PushingDaisies-related stories
Posted Oct 31st 2009 10:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
Like a stray dog that works his way into your heart, I think I've fallen in love with
The Middle. I didn't want to get so attached, because -- quite frankly -- ABC's track record for sticking with quality shows isn't so great. I'm still mourning
Pushing Daisies. But
The Middle is nothing like
Pushing Daisies, nor does it fall into the quirky, clever mode of other shows that ABC has been promulgating for years.
Ugly Betty is quirky.
Better off Ted is quirky.
Dirty Sexy Money was quirky. Quirky's the word.
Continue reading My Big Bang theory: The Middle's Brick is another Sheldon
Posted Sep 30th 2009 5:31PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Interviews, Celebrities, Emmys, Reality-Free
For someone who is, as she recently pointed out, unemployed, Kristin Chenoweth is popping up in some pleasant places on TV. She won an Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy for her work on the now-canceled
Pushing Daisies, for which she seemed genuinely surprised in her acceptance speech. That's also when she made her plea to
The Office and
Mad Men and a couple of her other favorite shows, mentioning he current work status.
Tonight, Chenoweth, a veteran Broadway performer, appears on
Glee as Will's old friend and former classmate whom he brings in to help give his crew a bit more edge. Chenoweth had to cancel a conference call interview with the press last week for health reasons, but I got a hold of her by e-mail.
How's your voice? I'd heard you weren't feeling well.Thanks for asking! I've been trying my hardest to rest my voice... but it's tough! I'm taking a couple days off before my singing dates kick in to get it strong again, but overall, I'm feeling better!
Didn't take long to find employment, how did you hook up with Glee?I'd worked with Ryan Murphy before on
Running with Scissors and new he was a genius. So when he called and said he'd written a park for me in
Glee, I was ecstatic!
What's your character, April Rhodes, like?April Rhodes is a woman who was kind of "the deal" in glee club in high school. She is a little past her prime, but she still has a voice and Matthew Morrison's character gets her to come back and try to finish. She was unlike any other role I've played, so it was really fun for me!
Continue reading Kristin Chenoweth on Glee and... The Dog Whisperer?
Posted Sep 29th 2009 9:00AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Reality-Free
Has the loss of
Pushing Daisies left a big gaping hole in your heart? Are you wishing you could get ABC for pushing such quality programming off the air? Do you have some kind of blueprint involved in said wish with images clearly marked "rented van," "unlocked security door" and "army of heavily armed Mexican banditos"?
Well, call off your henchmen because one of the show's chief creators has something new and improved on his hands that you might like.
Barry Sonnenfeld, the executive producer of
Pushing Daises, is shopping around a new supernatural show that doesn't sound as deep or detailed as
Daises, but could be just as fun.
Continue reading Pushing Daisies chief pushing new superhero sitcom
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 9:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Cancellations, Emmys, Reality-Free, Glee
The good news is the
Kristen Chenoweth won an Emmy Sunday night. But the bad news is the she was so ill backstage she needed to be checked out by paramedics. Here's what happened.
Early during the Primetime Emmys, when Kristin's name was announced for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy, I don't know about you, but I let out a whoop! She won for
Pushing Daisies, a show – as she pointed out in her tear-filled speech – was no longer on the air. At least one of the fine actors on that wonderful, fanciful show was recognized!
Continue reading Kristin Chenoweth's Emmy night, the good and bad
Posted Sep 1st 2009 1:33PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Some shows are known for amazing acting, and some for stellar writing.
In Treatment falls into the latter category, though the acting was top-notch, as well. Still, in essence the show was a one-room nightly play. It was simply dialogue between two to four actors. And It was riveting.
Davey Holmes won a Writers Guild Award for his work on that series. He was nominated for
Pushing Daisies, a series with a completely different tone, and yet equally brilliant writing. He's also written for
Damages and is involved in the forthcoming
Happy Town for ABC.
Based on the strength of his script,
Holmes has secured a pilot commitment from FOX for Worthy, a proposed series that would put the network dramatically into politics. The series follows a straight-arrow Arizona politician, named Worthy, who finds himself in trouble after he's in a hit-and-run and winds up blackmailed by the mob.
Continue reading In Treatment writer bringing Worthy new political drama to FOX
Posted Aug 27th 2009 10:04PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges
Could the departure of Paula Abdul from
American Idol actually result in a revitalization and renewal of the Fox monster hit? I ask that question because in the past couple of days, guest judges have been announced to sit in Paula's place and I'm absolutely psyched by the choices. The other day it was
How I Met Your Mother star
Neil Patrick Harris. Today,
Pushing Daisies' Kristin Chenoweth has been snagged as an American Idol guest judge. She's currently filming auditions in Orlando, Florida.
Continue reading Kristin Chenoweth on board as American Idol guest judge
Posted Aug 15th 2009 2:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, OpEd, Lost, Reality-Free
How would you promote a new TV show if you were a network executive whose career might be riding on the success of that show? Okay, maybe not your career, but at least a chance to keep your job? Well, at NBC, the brains marketing
Community have turned to Facebook. ABC has a similar, but different, plan in mind for
Modern Family.
ABC's Inner Circle will get exclusive viewing of Modern Family.
The ABC Inner Circle is comprised of 20,000 consumers who have be recruited or volunteered to the online fan base. ABC marketing is counting on those people then spreading the word via Facebook, Twitter and other social networking programs.
Continue reading ABC's sneaks Modern Family to exclusive audience
Posted Jul 25th 2009 10:00PM by TV Squad blogger
Filed under: Heroes, Reality-Free, Comic-Con
Bryan Fuller, whose
departure from the writing team of Heroes was seen by some as a harbinger of doom for the troubled superhero show, recently announced that despite the cancellation of his triple Emmy Award-winning TV series
Pushing Daisies, he plans to continue to the series -- as a comic book with DC.
Laura Hudson of sister site
ComicsAlliance talked to Fuller at Comic-Con about what's in store for
Pushing Daisies after it moves from TV to print, and after he mentioned an interest in superhero comics, she asked if he had any interest in writing superhero comics himself -- and he responded with an enthusiastic "yes!"
Since he's already got the hook-up with DC Comics, who knows what might be in store? Check out Fuller (after the jump) reading a copy of "Wednesday Comics" next to dapper DC VP of Publicity David Hyde, and check back for the video interview CA conducted with Fuller for more.
Continue reading Bryan Fuller interested in writing superhero comics
Posted Jul 15th 2009 4:29PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, 30 Rock, Awards, Weeds, Emmys, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
When it comes to the Primetime Emmy nominations, there are scads of terrific supporting performances to choose from in the comedy field. The difficulty is narrowing it down to just six actors and six actresses (which is better than last year's five each). Maybe the Emmys should take a page from the Academy Awards and double the number of nominations -- this year's Best Picture will include ten noms. That's not going to happen, but that doesn't mean my wish list discussion can't mention all those worthy comedy performers.
Last year's comedy winners,
Jean Smart for
Samantha Who? and Jeremy Piven for
Entourage, were both multiple winners. In Jean's case, it wasn't all for the same role, but Jeremy has been pulling a John Larroquette/Don Knotts in this category. (Larroquette and Knotts dominated this category; the former winning for
Night Court from 1985-88, while Knotts won five times for
The Andy Griffith Show from 1961-67). My wish list would start by shaking things up.
Continue reading Emmy Wish List: Supporting Categories - Comedy
Posted Jul 14th 2009 6:05PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Office, 30 Rock, Awards, Emmys, Chuck, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
I know what many of you are thinking. Alec Baldwin is probably gonna win for
30 Rock again so what does it even matter? Hollywood is in love with that show. Which is true, but not entirely undeserved. Baldwin still commands a scene like almost no one on television. But I don't think he was as dominating a comedic force as last year, and he was part of a
30 Rock sweep, so I don't think Emmy intends to repeat that.
Pushing Daisies was still sweet in its last year, but I'm going to have to snub Lee Pace and replace him with
Chuck's Zachary Levi on the ballot. He balances comedy and drama so convincingly you can't help but root for him.
But there was a looming shadow in comedy this year that no one could escape. I don't see how Emmy could ignore the work of Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper on
The Big Bang Theory. He's so convincing in the role that when you see him in interviews you fully expect him to demand his spot on the couch and condescend the host at every turn.
Continue reading Emmy Wish List: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Posted Jul 9th 2009 10:16AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Early Looks, Reality-Free
Certain shows seem to be perfect for certain television networks. That's the point of programming, no doubt, and Lifetime has done a good job filling their female-centric niche with TV movies and series like
Army Wives. That said, I think there will soon be a new favorite on Lifetime and it's called
Drop Dead Diva. It's chick-flick, rom-com for weekly TV viewers, and while men might enjoy the whimsical plot and attractive characters, this is a show that ladies will adore.
If you were talking high concept like a Hollywood pitchman, you could describe
Drop Dead Diva as
Ally McBeal for the Lane Bryant set. Or maybe it's Sara Lee meets
Heaven Can Wait. However, you put it,
Drop Dead Diva is a switcheroo story about a vapid, but lovable, gorgeous size 2 model who dies at the exact same time as a brilliant, generous size 16 workaholic attorney, and in one of those wonderful Hollywood comedy devices, shallow Deb's spirit winds up in good Jane's body.
Continue reading Drop Dead Diva -- An early look
Posted Jun 15th 2009 2:02PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Industry, TV on the Bigscreen, Heroes, Reality-Free, Star Trek: Original Series
... Bryan Fuller thinks so. The former
Star Trek: Voyager producer and current
Heroes scribe told Sci Fi Wire that he'd
love to create a new Star Trek series.
"I think that a
Star Trek TV series is probably a couple years away, just to let the feature franchise breathe," the
Pushing Daisies creator said, adding that any new
Trek series should take place in the universe seen in J.J. Abrams' new
Star Trek movie.
Fuller said a new
Trek series shouldn't focus on the Enterprise crew – he thinks the Federation flagship should stick to the big screen – but on a new ship with a new crew and "an entirely new adventure."
Continue reading Is there hope for a new Star Trek TV show?
Posted Jun 10th 2009 5:34PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, The Shield, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
The Shield may have wrapped its run this past year, but that doesn't mean creator Shawn Ryan is done with FX. The network did let his vision run its course to completion, so I'm sure he's quite comfortable there. I know I am. This time, he's executive producing with
Ocean's Eleven scribe Ted Griffin on the new dramedy
Terriers, about a detective who teams up with a young hot-shot.
FX has already greenlit Terriers, and Griffin has turned in the scripts so it's down to casting.
Continue reading FX greenlights Terriers from The Shield's Shawn Ryan
Posted May 28th 2009 9:37AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Casting, Pushing Daisies, Reality-Free
I know it's only May and hardly the time to start thinking of egg nog and holly and Ebenezer Scrooge or any of the other Christmas standbys, but forgive me if I let out a whoop of happiness about the news that
Kristin Chenoweth will star in The Twelve Men of Christmas TV movie. The romantic comedy is slated to be part of the Fa La La La La Lifetime lineup (try saying that three times fast!), and while another holiday film doesn't usually make me gleeful, this one does.
Kristin Chenoweth is a gem. I'm still bereft that we'll probably never see her Olive Snook again because
Pushing Daisies is gone unless there's a movie, and I was tiffed that the David E. Kelly NBC pilot
Legally Mad was not picked up only because La Chenoweth was in it.
Continue reading Christmas with Kristin Chenoweth
Posted Apr 27th 2009 1:47AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E02) Last week, when I rewatched
Sit Down, Shut Up for my review, I said that while I still wasn't enthralled by it, the show was much better upon the second viewing. Since I thought episode 2 was much better than the pilot, I expected to like it even more upon rewatching. Oddly enough, I didn't.
As stellar as this cast is, I'm trying to separate my feelings about this show from my feelings about them. I love
Kristin Chenoweth on
Pushing Daisies, so I don't really want to admit that her work on this show reminds me of a more grating
Amy Sedaris with none of the humor, but it kind of does. I don't know if it's the way her character is written, or the fact that Chenoweth's particular brand of pixie cuteness doesn't translate unless you're looking at her, but she just sounds shrill to me.
Continue reading Sit Down, Shut Up: Miracle's Are Real
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