‘Humor. It is a difficult concept. It is not logical.” - Saavik

By Josh Roessler and Juliana Weiss

A friend of ours believes that any screenplay idea can be improved by adding zombies to the mix, so in honor of Zombie week, we thought we’d test the theory on some popular TV shows. Read more »

By Juliana Weiss

To many fans, waiting until the fall for new episodes of Pushing Daisies after a strike-shortened nine-episode first season seems like cruel and unusual punishment.

But last night at the Paley Fest, creator Bryan Fuller insisted that, creatively, the delay was a good thing for the show. “It gave us a chance to look back at the nine episodes, and what was working and what was not working,” he said. Fuller explained that the second season will have a harder, more aggressive style of storytelling as opposed to the softer, more romantic arc of the first season.

For those of us who can’t wait, here are a few SPOILERS revealed last night:

• Emerson (Chi McBride) became a private investigator in an effort to find his daughter. A fact which will be explored in the next season.
• Olive’s (Kristen Chenowith) love interest, the homeopathic salesman Alfredo Aldarisio (Raúl Esparza,) will return… and it sounds like the two Broadway stars may get a chance to sing together.
• Chuck (Anna Friel) will learn the identity of her real mother, ‘Aunt’ Lily (Swoosie Kurtz). Fuller explained, “It’s going to be interesting to see how [Chuck] reacts to that information, and how the Pie Maker tries to control her trajectory and how that will complicate their relationship.
• Possible Guest Star: Carol Burnett. Bryan Fuller expressed his interest in having the star appear. Definitely not a sure thing, but who can turn down a role on one of the best shows on television?
• An interesting factoid that was originally written into the pilot: Ned (Lee Pace) is a vegetarian. Why? You guessed it: the meat would come back to life, making for a rather unpleasant dining experience.
• Expect to see Season 1 on DVD in September. Also, a soundtrack, possibly including the pieces sung by Kristin Chenoweth and Ellen Greene, who plays Aunt Vivian, is in the works.

Watching Anna lean her head on Lee’s shoulder or reach out and squeeze his arm throughout the evening was heartbreaking—if only Ned and Chuck could touch. Sigh! One fan-submitted question broached this point: did they ever have to re-shoot scenes because the actors accidentally touched?

Yes. Anna revealed that she was usually the culprit, while Lee claimed his secret was to sit on his hands. Bryan Fuller has a slightly different version of the story, “Anna’s a frotteurist, so it makes things very complicated.”

A joke that I only found funny after a trip to the dictionary:

Frotteurism: (n) the paraphiliac practice of achieving sexual stimulation or orgasm by touching and rubbing against a person without the person’s consent and usually in a public place called also frottage (Source: Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary. Retrieved 3-16-08, from Dictionary.com website)

But most of the humor came from Chi McBride (Emerson). In fact, he stole the show. Early in the evening, McBride asked if there were any kids younger than thirteen in the audience. Boyish Lee Pace shook his head knowingly, “Oh no.”

McBride then proceeded to poke good-natured fun at his castmates. “It’s amazing the amount of B.S. you hear in Hollywood when people are on a panel.” He teased his castmates for their claimed reluctance at taking a TV role. “Me, I was looking for anything that paid the bills, okay?” he revealed.

McBride kidded that Anna, despite her strong British accent, is really from Long Beach. He coaxed Kristen into sharing some beautiful opera singing. And then he turned his keen wit on Bryan Fuller:

“Bryan, your disguise is not working,” McBride said, poking fun at Fuller’s thick-rimmed glasses. “You look like Clark Kent, but we all know you’re Superman.”

Throughout his exposé, the cast died laughing—and for one of them, it really did sound like she was dying: the endearing Ellen Greene (Aunt Vivian). She apologized for laughing “like a donkey,” which is an apt description of the unique sound.

I have to say that, after careful thought on the matter, I disagree with one point Bryan Fuller made that evening. Before you go shouting blasphemy, hear me out.

A question was posed about the possibility of Ned/Chuck offspring. Fuller quickly threw this idea out. Crestfallen, Anna insisted that it could be possible, but Fuller said that the second the sperm hit the egg, it would die.

At first, this seemed logical enough, but then I got to thinking. Wouldn’t the problem really occur before that? If the sperm touched Chuck’s body, wouldn’t she die? But if that were the case, then wouldn’t any Ned-grown bodily fluid cause her death? This would make talking nearly impossible—who hasn’t on occasion been hit by a bit of speaker spit?—and would make sneezing absolutely terrifying. No, clearly spit and snot are exempt from the life/death ability. It seems logical, then, that all body fluids—including sperm—would be exempt.

I suppose the final decision on the matter rests in Fuller’s hands, but I believe that a baby from this beautiful romance is a distinct possibility. Despite our differences, I will be tuning into Pushing Daisies next fall with the faith that Bryan Fuller will birth a beautiful second season.

By Sonia Aurora

First of all, I want to thank the Golden Globes for acknowledging Pushing Daisies and Lee Pace for how amazing this little show that could is. What could have been a show that got tossed aside like Wonderfalls and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. has received not only critical accolades but viewership as well, and looks to survive, hopefully in spite of the writer’s strike (come on, just pay these people their due!) Read more »

By Sonia Aurora

OhmeGod OhmeGod OhmeGod.

Ok, it would be a GREAT disservice to this episode for me to go from the ending scene and then recap. But the last scene, the last things said, sent such a shockwave through me that I forgot:
1-Raul Esperanza showed up again on the show as Alfredo “Fredo” Aldarisio, Olive’s potential soulmate
2-Molly Shannon guest starred, and indie fave Mike White. Also Banya from Seinfeld.
3-An homage to Hitchcock’s The Birds
4-Lots and lots of candy and candy pastel colors.

Shoot. I was so flabbergasted that it took me a week to write this recap! (ok, that’s my excuse this time…) Read more »