For those who stubbornly continue to say there’s nothing worth watching on television I can point to a dozen shows worth anyone’s time. You can catch up on these shows at our partner site Cinema Blend, but there’s one in particular I’m anxiously waiting the return of. Actually I’ve seen a few episodes of the new season of Pushing Daisies, my review will be going up over at Cinema Blend soon, and one of the things that is so fantastic about the show is its depiction of pie. No other show I can think of has been able to incorporate the inherent goodness of a food than Pushing Daisies.
Lee Pace plays Ned, the pie maker, with such joy and zeal for life that you can’t help but attribute his job to his disposition. It’s the perfect example of a man doing exactly what he should with his life. While the show revolves around the conceit that Ned can bring people back from the dead by touching them I often find myself mesmerized as he comes up with new pie concoctions. And not to leave the delicious treats out of the main plotline, coworker Olive Snook (Kristen Chenoweth) created an apple pie with gruyere baked into the crust for Chuck’s (Anna Friel) spinster aunts last season. She also doused the pies with drugs to make them happy.
I’m not a typical pie lover. Look, I can enjoy a slice of perfectly baked apple pie during Thanksgiving as much as the next person. It’s just that the dessert has never appealed to me. I’m more of a cobbler guy, possibly because of its no fuss nature. Pie takes a little work when I truly just want to throw things together and enjoy them. But pie has universally been a food that brings to mind warm and comfortable feelings. Pushing Daisies uses that to provide a wonderful juxtaposition to the darkness that pervades the show.
The fairytale story of Pushing Daisies is the perfect place to showcase pie. Now if only more shows could find a way to incorporate food so brilliantly. This week’s How I Met Your Mother features the best burger NYC, so that’s a good first step. Hey, being a white male in America I feel left out of the movement to get my heritage represented on TV. Starting now I’m going to be an advocate for better food on primetime television, and Pushing Daisies is the pioneer show that began it all.
