Pushing Daisies

Three reasons I loved ABC's Pushing Daisies

1) The quirky, imaginative vibe -- a signature style of Bryan Fuller (the guy who did Fox's now-defunct Wonderfalls)
2) The writing -- clever and sweet without being cloying.
3) It made me want pie. So much so that I have decided today is Poltergeist-and-Pie Day (pizza pie + a revival of the Spielberg classic and then, I'm hunting down the best damn cherry pie Southeastern Pennsylvania has to offer*. Shame I don't live in Twin Peaks).

Anyway, the basic premise:

As a child, Ned discovers he has the ability to bring the deceased back to life with a touch of his hand. However, there are two caveats.

1) He can only keep the recently resurrected alive for a minute. Any longer than that and death claims another random victim in close proximity.
2) One touch brings 'em back to life and another one sends them back to the big sleep.

As an adult, Ned (now a pie-maker and owner of a joint called, what else, The Pie Hole) teams up with private investigator Emerson Cod and together, the duo solve unsolved murders (touch a stiff, find out who murdered him, touch him again and collect the reward money).

Things get a little more complicated when Ned resurrects his childhood crush, Charlotte 'Chuck' Charles. Instead of giving her the one-two touch, Ned lets Chuck live (there goes the funeral home director!) and the trio band together to solve murders (including Chuck's own).

A solid hour of television that I will definitely be revisiting next week.

*UPDATE: Apparently, cherry pie is a dish reserved for communists and assholes because no-one in a twenty mile radius serves it. A pie-less horizon looks pretty bleak, but Wawa sandwiches help numb the pain a little.