I am – Hercules!!
Pushing Daisies 2.6 FAQ What’s it called? “Oh Oh Oh It’s Magic.” Who’s responsible? Teleplay is credited to Katherine Lingenfelter (“Girth”). What says ABC? “Ned reluctantly agrees to help 'The Great Herrmann' (guest star Fred Willard), a famed magician whose animal assistants are being mysteriously killed off. The magician has been a surrogate dad to Ned's half-brothers Maurice and Ralston (Alex Miller, Graham Miller) ever since their father walked out on them. Meanwhile, Dwight Dixon (guest star Stephen Root) insinuates himself into the Aunts' lives, but Lily is instantly suspicious of his motives. Guest starring in 'Oh Oh Oh . . . It's Magic' are Stephen Root as Dwight Dixon, Fred Willard as The Great Herrmann, Alex Miller as Maurice and Graham Miller as Ralston.” Does Ned find his dad? Not this week. Does Emerson find his daughter? No. The big news? You’ll wonder for a time if there’ll even be a dead body to revive this week. As it is, Ned doesn’t get to employ his special talent until the episode’s penultimate act. Does Dwight Dixon kill somebody with that gun of his? Not this week. What else is ABC not telling us? Kerri Kenney, of “The State,” “Viva Variety” and “Reno 911” fame, has a substantial role as What’s doing with Lily and Vivian? Chuck crank calls her birth-mother. (And English-born Anna Friel affects an English accent to facility the ruse.) Also Dwight visits the sisters. What’s great? The great Fred Willard as The Great Herrmann. Emerson’s pet-detective negotiation with the Great Herrmann. Olive and the nose-spike. Kerri Kenney, back in sexy mode. The Chuck-sperm. “Where did I put that rat’s ass I could give?” “I’m not made of hugs.” “Fools rush in! We’re not fools!” Sister Mary Mary’s holy water. What’s not so great? Episodes like this make ABC’s continued failure to buy a full second season a hard pill to swallow. How does it end, spoiler-boy? A very dirty Dwight Dixon rolls over and looks heavenward. “L-Prime” liked it too: What does TV Guide say? “A magician (Fred Willard) who has been a surrogate father to Ned's half brothers needs the pie maker's help with his act when his animal assistants are mysteriously dying. Meanwhile, Lily is wary of Dwight's intentions.” What do I say? This is probably the finest Pushing Daisies yet produced. The best of the season certainly, and I'm having trouble coming up with one from last year's nine that would have outstripped it. Why so? Do you just want a stream of adjectives? Um, ok. Hilarious. Touching. Cohesive. Intelligent. Fantastical. Substantial. Doesn't so much cover any 'why' for those words. Ok, fine. Basically, every weakness this show has ever displayed was eliminated, at least for this hour. The mystery was interesting and rolled into the main story, every single lead actor was on fire – this may have been Lee Pace's finest hour yet as Ned, a raft of guest stars who felt seamless in the world of the show – too many of the mystery-of-the-week-ers end up a little bland/forgettable at times, and we're finally getting to see real payoff in these characters' quests for personal reconciliation with their broken pasts. So movement on the big fronts then? Ned's father? Chuck's (real) mother? Emerson's daughter? Yes, yes, no. Emerson's past was passed over this week, but the developments on Pie Maker and Dead Girl's stories more than makes up for it. And the final scene sets up far more substantial developments to come. Why Lee Pace's finest hour? Hard to put a finger on it, but he just felt more alive than ever. His comic turns were impeccable, especially for an actor and character so often relegated to the straight man role. He also got to show real growth in Ned's continual coming to terms with his father's abandonment of him, and how it relates to his newly found brothers. So what's good then? “Illusionists!”; “But shazzam, I have a ticket.”; “It's a magic show.” (possibly the best delivery yet from Lee Pace); “I'm a pie maker.”; “I'm not made of hugs.”; “I just wanted to see if he knew that.”; “Call me 'Great'.” “No.”; “Blah, blah, blah, please stop crying, blah.”; “Accidental death by acute cementia.”; “What did you think you were saying in your head, because I heard what came out of your mouth.”; “Yes, I am gonna kick someone's ass.”; “Emotional or federal?” “I'm going to say yes to both.”; “It was an attempt to corral those words back into my mouth.”; “I knew I shouldn'ta come in here, I knew it.”; The kitten; “Not that kind of a role play.” What's not good? Only the fact that my enjoyment of this show is constantly lessened by the fact that the pragmatist in me has already been detaching itself from real enjoyment, knowing that it is essentially doomed. The bump in ratings against the Obamamercial helped a bit, no doubt, but it's more likely just damning with faint praise. Fuller himself, and many of the cast, have gone to the press saying that “no decision has been made” and that “they're waiting for tonight and next week's ratings”, and we here all know that that just means they were waiting for another week of dropping numbers to let the axe fall. So please, for all of you who have ever even kind of enjoyed it, come back for one more week, and those who are inclined to help, tell others (mainly those Nielsen boxed out there, if you know any) to help at least provide a back nine to the season. If not, we'll probably be left with a funny-book ending for the Pie Maker and Chuck, while Fuller is consigned back to Heroes, which after this week's pile of crap episode, isn't a fate that should be wished on anyone. God that show has gotten terrible lately. Final verdict? You already know that. Possibly the finest Daisies ever. Watch it already. How does it end? Dwight Dixon opens an empty box. 8 p.m. Wednesday. ABC.

Was $200!! 544 Pages Now $44.10!!

Bryan Fuller’s “Wonderfalls” has just been slashed to $17.99!! Every season of “Buffy” has just been cut to $17.99!! Every season of “Angel” has just been cut to $17.99!!