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Kristin Chenoweth in PUSHING DAISIES "Window Dressed to Kill"
Television:
TV Review: PUSHING DAISIES - SEASON TWO - 'Window Dressed to Kill'
Since Ned has sworn off using his powers of resurrection, Chuck tries to help Emerson solve a murder case the old-fashioned way
Grade: BStars: Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Kristin Chenoweth, Chi McBride, Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene
Writer(s): Abby Gewanter
Director: Julie Anne Robinson
Release Date: May 30th, 2009
By T.K. DEHN, Contributing Writer
Published 6/1/2009
Every now and then, a show comes along that is original. Bryan Fuller’s creation PUSHING DAISIES proved to be a little too original for the mass market (pause for regret that the series didn’t originate on cable, where its critical acclaim, fan base and ratings would cause executives to swoon with delight), but after sitting on them since last December, ABC is finally airing the last three episodes.
“Window Dressed to Kill” is welcome return with all of the show’s trademarks – romance, wordplay, improbable incidents, bright colors (eschewing blue) and of course the issue of whether and when Ned (Lee Pace) should use his ability to raise the dead. Wanting normalcy after the disaster with the resurrected father of Chuck (Anna Friel), Ned has sworn off the bringing people back business, even for sixty seconds. Chuck, in a desire to make herself useful, offers to help Ned’s erstwhile detective partner Emerson (Chi McBride) solve the murder of a department store window designer. Meanwhile, two unjustly convicted friends (George Segal and Richard Benjamin, both in fine avuncular form) of Olive (Kristin Chenoweth), turn up after having escaped from prison. Olive has told the duo, father figures to her, a few fibs about her relationship with Ned, with the result that the waitress and the pie maker have to pretend to be engaged.
The bubbly teleplay by Abby Gewanter finds a way to reasonably work in series regulars Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene, as well as droll recurring guest actors Diana Scarwid and David Arquette. Director Julie Anne Robinson upholds DAISIES’ visual ethos of startling, amusing tableaux and tender humor, so that we always like the characters, even when they’re annoyed with one another. And of course, what would an episode of this show be without a few surprising twists, including one at the close?
A special treat here is Chenoweth employing her powerful voice for a portion of Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello,” which fits Olive’s love-confused character splendidly. The one gripe here is that while the ongoing character arcs continue to engage, the specifics of the episode (especially on the investigatory side) seem a bit undernourished – they’re watchable, but they feel like filler between the material involving the regulars.
Still, it’s great to see PUSHING DAISIES back on the air again. Too bad its return visit – this and two more episodes – will be so short.
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