TVSquad

I don't know about you, but when creator Bryan Fuller talked about concluding all the story threads from Pushing Daisies as a comic book, I was less than enthused. Now, however, I've got renewed hope.

No, ABC is not even mentioning bringing Daisies back. They're not even committing to broadcasting the last few episodes. But Kristin Chenoweth thinks Pushing Daisies might be a movie. That's right, the show could/would/should be wrapped up as a movie in her estimation.

According to the Daily Stab, Johnny Depp is considering playing Pee-Wee Herman in a movie version of the former kid's show (and former HBO special) Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Depp has a history of taking on unusual roles and this would certainly be no exception.

The script would be by Paul Reubens, the original Pee-Wee. The two actors have known each other for a while, having worked together in the 2001 movie Blow. Also, both are casting favorites of director Tim Burton (Burton's professional directorial debut was the movie Pee-Wee's Big Adventure).

(S01E07) "The mere smell of it made him feel, if only for an hour, exactly like he wanted to feel: safe and warm and loved, which is why he became the pie maker." - Narrator

ABC lost a good and fun opportunity to offer Pushing Daisies viewers a chance to get up close and really personal with the show and maybe attract new people who would have been interested in a scratch 'n' sniff event! Yes, it would have been pretty much a copy of what NBC did last year with My Name Is Earl, but having a scratch 'n' sniff card to use throughout this olfactory episode would have been just as magical as the episode itself! Okay, maybe the smell of the sock and the sewer would have been terrible but it would have been interesting to smell Ned, Emerson, and "honey and death" (aka Chuck). Okay, maybe that would have been a bad idea. Let's move on to the episode instead.

(S01E03) "You killed someone for me?" - Chuck

After watching last week's episode, I was as worried as Joel was/is about Pushing Daisies's future. With such a stellar pilot, it was a given that the subsequent episodes wouldn't be as great but that second episode was a letdown. Narration aside (I'll get to this later on), this week's episode reassured me that PD can survive in its current format.

Actress/comedian Molly Shannon, best known for her work on NBC's Saturday Night Live, will join ABC's new series Pushing Daisies for a multi-episode arc set to air late this Fall.

The series stars Wonderfalls' Lee Pace as man who can revive the dead (and send them back to Heaven or Hell) just by touching them. He uses his power to find out the killers and collect rewards.

Small spoilers ahead!

Okay, just for a moment let's set aside the fact that Pee Wee Herman doing a serious commercial about using crack is really, really (unintentionally) funny, and focus on just how logical it was to use that character in the first place.

One assumes this commercial was made when Pee Wee's Playhouse was on the air, which means his main audience was grade school children and not so much the older hipsters who knew the more "adult" Pee Wee character Paul Reubens created while with the Groundlings.

It seems that pesky little problem has finally left Paul Reubens behind. He has been cast as the lead in a pilot for NBC called Area 52. He'll play the role of an alien who is being housed in a government facility. I wish I could tell you more about this pilot, but that's all NBC is releasing. But, I don't find it hard to believe the Reubens just might be an alien.

Paul Reubens has done all sorts of guest starring roles on television, most recently on Dirt and 30 Rock, since his arrest for public masturbation during a police sting in 1991. He is also currently filming Pee-Wee's Playhouse: The Movie-- further proof that his past is now behind him.

(S01E06) This was a bit of a departure for the freshman drama. It's the first episode in which Lucy and her team weren't focused on digging up the story behind a celebrity. The target was a murdered high-school cheerleader and Lucy was convinced that there had to be more to it. After all, she was murdered for a reason.

The story itself didn't impress me too much. It felt very much like something you'd see on an episode of Law & Order: SVU. However, it brought in another spectacular cameo to round out the episode. Last week, Wayne Brady stole the show as Tweety McDaniel's trusted enforcer and this time around Paul Reubens stepped in as washed up criminal reporter Chuck Lafoon. Reubens really is a terrific actor. He's got lots of range and really has played some varied roles. Blow comes to mind and even just last week he was hilarious in 30 Rock. His Dirt persona was fantastic though. I'd love to see him around for the rest of the season.

(S01E12) Ladies and gentlemen, 30 Rock presents Paul Reubens in the Martin Short role of crazy, accented guy with floppy limbs. Actually, as far as sweeps guest stars go, Isabella Rossellini and Paul Reubens are pretty inspired choices. Also inspired, the "Tracy as the devil, Kenneth as the angel" gag. What can you say? This show has really come together. I think Jane Krakowski is even growing on me. She had one of the evening's best lines - "You know how much I remind myself of Grace Kelly."

Paul Reubens is thinking about bringing back his Pee-Wee Herman character for a big-screen movie.

At a tribute to him in San Francisco recently, Reubens said (in regular voice - he never appears as the Pee Wee character anymore) that he gave the script, which he's been working on for years, to actor Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne would play the parts that Reubens originally wrote for the late Phil Hartman. Fishburne, who was a regular on the CBS' show Pee Wee's Playhouse. hasn't said yes yet, but Reubens told him "Well, Wesley Snipes has expressed interest." Ha!

Other news from the tribute: Reubens was bitter and angry at not getting a gig on Saturday Night Live, and he has cameos coming up on both 30 Rock and Dirt.

[via TV Tattle]

(S02E15) This is an early review.

Tragedy strikes Tom and his step-family when his son Brindon dies from a pudding buffet food overdose. The poor kid actually ate so much pudding he literally exploded at his birthday party. Tom is distraught, but he doesn't get much sympathy from the Mayor or anyone else. Whenever Tom brings it up people just laugh at the hilarious way his son died. Tom has trouble letting go and carries a framed picture of his stepson, and also builds a shrine to him in his front yard.

If these shoes are real, it's a riot. They're Nike sneakers that have the same coloring as the clothing that Pee Wee Herman (aka Paul Reubens) used to wear. Or maybe still wears, if Reubens does Pee Wee anymore. (Hopefully that's the last time I type the sentence "if Reubens does Pee Wee.") They're grey and white. But what makes these shoes special is the pic on the insole, which shoes Pee Wee alone in a movie theater...well, you know.

Well, since Pee Wee was found doing something in a theater with his hands, then I guess it's just logical someone somewhere would make a product for his feet. Maybe they should make gloves next.

[via Boing Boing]

(S04E04) After a pre-credit opening where the male deputies try to conduct a "panty raid" and end up face to face with a completely naked and pregnant Wiegel, we cut to the first real scene of the episode where a motivational speaker Dangle found on the internet gives the deputies some rather confounding advice, including this diatribe:

"I ask you, does the belt not go through all the loops? You all see yourselves as brilliant little pebbles just waiting for your code word. Well, what if your code word doesn't come, huh? Are you gonna sit around in your cruiser and wind up ejected from somebody's crazy physics package?"

More profound advice I've never heard. Let's move on.

It's live-action, which might upset some of the cartoon purists out there, but heck, at least it isn't Saved by the Bell. Starting on July 10, Adult Swim will be airing episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse, the hysterical multi-Emmy award-winning children's series featuring Paul Reuben as everyone's favorite idiot manchild. We've known for awhile now that Adult Swim was making plans to incorporate more live-action into its programming block, and while I would love to see more of an effort made to showcase original animated work, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think this was pretty damn cool. Then again, yet another part of me worries that once the thrill of nostalgia wears off I'll be pining once again for something new and original. My brain might have to shut down if it continues to argue with itself in this manner.

Paul Reubens created the popular character in 1978, and the show debuted in 1986. Adult Swim's airing of the series will coincide with its 20th anniversary. The series will air Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. EST, and all forty-five original episodes will be shown, including the rare Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special.