TVSquad

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.

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.

Joss Whedon fans, take note ... you may have competition from the fans of ABC's Pushing Daises. That's the way it seemed at their Comic-Con panel on Saturday afternoon. They were so loud and applauded so frequently that it made an audience of Whedon fans seem like a group of cloistered monks taking a vow of silence.

But, that really isn't surprising since the show (whose first season comes out on standard DVD and Blu-Ray on September 16th) has such a wealth of talent both on and off screen. The audience at the Pushing Daises panel had an opportunity to see all that talent in one place as the entire cast joined creator Bryan Fuller and executive producer Barry Sonnenfeld in answering questions about season two. The tantalizing morsels appear after the jump.

If Judy Greer was in tears about Miss Guided not being picked up by ABC for the fall schedule, she can wipe her eyes and blow her nose because something else -- maybe better -- has come along. Greer has been cast as the lead in HBO's Suburban Shootout. This is the same comedy that has already been announced with Kelly Preston, Rachael Harris (Notes from the Underbelly) and Kerri Kenney (Reno 911).

The comedy pilot is being directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, best known for features like Men in Black and Addams Family (I'll be kind and not harp on The Wild, Wild West), but on TV is one of the prime players behind ABC's Pushing Daisies (as well as Notes from the Underbelly which is the connection to Rachael). So, you see, Judy may have landed in a project that's bound for glory. Well, we'll see, but it does sound interesting.

(S01E06) Up until now, we've only seen Emerson as a gruff P.I. whose role was to throw a sprinkle of cynicism on the decidedly sprightly environment around the Pie Hole. But you knew that eventually we were going to either find out more about his past or see him get involved with one of the people he was investigating. Tonight we got the latter. And his dalliance did a nice job of throwing some needed darkness into what was an overly-sweet episode.

Some interesting news coming out of ABC today, one of which is a surprise, the other of which isn't:

First the non-surprise: Both TV Week and Kristin Dos Santos at E! Online are reporting that Pushing Daisies has been picked up for the rest of the season. That means 22 episodes of non-contact cuteness from Ned and Chuck. Ratings for the first three episodes have been solid, and -- at least based on the fun third episode -- worries about how the show might operate with budget restrictions have been so far unfounded.

The surprising ABC news: The former Ms. Veitch is also reporting that three more scripts have been ordered for Bruce McCulloch's Carpoolers, bringing the total order to 12 episodes. Despite the pedigree, the show hasn't been all that impressive so far either in quality or in the ratings. This makes me wonder if ABC is ordering more scripts in case there's a writers' strike.

(S01E01) After weeks of massive advertising and marketing, Pushing Daisies has finally arrived! The result? You either love it or hate it. I've read a good number of reviews for this new ABC show over the summer and rare are the reviewers that are on the fence about this show. What seems to make them love it or hate it is the same thing: the format. If you enjoyed movies like Big Fish or Amélie, you should be inclined to liking Daisies. I fall in that category. Actually, tonight's airing marked the third time I watched the pilot of this fairytale-ish series. Every time, I'm entertained thanks to the colorful scenery, the chemistry between Ned and Charlotte, the narration style, the cutesy storylines, the procedural aspect, etc.

If you've been following my posts from the New York Television Festival, you may remember my mentioning that I'd post details of the Chuck premiere the festival was going to hold on Friday. Well, that didn't really turn out as planned. The "premiere" turned out to be just a screening: no red carpet, no panel, no one involved with the show attending. So I decided to skip posting about that (though I enjoyed the pilot, which is one of the few I haven't seen) and move right along to the premiere for Pushing Daisies, which was held on Saturday night.

You've already read a little about it, as I had director Barry Sonnenfeld address stories about cost overruns on the show. But, as I also said, that wasn't the only thing I asked him that peeved him a little bit. More on that after the jump.

Last Wednesday, Kim Masters of Slate.com wrote an interesting article about Pushing Daisies, one of the most highly-anticipated new fall shows. In the article, Masters reports that not only is the first post-pilot episode of Daisies over-budget, but the director of both the pilot and the first episode, Barry Sonnenfeld, has been punished for it; his "role as director was curtailed," as Masters put it.

When I was at the premiere for Daisies at the New York Television Festival last night, my main purpose on the event's red carpet (pictures of and text about the event will be posted on Tuesday) was to ask Sonnenfeld to reply to that article. Luckily, the director of Get Shorty, Men In Black, and The Addams Family wasn't reluctant to respond. "You know, the writer of the piece hasn't written a lot about Hollywood, I think," said Sonnenfeld. "Almost every show after the pilot is over-budget, whether it's Bionic Woman, Chuck, last year's Ugly Betty... I suspect they're all over-budget." More after the jump.

Director Barry Sonnenfeld's (Men in Black, Get Shorty) is helming Kingdom, a new pilot for CBS that takes place in medieval times. The series will focus on four friends, one of which learns he's the heir to the throne. However, he'd rather get drunk and chase damsels than act like a king.

Sonnenfeld is also executive producing Pushing Daisies, a pilot for ABC from Bryan Fuller (Heroes) about a man who can bring people to life by touching them. Sonnenfeld was also a producer for the short-lived, live-action version of The Tick. Pushing Daisies also stars Chi McBride, Kristin Chenoweth and Lee Pace.

ABC is cowering in fear. Ok, all of the networks are (rightfully) cowering in fear from the ratings behemoth that is American Idol. This time it's the new comedy, Notes From the Underbelly, that is being shifted to stay out of Ryan Seacrest's path.

The comedy, about a couple expecting a baby and dodging crazy advice from friends and family, has been moved from Wednesdays at 9:30 pm to Thursdays at 10 pm after Grey's Anatomy. The move is in response to Idol's announcement this week that it will expand its results shows to one hour, starting April 11th. Now, Notes From the Underbelly will premiere with back-to-back episodes on April 12th instead of April 11th.

Giving a comedy the 10 pm time slot, even if its lead-in is Grey's Anatomy, is a terrible idea. From the promos, it does not look like a prime time show. Let's face it: ten o'clock is the hour for sex and violence. Underbelly looks like it belongs in the 8 o'clock hour (or not on television at all, if you ask Joel).