I recently had the chance to watch the pilot episode of the new fantasy series
"Pushing Daisies" created by Bryan Fuller, the man behind the series "Dead Like Me" and "Wonderfalls." While the pilot did contain things I wasnt thrilled with, its a solid show, and I look forward to seeing more.

Before I go into any detail, theres one thing you must understand about television pilots. They are not made for you and I. Producers make a pilot for network executives. A pilot is a tool to sell the show to the network. Most producers will create the pilot so that it can be used as an episode of the series, should it be picked up. But that is a secondary concern. I mention this because I felt this pilot a little too exposition heavy, and that the executives were the reason.

I enjoyed the story told in this pilot, to a point. It was structured like a fairy tale, with a use of bright, primary colors invoking a feeling of a fantasy world, as well as a narrator walking the viewer through the story as it progressed. Fuller has used narration as a tool in both DLM and Wonderfalls. but in those cases, it was the main character narrating and it worked as a story telling device for me. However, the narration in this story got annoying quickly.

The story revolves around Ned, played by Lee Pace (Wonderfalls), a young man with the ability to restore something dead to life. Through narration and short scenes, we follow Ned from age 10, first discovering this ability and its rules, to the age of 30, where he runs a pie shop and has a lot of emotional baggage due to his ability. Pace plays the character with the emotional distance necessary given the events we witness from his childhood, until he reconnects with Chuck.

Charlotte Chuck Charles, played by Anna Friel, is Neds love interest. She was 10 when she and Ned shared their first kiss. In the pilot, Chuck is killed, and Ned brings her back, to ask who killed her. But when he finds he cannot let her die again, a weird and romantic bond begins to develop between the two. Friel was the delight of the episode. Almost every line of hers brings a smile to my face, watching her fall for the man who rescued her from death.

Rounding out the regular cast are Chi McBride as Emerson, Neds partner. Emerson learned Neds secret, and convinced him to help solve murders by reviving the deceased and asking who killed them. McBride was nothing more than a plot device in this episode, and I hope this role brings him more to do in the regular series. The other regular was Kristin Chenoweth, as Olive. Olive works for Ned, and has fallen for her boss. She longs to be touched by him, but even more so, she hopes to help him reach out and touch others. She stole every scene she was in, which wasnt easy given this cast.

There was a mystery to solve in this episode, but it was inconsequential to the characters, which were the real story. In closing, I felt "Pushing Daisies" was a good pilot, bogged down by the narration. The genius of Bryan Fuller is all over this episode, and if they tone down, or even eliminate the narrator, Ill be in for the long haul.

Pushing Daisies premieres Oct. 3 on ABC.

TV Trivia

About Bryan Fuller
Brian Fuller got his start in the television industry due to the Star Trek open submission policy in effect at Paramount during the 1980s and early 1990s. His desire to write for "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" led him to submit a script, which got him a pitch meeting. He wrote for both "Deep Space Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager," working himself up to the position of co-producer of the series.

Ed Left is a columnist for Airlock Alpha, working out of Chicago. He also is the Webmaster of SciFi On TV. He can be reached at eleft@airlockalpha.com.