When it comes to TV, I choose carefully. I know it’ a time-suck. So last year when one of my oldest friends called from LA (he’s in the biz) to say he was sending me a pilot of a show called Pushing Daisies just a couple of weeks before it was scheduled to air, I simply asked, “Why?”
He was trying, he said, to create a buzz. He wanted me to help. I was skeptical. I had to watch a new show AND create a buzz? Who has the time? Then I got the DVD and watched it. Then I watched it three more times while waiting to watch it live with the rest of America. I was enthralled. I still am.
It turns out my industry friend knew grassroots support was in order, because the show is so gloriously different from everything else on television. There is no way to get across just how beautifully and cleverly written, acted and shot each episode is in a 30 second promo. (Also, the outfits are a show in themselves, and the narrator is Jim Dale, the gifted voice of the Harry Potter audio books). The plot is intricately playful and therefore, tough to cram into a quick commercial. Short of sending everyone in America pilot DVDs, how else can ABC get people to give it a chance?
Well, it seems they haven’t figured that out yet. According to Yahoo TV, Pushing Daisies is in danger of being canceled even though it was nominated for three Golden Globes and won three Primetime Emmys.
So this is me, one year later, trying again to create a buzz. I’m telling you about a show that is smart, funny, romantic and mysterious, without being crass, dumbed down, sexed up, or violent.
Even if you don’t watch, maybe just turn that small kitchen or basement TV you never use to ABC on Wednesdays right around 8PM Eastern, 7PM Central. If you do watch, you’ll be smiling. If you don’t but your TV is tuned in (maybe with the volume down) ratings will still go up, and I’ll be smiling. With the economy, and all the other trials happening in our real lives, I leave you with the words of my friend Jon, who discovered the show on his own, without my buzz-creating pressure. “This show is such a great break from real life. I love it.”
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