TVSquad

(S02E02) I love the romanticism of Pushing Daisies, especially the way this episode presented it. Instead of all the usual sunshine and sweetness, Ned was actually acting petulant and sullen. Chuck was asserting her independence and feeling the need for seizing the opportunity of a new beginning.

For a change, these two that are normally so in sync had to deal with an internal challenge, as opposed to the physical constraints that are inherent because Ned cannot touch Chuck lest he lose her forever. Ned had to accept that Chuck was living next door -- in Olive's apartment -- and happy about it.

(S06E04) Last season, I was ready to throw this show out the window. It was a sad, tired, droopy show, and I thought it had run past its time. I don't know whether they have a new pack of writers this season or whether they all just found a personal muse, but this season is already so much better than last season. The show seems to have regained some of the air of the first year, when I was so smitten with it.

So, perhaps it was appropriate this episode revisited the very carnival of the first episode, the carnival after which J.J. was conceived. It was also very fitting that some of the revelations of this episode took place in such a setting.

If you coated a Care Bear in honey and sugar you might end up with something as sickeningly sweet as Kissyfur, a cartoon which aired Saturday mornings on NBC during the 1986-87 season. Somewhat (but not really) like Walt Kelly's Pogo comic strip, the show focused on a group of animals living in a swamp and having crazy adventures while trying to protect themselves from danger, including a group of crocodiles who were always trying to eat the young cubs. "Kissyfur" was a young bear cub who escaped from the circus to live in the swamp. This is all explained in the opening credit sequence, which you can view here.

Despite my somewhat sarcastic first sentence, I actually loved this show as a kid, even if it did sometimes pile on the sentimentality a little thick. I suppose that's unavoidable when your main character is named "Kissyfur" for crying out loud. Still, it's probably that name which caused this cartoon to stick in so many people's heads. Also, save for early morning preschool programming, I don't know if cartoons like this still exist that so openly embrace concepts like love, trust, and family. I guess being cheesy isn't always so bad.