Pushing Daisies – The Complete Second Season (2008 – 2009/Warner DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C+     Episodes: B-

 

 

The hit series Pushing Daisies seemed to be on a roll, but like the overrated Ally McBeal, it did what it wanted to do early, then found itself in steep decline.  We covered the debut season at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7819/Pushing+Daisies+%E2%80%93+The+C

 

 

Now on The Complete Second Season, the show started to trip over its witty, energetic approach and though the case does not say so, it looks like it is its last.  The combination of murder, pie and small town living ran 13 more episodes, a few more than the first, and the energy is still there.  It is just hard to keep something like this going and though the cast is very likable again, it just sadly lost its way and could not hold together what made it work in the first season.

 

I was not as big a fan of the show as my fellow writer who covered the previous release, but thought it was an interesting new idea with appeal and could see why it had the fan following it did.  I could see why, especially in a sea of awful TV, it would be so appealing.  Unfortunately, it is already finished when so-called “reality TV” still lives.  That is a sad commentary on our lives currently.  However, there are some interesting shows here just the same and only if you start with the first season, should you entertain seeing this one.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a little weak, but this is a nicely shot show that actually knows what to do with color and does not have much shaky camerawork.  Wow!  Real TV!  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is pretty good throughout for a TV show with good soundfields across the shows and well-recorded dialogue.  The combination is nice and we expect the Blu-ray would be better, but could not secure a copy to compare by posting time.

 

Extras include four making-of featurettes: The Master Pie Maker (on Creator Bryan Fuller), From Over To Table (scripting), Secret Sweet Ingredients (on Composer Jim Dudley’s music work) and Add A Little Map (on the Visual Effects).  Wonder if the show will come back to life?  We’ll see.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo