Spoilers for Episode 1.01 "Pie-lette" - Airing 10/3/07 (ABC-US)

[Vilandra]

08/25 - Episode 1.01 - Pilot [Airing October 3]: It is a love story about a young man with a very special gift. the ability to return someone dead briefly back to life with just a simple touch. Ned, a mild-mannered baker of fabulous pies, discovered his gift as a child. Now he puts his gift to good use, working with his only friend, a private investigator, to crack murder cases by asking victims to name their killers. But the tale gets complicated, as all tales do, when he saves his childhood sweetheart and she miraculously stays alive. Each week, she encourages him to use his powers to solve mysteries and help others. Life would be perfect, except for one cruel twist: if Ned ever touches her again, she'll lose the life he gave her, for good this time. Source: ABC


Source: SpoilerFix (http://www.spoilerfix.com/othershows.php)

Ned works in a pie store and seems to lead a perfectly normal life. This, however, is far from the truth. Ned can, through the touch of his hand, wake people from the dead. He decides to use this ability of his to solve crimes, but this appears to be much more difficult than it sounds, when he gives life to his childhood crush, and decides to let keep living.

Writer: Bryan Fuller
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld


Source: TV.com (http://www.tv.com/pushing-daisies/show/68663/episode.html)

[goldenboy]

OK, finally watched it. It is really good. Was like a mini theatrical film. Now, just trying to imagine having to deal with that narrator guy every week, heh. I know I continually rant about that—and if ever narration fit a partlcular genre, guess this is it. The cute fantasy meter is off the charts. Likeable cast all around.

[prydain]

Fuller said the narrator would be used less in future episodes. If you ask me, though, the narrator is essential. He tells us a lot of info we wouldn't know, otherwise, plus it gives the show more of that fairytale vibe...and you're right, the entire cast is fantastic and likable.

[Vilandra]

The thing about a narrator is (now I don't really mind it personally but) it's the easy way out. Instead of creatively telling the story, they tell it through a guy telling you exactly what you need to know. It's laziness.

:)

[prydain]

I realize that's the case with a lot of shows and movies, but not always. Sometimes narration adds something. I think both Pushing Daisies and Desperate Housewives use the narration effectively and that the narration brings us something that the show wouldn't be able to do otherwise. A lot of shows don't need it though, like Grey's Anatomy, and I don't think Heroes really needs it (thankfully they cut down on it a lot).

But anyway, in the pilot of this show, the narrator introduces the story and characters and their histories when otherwise that could NOT have been done in forty minutes without him. He also adds humor and charm, and I think without the narration audiences would have an even harder time getting into the show. And in future episodes, I can think of several ways in which the narrator would come in handy, most particular with the victims and guest characters, though...and overall it gives the show its storybook feel.

I can't think of a single scene in the pilot where the narrator should not have been used.

[N4H]

Not a big fan of narrators here, and prone to rants on the subject. On this one though, I'm a complete hypocrite. I'm such a Jim Dale fan. I read all the Harry Potter books listening to the audio-books by Jim Dale, reading along with the ebooks. He's great.

(In the first one though, he pronounced Hermione wrong. It was cute)