"Pushing Daisies" Dummy (2007)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Barry Sonnenfeld

Writers:

Bryan Fuller (creator)
Peter Ocko (written by)

TV Series:

"Pushing Daisies" (2007)

Original Air Date:

10 October 2007 (Season 1, Episode 2)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

The team investigates an unusual car manufacturer after a murder victim claims that he was killed by a crash test dummy.

Plot Keywords:

Minute | Murder | Pie | Surrealism | Diner

Cast

Lee Pace	...	Ned
Anna Friel	...	Charlotte 'Chuck' Charles
Chi McBride	...	Emerson Cod
Jim Dale	...	Narrator (voice)
Ellen Greene	...	Vivian Charles (credit only)
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Lily Charles (credit only)
Kristin Chenoweth	...	Olive Snook
Patrick Fabian	...	Mark Chase
Riki Lindhome	...	Jeanine
Jonathan Mangum	...	Bernard Slaybeck
Omar Avila	...	Manuel
Matt Braunger	...	Rick
Field Cate	...	Young Ned
Taji Coleman	...	Beth
Alex Endeshaw	...	Lab Technician

Runtime:

USA:42 min (excluding commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Jinks/Cohen Company

Goofs:

Factual errors: The narrator states that Emerson Cod "finished purling the row," Emerson is actually knitting it.

Quotes:

Narrator: At that moment, the Pie Maker felt a mixture of happiness and trepidation.
Ned: Why is it always a mixture?

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Titanic (1997)

Soundtrack:

Hopelessly Devoted to You

"Dead people don't talk...usually"

After introducing its wacky yet endearing premise in the pilot, Pushing Daisies moves into even zanier territory with Dummy, which also marks the true beginning of the show's bizarre whodunit formula.

Actually, there's another element, too: the beginning is always devoted to the misadventures of young Ned (Field Cate) as he learns to master his abilities. In this case, we get to see him experiment with frogs in the science lab to determine the one-minute rule about reviving dead people. After that, it's straight to the newest case: a corpse who claims he was killed by a crash test dummy at the car factory he used to work for. While the gang investigates the downsides of the "cars of the future", Emerson is unhappy about Chuck joining the team, Ned is unhappy because he can't touch his sweetheart and Olive pines over her unrequited love for the pie-maker.

Okay, so the concept of killer dummies might come off as a bad parody of the Child's Play movies, but thanks to great wit and excellent acting it all holds up. Highlights include Emerson's deadpan remarks (not to mention his knitting hobby) and Olive's musical number (no wonder Kristin Chenoweth was nominated for an Emmy), and that's just when they're apart - the real treat comes when they're sharing scenes ("Do they touch much?" "I wish they did").

And, in keeping with the show's oddball central romance, the epilogue, while sentimental, manages to be sincerely touching. As a doomed love story, it beats the hell out of Titanic.