Once again, this isn't too much of a Pushing Daisies spoiler because it doesn't reveal any new information about the show.
But we respect the fact that many fans wish to remain completely in the dark heading into a season or an episode.
Therefore, if you fall into this group, look away now! Otherwise, you may glimpse a photo from the show's pilot episode, in which Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth) appears to be taking Ned (Lee Pace) by surprise...
What are the cool kids going to be watching this fall?
According to research by OTX, the Online Testing Exchange, the two shows that 13-17 year olds are most aware of and looking forward to are The CW's Gossip Girl - and ABC's Pushing Daisies.
The findings come from OTX's Teen Topix survey, completeed in conjunction with the eCrush social networking site for youngsters. About 750 teens across the country were surveyed about their TV viewing behavior and preferences during the week of August 6.
Bruce Friend, president of media and entertainment insights at OTX, said some people may be surprised by the survey's finding that when it comes to learning about TV shows, teens said on-air promotions and other ads are their source of information.
"For all of the hype surrounding blogs and video-sharing sites, it's important for networks and marketers to understand that a majority of teenagers still get information about new programming from TV ads and promos," Friend said.
With teens, he added, word of mouth comes in much higher as a source of information than with older viewers. That word of mouth can come through direct conversation or via technologies as diverse as instant messaging and cell phones.
"Networks should know there are a lot of different ways to reach the teen market," Friend said.
One promotional strategy that showed up high on the list was cinema marketing, a strategy Pushing Daisies has utilized in its promotional campaign.
"That didn't exist 25 years ago for TV shows," Friend said, adding that wow when he goes to the movies, he sees promos for four or five network shows at cinemas in the AMC, Regal or other major chains.
Anna Friel should become a household name after a few episodes of Pushing Daisies air in the U.S.
But the British actress first made headlines after engaging in a lesbian kiss on the UK-based soap opera, Brookside. She was hailed as the next big thing, a billing she sort of lived up to across the Atlantic when she appeared in popular films such as Goal! and Rogue Trader.
However, it wasn't the sort of success initially predicted for Friel. And she was open about her frustration when it came to landing big roles:
"Every time it's me and another person down to the final two for a big, big movie, the other person gets it because they're the bigger name. Which, to be honest, totally pisses me off," the actress said a couple years ago.
Of course, her personal life has had its share of excitement: Friel has dated hunks George Clooney and Robbie Williams. But neither relationship went very far.
It wasn't until she started seeing long-time friend David Thewlis that Anna finally found someone that she could envision herself marrying. The two, while still not hitched, are committed to one another. They had their first child in 2005.
As for those professional predictions of stardom? Give Pushing Daisies a few weeks - and they'll all ring true.
Not every article out there has been complimentary of Pushing Daisies. To wit, Kim Masters of Slate.com wrote an interesting article about the show going over budget.
In it, she reports that director Barry Sonnenfeld (pictured) has been punished for going over budget on the show's premiere, specifically penning that his "role as director was curtailed."
Sonnenfeld, however, contradicts this report. He said the following to TV Squad about the article and expensive rumors:
"You know, the writer of the piece hasn't written a lot about Hollywood, I think. Almost every show after the pilot is over-budget, whether it's Bionic Woman, Chuck, last year's Ugly Betty... I suspect they're all over-budget."
He continued:
"My role is to make the best shows possible, to get our show on ABC and get as much good press and to make the best shows possible. The article... and I called Kim about it... it had a lot of misinformation..."
Pushing Daisies Creator Bryan Fuller confirms this account, stating that Sonnenfeld will most certainly be directing future episodes and that budget problems don't exist.
"The reason why I didn't direct more episodes is that the schedule got changed; I was taking my daughter to boarding school. Truly, what I told Kim when she first called me was... truly, this is a non-story. And there's not a show out there that isn't over-budget after the pilot," Sonnenfeld said.
Don't just take our word for it.
The folks at AOL TV have named Pushing Daisies the best new show of the season. Check it out:
Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller shared a whopping piece of insight with Playbill.com recently:
Lee Pace almost didn't portray Ned.
Originally, the new series "was going to be a spin-off of Dead Like Me. Then I left, halfway through the first season, to do Wonderfalls, which only lasted four episodes."
However, that series starred the Pushing Daisies male lead, Lee Pace, for whom Fuller wrote the part of Ned.
"His agents declined, but his manager went around them, and told [Pace] that he should really read the [pilot] script," Fuller said, saying Adam Brody was next offered the part of Ned, but "he was not looking to do another series immediately." relates Fuller.
Fortunately, Pace's manager got involved - and the rest, soon enough, will be TV history.
We were already in love with Pushing Daisies before it premiered.
But now that we've checked out this NBC promo, focusing on the relationship between Ned (Lee Pace) and Chuck (Anna Friel) and set to the theme music of Love Actually?
Well, Wednesday, October 3 cannot come fast enough!
Move over, Paul Reubens. Another well-known guest star is coming to Pushing Daisies.
Jayma Mays - of recent Ugly Betty and Heroes fame - will be appear on the fourth episode of our new favorite show.
She'll play "Elsita, a woman who leads a life of windmillery (she lives and works in a windmill)," according to E! Online.
Sounds like fun to us.
As if we weren't excited enough for Pushing Daisies already, along comes this news:
PeeWee Herman himself, Paul Reubens, will guest star on the series. He'll portray Alfredo Aldarisio, a traveling homeopathic antidepressant representative/salesman. Sounds about right to us...
Check out a picture of Reubens on the show now.
Count The Chicago Sun-Times among the numerous publications singing the praises of Pushing Daisies. Here's part of the article from that newspaper...
When Ned was a boy, he ran with his dog in a field that looked for all the world like a painting of three colors: blue-blue sky, yellow-yellow daisies and green-green grass. It was Utopia.
Curious to Ned, he developed out of nowhere a rare gift/curse. If he touched dead creatures once - his mom, his dog, a fly - they'd spring back to life. If he touched them a second time, they'd die again forever.
Pushing Daisies follows Ned as an adult piemaker, along with Chuck (a woman who's the love of his life), plus their detective partner Emerson. They find corpses, Ned resurrects them to find out who killed them, then he kills them again.
That is the literal breakdown of Pushing Daisies. But the magic of this procedural, romantic fairy tale is in the brush strokes, not the frame.
In Hollywood-speak, it seems like Amelie meets Tim Burton, although director Barry Sonnenfeld, who is responsible for the tone, bristles gently when people say this since, well, he's Barry Sonnenfeld.
Many scenes look sumptuously saturated in colors. Some shots are composed like postmodern and surreal pictures. Pushing Daisies debuts October 3, but it's already garnering better buzz from critics than any other new show this fall.
It works on its most important level, as a twisting tale about lovable goofballs, told with lovely images and crisp dialogue.
When Ned (Lee Pace) sees his childhood crush Chuck (Anna Friel) for the first time in years, he awakens her from death and falls in love with her all over again.
"I guess dying is as good an excuse as any to start living," Chuck says.
But because his second caress would kill her, Ned and Chuck may never kiss or touch each other again. Their sober-eyed partner Emerson (Chi McBride) views their love as tragic and as a bit of a business encumbrance.
Follow our link to read the full article on this ABC show.
