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, 29 Oct 2008 14:30:23 -0700

Tonight, the Barack Obama political message will dominate the 8 p.m. hour. But if that doesn't sound like must-see TV to you, then might I direct your attention to another option? The lovely Pushing Daisies will air on ABC as normal in what some are considering the show's last, best chance to show it can draw an audience.

While NBC, CBS, and Fox are airing Obama, Pushing Daisies will have the only scripted program in the 8 p.m. hour (the CW's America's Next Top Model will also air as normal). It's a rare thing, for sure, and the question is whether the desire to watch something non-political will draw enough people to the struggling show. Even series creator Bryan Fuller is hoping people will "be voting for 'Daisies' instead of some silly old political ad."

Tonight's episode should be especially delicious, as the gang investigates a murder at a dim sum bar. Meanwhile, Stephen Root guest-stars as a character named Dwight Dixon, who stops by the Pie Hole saying he's an old friend of Ned's father's. And is there romance in the air for Emerson? Simone the dog trainer is back!

Will you put politics aside to give Daisies a try? To watch a preview, just read more.

Buzz News Roundup, 8/4

BuzzSugar — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:30:01 -0700

Stephenie Meyer's final installment in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, sold 1.3 million copies in one day, the AP reports.
The new Metallica album, Death Magnetic will be released on a Friday - September 12 - rather than on a Tuesday, which is the norm, writes Billboard.
Stephen Root of Office Space and NewsRadio is joining Pushing Daisies for four episodes as a character with connections to both Ned's dad and Chuck's dad, Entertainment Weekly reports.
According to ComingSoon, Universal Pictures will make an action-adventure Island of Lost Souls, an adaptation of the Danish film De fortabte sjaeles o.
So You Think You Can Dance has been officially renewed for a fifth season, Variety reports.
Zap2It has the news that Robert De Niro will join Mel Gibson for the dramatic movie Edge of Darkness.
E! reports that, according to Shonda Rhimes, the rumors that Izzie will have a brain tumor on Grey's Anatomy are totally bogus.
Billboard reports that James Taylor is covering songs from the '50s, '60s and '70s for an album put out by Starbucks' music label.

Source