songs, bigger adventures and a WONDERFALLS cross-over

By PETER BROWN, Managing Editor
Published 10/2/2008



PUSHING DAISIES was one of the winners from last year’s TV season. Given there were so few winners at all because of the four-month long writer’s strike that is indeed saying something.  

The show returned last night for its second season and creator and writer of the show, Bryan Fuller, sat down with iF Magazine to talk about his quirky little show that could, what secrets are in store for fans this season and a WONDERFALLS crossover that will have fans drooling. Read on.
 
iF Magazine: So how did you get inspired to create such a quirky show such as PUSHING DAISIES?
 
BRYAN FULLER: The idea started with DEAD LIKE ME about a woman that died and becomes a guardian angel and as I was charting the season of that show I thought it would be interesting to do the opposite, a guy that could take grim reaper marks and cause a big ripple effect in the realm of death. That was going to be part of a DEAD LIKE ME arc, but I left it to do WONDERFALLS and kept it in the back pocket.
 
iF: Given how well the show did in the first season even in a truncated season, you are probably pretty excited.
 
FULLER: Very excited about it and very proud of the show. I love doing something on television that's creatively very satisfying and it’s an odd show, but with tremendous amount of heart.
 
iF: How much input do you have on the artistry of the final product, camera angles, color, special effects like CGI backgrounds?
 
FULLER: I’m pretty heavily involved in the production design and aspects of the show and it is a pretty involved process, but I work with a fantastic crew who are very protective of the aesthetic of the show and we try and make sure we are always recreating the pilot if we can in terms of the aesthetic and expanding the visual vocabulary of the show. We are doing a shot in a dim sum restaurant in the second season and we are doing a lot of different effects with that episode -- MATRIX effects that bring a whole new aspect to the show, but keep the same visual vocabulary in place.

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iF: Season One was sort of the ground work for the entire series in terms of establishing the characters and the conflicts, but you were cut short because of the writer’s strike. Was there anything that you wanted to do but you couldn’t or didn’t have the time or episode count for?
 
FULLER: Lots of stuff that we wanted to and we were able to do it in the second season and one of the things is that we had a lot of episodes that were going to be charted out and the network wasn’t sure if it was a season one episode and coming into the second season we were able to do it because we are expected to shift things up.
 
iF: Did the writer’s strike at all affect the way you went into writing Season Two?
 
FULLER: In a lot of respects it was a benefit and we were able to tell the stories in the first season and now we have a lot more game changing events than we did in the first season as the show is established and now we can take it to another level. And the second season is about jerking the wheel and taking a different road.

iF: Will there be any more Kristin Chenoweth songs on the show this season?
 
FULLER: We are recording a song and she sings in the first episode and then doesn’t sing until episode eight. It is a budgetary thing because the musical episodes are expensive, so we have to pick and choose our battles. The second half of the season we will have more, I hope.

iF: How do you plan on continuing the story of Ned and Chuck's relationship while not being able to touch each other? It must make you frustrated at times having to write about romance, but without touch.
 
FULLER: Actually it is much more fun to write this romance than another type of romance where they don’t have restrictions. “I love you” is so easy to write. There is no kind of craft there and feels almost cheap. On our show, we try to make the expression of love and the physical parameters much more a challenge and so much more satisfying than just a normal romance.
 
iF: Given, the Emmy nomination the show received, did ABC loosen the grips at all?
 
FULLER: No, not at all. Everything has been a negotiation and they had an opinion of the first season and we had an opinion of the first season. There were no defanging of the first season and the second season is still PUSHING DAISIES and as ambitious as ever. It was a challenge to figure out what or how they define weird and that was the main challenge of the second season. When you say "black," what shade of black are you talking about?
 
iF: Now you had WONDERFALLS on Fox for a short period of time before it got abruptly cancelled, but you gained PUSHING DAISIES. It must be a bit of a bittersweet feeling.
 
FULLER: Very bittersweet because I loved [WONDERFALLS] and the cast. So much so, that I had to do a WONDERFALLS crossover in this season of PUSHING DAISIES. That happens in episode eight of the second season and I’m really excited about it.
 
iF: Anything we can look for in the second season in terms of plot points?
 
FULLER: Episodes we did last year about Chuck going back and thanking the funeral director that died and she discovered he stole her pocket watch. That pocket watch will play a big role in the season, just wait and watch!
 

Reader Comments

from sez....

10/23/2008 6:32:37 PM

Fred from Pittsburgh, PA sez....
I've been a Fuller fan since "Dead Like Me." It was one of TV's finest moments.
10/8/2008 3:58:01 PM

Barbara from Lexington, Ky sez....
First Pushing Daisys is Awesome and gets better with every episode. Please keep these coming ... Second Wonderfalls was Amazing, Great and Loads of Fun from every angle and its a shame it was canceled. Looking forward to the crossover episode and hope theres more to come. Fantastic writing and an extremely talented cast make both shows the absolute Best !
10/8/2008 10:34:13 AM

JfKC from KC sez....
Just to point out the obvious - Lee Pace (Ned on Pushing Daisies) also played Jaye's brother Aaron in Wonderfalls. Surrender to destiny!
10/4/2008 3:42:43 PM

Kate from Rochester sez....
Did anyone catch that the nun who gave away all of Olive things to the poor was the Mom from Wonderfalls? I loved that!
10/3/2008 1:27:05 PM

Mike from Queens, NY sez....
Yes, Wonderfalls is a classic show. One of my favorites of all time. DEFINITELY looking forward to the crossover episode! How do they resolve Lee Pace being the brother on that show but a different character now..?
10/3/2008 10:36:08 AM

Wil from Portland ME sez....
Wonderfalls was a GREAT show. I own the complete first season on DVD, even the unaired episodes. It amazes me that so much crap can stay on TV, but the good shows never make it. Haven't seen Pushing Daisies, but I think I'll add it to my list. Loved Dead Like Me too. Thanks for the interview.
10/3/2008 6:26:15 AM

Sara Taylor from Pleasanton, CA sez....
Great interview. Love the show. Thanks!
10/2/2008 1:56:05 PM

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