Why Pushing Daisies Shows More Promise than Private Practice; Why The Office Should Downsize; and more!
Lee Pace and Chi McBride, Pushing Daisies
Question: I watched the premiere of
Pushing Daisies last Wednesday, and all I can say is
thank you for talking up this show's "Pie Lette" as much as you and your colleagues have! The charming, magical episode lived up to all of the hype. The quality that instantly endeared me most was the incredible chemistry of the cast, especially between Ned (
Lee Pace) and Chuck (
Anna Friel). I don't think I've seen genuine sparks fly like this since the early days of Luke and Lorelai on
Gilmore Girls. It will undoubtedly be a delight watching these two characters develop. That said, I left the TV on to give another chance to
Private Practice, and its placement after the delectable
Daisies emphasized many of its flaws. What a misguided pairing of shows! Going from the light-yet-emotional,
Tim Burton-esque whimsy of
Daisies into the cloying opening scene of
Practice, where a bunch of middle-aged children break into their coworker's home to watch a stripper? Then a baby-switching case where Dr. Montgomery turns into Detective Benson? What fantasyland are those doctors living in, and how can I get outta there? Perhaps on paper the two shows' levels of whimsy seemed balanced, but when one has been executed with such stylistic grace and the other comes off as a bunch of whiny idiots bumping into each other without so much as a whiff of chemistry (even between the divine
Kate Walsh and the dreamy
Tim Daly), I'm left not wanting to ruin the sweet aftertaste of
Daisies with a sour helping of
Practice. What's more, we've now had basically three episodes of the
Practice doctors, and I still can't be bothered to care about any of them. Just one episode of
Daisies down, and I'm already in love! Should I stick with
Private Practice? Is there another show you think would be a better pairing with
Daisies? I'm thinking the equally luscious
Ugly Betty, thought perhaps that much bright color in one night would be too much for the eyes.
— Matt B.
Matt Roush: Glad you liked it.
Pushing Daisies has a charm, originality and freshness lacking from almost any of the new shows in this disappointing fall season. Which is my way of also saying I honestly can't tell you how much patience to extend to
Private Practice, which certainly doesn't seem to be doing much to reward it (though I did think the
second episode was better than the first, marginally). You pretty much nailed it with your compare-contrast of the shows: One exhibits a romantic sweetness while the other is an almost insulting display of sophomoric smarminess. Still, on paper I think ABC's Wednesday lineup makes sense from a programming point of view, going from light fantasy to light medical soap to light adult soap (
Dirty Sexy Money, which I'm enjoying more by the week). Pairing
Daisies with
Ugly Betty probably would be too much over-the-top whimsy for one sitting. As it is, I worry that ABC is overdoing it with comic dramas that all feel and sound too much alike (my vote for the one too many: the insufferable
Big Shots, which thinks it's much cuter than it is).
