The Facts Are These

Going to the Paley Festival Pushing Daisies event to see the final three episodes of Pushing Daisies. Looking forward to it! May report back, but I don't like to spoil things (I'm sure there will be spoilers elsewhere).

Creative Direction

Over the last week, two series have had episodes that touted a change / return to better storytelling.

Dollhouse had it's "Fox threw up it's hands and gave up trying / Told Joss Whedon to do whatever he wanted" episode in "Man on the Street" and it made me want to forget the first five episodes of the series and just consider "MotS" the new pilot.

Heroes, which I haven't really been watching, had it's "Bryan Fuller is back, ya'll!" episode last night called "Cold Snap." Now, again, I haven't really been watching a ton of this fourth volume, so I don't know what's really happened in the interim between the suck of the volume's premiere and this. Not a ton, it seems. Though the cheerleader was blissfully absent. Anyway, Fuller's return did seem to help, from what I could tell. The characters were pretty much acting with some degree of intelligence... at least enough to prove they had a brain on their shoulders. And, sadly, that's a big change from when I stopped caring. Unfortunately, Bryan Fuller rejoined the show in the middle of a failed, heavy-serialized plotline. I didn't expect MAGIC from him. And he didn't turn in another "Company Man." The episode was almost entirely watchable (curious what Masi Oka did to the producers to have them saddle him with this weird Super Powered Baby storyline), though, and there were moments of very cool special effects (Tracey telling Micah to put the sprinklers on so she could freeze the parking lot) as well as actual emotion (Daphne's death... even if the Parkman-as-Superman dream he put her in to ease her passing was utterly derivative). Don't know why they killed Daphne. She was actually an enjoyable character.

I may just bring myself to watch to the conclusion of the season to see if Heroes can keep this level up (it's still nothing compared to the first season, but, hey, enjoyable TV is better than unenjoyable TV so I have to wish for it and support it when it comes along). I do hope the brass at NBC see fit to get rid of Tim Kring, who obviously was the real problem at Heroes, not the scapegoats Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb, and make Bryan Fuller the actual showrunner next season.

Also, go figure, Bryan cast Swoosie Kurtz in a bit part in the episode (nice to have her on TV, even if she isn't kissing Teri Hatcher). I'm so very looking forward to the Paley Festival Pushing Daisies event where I'll get to see the last three episodes of the series (that, despite its considerable flaws, I do find myself missing the longer I've been without it).

Pushing Daisies Going Six Feet Under

Hearing Pushing Daisies has been canceled. Not sure if they'll air the rest of the series. It's off the air next week for the CMA Awards.

It's all wrong.

ANTM: Wrong! Lauren Brie? Really? She of the "Top 5 ANTM Photos Ever"? Gone with SEVEN GIRLS REMAINING? She didn't have much of a big personality... but whatever! I mean, really, of working high fashion models, how many really have "signature" walks and poses? Hm? Sheena isn't going much of anywhere in the fashion world until someone pays for her augmented breasts to get removed. Anyway.

Project Runway: Wrong! Or at least sorta wrong. We don't get a great look at the collections in the first part of the finale, but the glimpses we saw, I really wish Jerrell had made it to the official section of Bryant Park (he obviously still showed his collection). What glimpses we got had that regal, colorful, shiny, assymetrical flair. I just don't see Korto's collection winning in anything resembling the state we saw some of the pieces (which was the furthest from the designers returning to NYC, so who knows). That wedding dress was bad. Anyway, based on the wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses, Leanne and Kenley totally deserved to show their collections, so... sorta wrong. But, y'know, I loved a lot of Korto's designs, so whatevs, all bets off. Unfortunately for all of them, nothing is gonna stand up to Christian Siriano's collection.

South Park: Wrong! Because it's so right. Even though the show has already riffed on Speilberg and Lucas for their changing and remastering of their classic films (6 years ago in "Free Hat"), this episode was right on the money with the B-plot repressed memory most of the characters had of Indiana Jones getting raped by the two directors during Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Seriously. Cartman/Butters A-plot of Cartman having nightmares about the Chinese Olympics opening ceremonies and the Chinese taking over the world. ROFL.

Pushing Daisies: Wrong... because I think it's time to start getting detached from this whimsical, nonsensical, colorful mess. It will probably be 5th place in the timeslot in A18-49, and by November it might be behind ANTM in viewers (okay, that's a stretch... but who knows! After all, this is a world where Heroes is so bad - and it is - that it's tying HIMYM in the demo on Mondays... OMG Heroes is so bad...)

Relaunch

I can't wait to see tomorrow's ratings... will ABC be able to successfully relaunch its semi-successful Wednesday night lineup from last season?

I suspect mixed results, and potentially disastrous ones.

Private Practice will be tops of the ABC hours, but at the most a 4 in the demo (and thus losing in viewers and demo to the horrible Criminal Minds). Pushing Daisies will be lucky to breach a 2.5, as viewers gave up on it last season. Dirty Sexy Money is my question mark. Addition of Lucy Liu to the cast might help (and I love that sultry "so many secrets..." tag on the DSM ads) and I've heard amazing things about its creative direction this season (as well as a death coming up in episode two that will make me sad... but I'm not telling!) Plus, the competition is far less at 10pm than at 8pm (even if I'll be shocked if Knight Rider even does a 2 in the demo).

Speaking of... I can't wait to see how far NBC's lineup tanks. America's Got Talent will be pretty stable, but Knight Rider and Lipstick Jungle? Please.

Also Gary Unmarried. I will be quite surprised if it holds up week-to-week (and not because of increased competition, as ABC had the special DWTS which will undoubtedly do better than the Pushing Daisies premiere). Quite surprised.

I personally welcome the ABC dramas back because with the exception of Bones (which I am not recording tonight, as Hulu is a far better online player than The CW's) all I'd been watching on Wednesdays were reality programs (and next week, the diversion that was Top Design gives way to South Park).

Show reactions... relative to expectations, the opinions are these.

Pushing Daisies brought back its particularly brand of whimsy, no more and no less than I'd recalled. The partially-new, partially-not opening was a good intro to any new viewers, and they wove the various cliffhangers in throughout so it wasn't overload right off the top. The mystery of the week was, also, whimsical and weird and just so convolutedly strange in the way that defines the show's you-love-it-or-you-hate-it affect. Grade: B.

Private Practice was unexpectedly dramatic, following an opening few minutes that reminded us of the relationship status of all our main caricatures. In fact, this episode brought in things like issues! And drama! That kind of superseded the nonsense that is Oceanside Wellness' incestuous dodecahedron! It was some much appreciated gravitas (shudder). Though the baby storyline, I think, was far more effective than the HIV-positive teenager storyline. One of two ain't terrible, though! And a company dealing with financial troubles... hm, I wonder if we're going to be seeing a lot of that soon (and hopefully less of what occurred on How I Met Your Mother's adequately funny but terribly timed episode featuring a plot where a bank took over a local hamburger stand). Grade: A- (remember, this is all relative... I think it was the best PP episode yet, but that's not saying much, y'know?)

Dirty Sexy Money. Eh. Now sure what to think. It didn't really draw me back into the world of the Darlings until the very end. Which I guess is why they opened with the tired-and-true teaser and flashback to 48 hours prior. Grade: C.