BuzzSugar

Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode 6, "Oh, Oh, Oh...It's Magic"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:30:21 -0800

A few weeks back, it was the circus that got a melancholy treatment on Pushing Daisies, and this week, it's magic. No cute bunny rabbits and white handkerchiefs here - just a whopping dose of death, daddy issues, and the dastardly Dwight Dixon. Ready to chat about it? Just read more.

So Ned's half-brothers are magicians ("illuuuuuusionists!"), which has Ned hitting the Tums pretty hard. It's understandable: If my magician dad ditched me, only to go find some other family to love instead, I'd probably have some intestinal distress when forced to watch said loving family perform magic tricks, too. Ned tries to get himself up for the Two for the Show show ("I love magic. As much as I love other forms of popular entertainment."), but despite the "sequins and drama and the promise of bloodshed," the fact remains that magic just makes Ned think of the father he lost. And he realizes Maurice and Ralston can go about their magic business so easily because they don't know the truth about their father leaving; the Great Herrmann protected them, letting them believe their dad was attending to "manly man business."

Of course, the Great Herrmann ("Call me Great." "No.") meets his demise when a trick called Cementia goes horribly wrong. While the first suspect is Herrmann's assistant, it soon becomes clear that the real evildoer is the Geek, a magician who desperately wanted Herrmann's attention and possibly to be his successor on the Conjurer's Castle stage but never managed to be anything more than an opening act. And I gotta say, I'm with Herrmann on this one; all that glass-chomping and animal-regurgitating just made me feel queasy. Anyway, Ned and co. unravel the plot (removed shoe magnets, switched blocks of cement, etc.) and send the Geek off to the slammer.

Meanwhile, now that Ned can reconnect with the family he never knew he had, he wants Chuck to do the same. With the help of a little bug microphone pinned to Olive's sweater, Chuck can ask Lily all the questions she has about being a mother. After that hilarious but sad sequence of Chuck desperately trying to get Lily to admit to being a mother (as a telemarketer, cheese saleswoman, and life insurance peddler), it was touching to see her get some answers.

And just in time, too, because that rascally Dwight Dixon is poking around again. He already knows too much about Chuck's family, he's cozying up to Vivian, and now he's exhuming Chuck's coffin only to find it empty - making Chuck's "no body, no murder. Makes for a great urban legend, though" seem awfully prescient.

Some other thoughts:

I had to pause my DVR because I was laughing so hard at Olive accidentally calling Maurice and Ralston "magically delicious little devils" to Emerson.
Lily's bird drinks martinis!
What on earth was that black feather getup of Chuck's?
Some of the special effects in this episode (the red velvet curtain, the random sperm interlude) seemed a little odd to me.
So wonderful that Alexandria is getting a copy of the Magic Book of Magic, too. Unlike the Geek, her loyalty deserves a reward.

Anyone else crack up at Chuck's suggestion that they play "ding-dong, ditch" at the aunts' door? Wondering what Dwight is up to now that he's found the empty coffin? Hoping this show lasts long enough for a happy ending? Discuss.

TV Tonight: Pushing Daisies

BuzzSugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:30:46 -0800

Quick - everyone go make friends with a Nielsen family. Pushing Daisies returns tonight after a long absence (the last new episode aired before Halloween!), and the ratings for this episode will be very important.

How important? Well, for any show on the verge of cancellation, the ratings always matter. But for Daisies in particular, it could mean the difference between life and death (or, as Ned might say, "alive again" and "dead again, forever"). "We do want to see how Daisies does in the postelection viewing environment," an ABC source told E!. "The next week or two will be critical."

Y'all hear that? Critical!

So if you want this show to live on, call up everyone you know (bonus points if they have a Nielsen box) and tell them about this episode, which is called "Oh Oh Oh . . . It's Magic" and once again features Ned's half-brothers, the magicians Maurice and Ralston. The mystery involves the boys' surrogate father, "The Great Herrmann" (played by guest star Fred Willard), whose assistants are being killed in a series of suspicious murders. Speaking of suspicious, the creepy Dwight Dixon is back, this time cozying up to Chuck's aunts.

This week, Lipstick Jungle proved that even a small ratings boost can bring a show back from the brink of death. Can the same happen for Daisies? To watch a preview, just read more.

Pilot Watch: "Back to You"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:30:00 -0700

The networks have announced their fall schedules, but which of the series will actually be worth watching? Throughout the summer, as I watch the pilots, I'll be posting my first impressions. A lot can change before a show makes it to air, so these aren't comprehensive reviews, just quick thoughts on how the shows look now. Today's installment: the Fox comedy "Back to You."

What's it about? A disgraced news anchor returns to the smaller market where he once was a superstar and must work again with his former co-anchor, who's not thrilled to have to share the spotlight with him.

Who's in it? Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Fred Willard

The good: I'm an ex-"Fraiser" fan, and this show reminded me that I really do like Kelsey Grammer. For a traditional sitcom - and, don't get me wrong, it is very traditional - it had more laughs than I was expecting. It feels very professional, by which I mean that you can tell that everyone from the lead actors to the writers to the peripheral cast know what it takes to make a comedy work.

The bad: "Back to You" doesn't break any new ground; I've seen all these jokes and plot lines before. The pilot has a supposedly shocking twist that Fox begged reporters not to reveal, but it's the kind of thing that anyone over the age of 12 could figure out easily.

Will I watch? Doubtful, but not because it's bad, per se - it's just not my style.

To watch a video and see a gallery of photos, read more

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Photos courtesy of Fox