Swoosie Kurtz

"Pigeon"

• Oct 25, 2007 06:58 AM ET
• by karahowland

Another Wednesday, another delightful episode.Poor Ned. It looks like he’s gone through most of his life being lonely. After he discovered his "gift," he kind of lost touch with people. Sensing something is amiss with Ned, Digby sets off to find him, but he somehow knows he and Ned aren’t allowed to touch. The only reason I’m willing to go along with this little leap in logic is because this show is a fantasy. Well, that’s not the only reason. I don’t really have a problem with Digby being an extremely smart doggie who is able to infer "the rules" of Ned’s gift, but I did think we’d get a little more on how Digby’s managed to stay so youthful all these years. I know quite a few of you had questions about that as well.OK, that’s my only quibble. Ned, Chuck and Emerson go to investigate a plane crash after Emerson smells some money in the suspicious circumstances. In the apartment, Chuck and Ned have a near-miss touching incident that leads... read more

Daisies Growing On Me Even More!

• Oct 11, 2007 02:41 PM ET
• by Matt Roush

Anna Friel and Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies by Ron Tom/ABC

Nearly five months passed between the time I got my first look at the miraculous Pushing Daisies pilot and the second episode. It was worth the wait. I am officially in love.Flashback (I wish I could count back the days, hours, minutes and seconds as precisely as Jim Dale does in his spot-on narration): It’s the week before the network upfronts in May, and I’m in Los Angeles working on the TV Guide Network’s America’s Next Producer show when a studio exec not even associated with Pushing Daisies leaks me a copy of the pilot, which I’d heard was good but had no idea was THIS good. From the moment I saw it, I was enchanted and could only hope that fellow critics and viewers with open minds and open hearts would share my enthusiasm. I was also so satisfied by what I’d seen that I couldn’t help wondering if they’d be able to pull it off on a weekly basis.Flash to the second week of October, and in brilliant high definition, I watch the second epis... read more

"Pie Lette"

• Oct 4, 2007 05:36 AM ET
• by karahowland

I’m thoroughly charmed by this show. I was a little afraid all the great things I’ve been hearing would lead to disappointment, but I must admit I loved the episode.The rules:• Ned’s first touch to something dead brings life, the second brings death forever.• If the person he brings back stays alive for more than one minute, someone else in close proximity will die.Ever since Ned (Lee Pace) was able to bring his trusty golden retriever Digby back from the dead, he has known he has the gift of reanimation. He was 9 when he found out. Unfortunately he didn’t realize his gift came with a price until he revived his mother only to watch his next-door neighbor and best friend Charlotte, aka Chuck (Anna Friel), Charles’ father die as a result. Soon after, Ned is shipped off to boarding school, and Chuck goes to live with her aunts, also known as the Darling Mermaid Darlings because of their synchronized-swimming careers. But before they are parted, they s... read more

A Push for Pushing Daisies

• Jul 26, 2007 06:26 PM ET
• by Matt Roush

Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies by Bob D'Amico/ABC

Could the third time be the charm? Being an eternal optimist when it comes to TV shows I love, I certainly hope so. For the third season in a row, the show I’ve picked as my favorite pilot of the fall season is on ABC, and once again, after two consecutive seasons of my pick failing to make the grade, this show’s projected success is far from a slam dunk. But let me tell you why I believe, despite all logical skepticism to the contrary, that the dazzling “forensic fairy tale” called Pushing Daisies has a shot at making it.First, here’s why my earlier picks didn’t pan out. For one thing, both shows — Invasion in 2005, The Nine in 2006 — had the mixed fortune of being scheduled directly after Lost. (As we’ve learned, the Lost viewing experience is so intense and its fan base so obsessed that it’s pure folly to put any show, especially a demanding one, after Lost.) Both shows were also exceedingly dark in tone, whereas Pushing Daisies... read more

I'm a 30-year-old woman who ...

• Jun 11, 2007 04:00 AM ET
• by Matt Roush

Question: I'm a 30-year-old woman who is beyond delighted to see representations of real women on TV this season. It's nice to look at Sally Field, both as an actress and her character on Brothers & Sisters, and not get the sense that life ends for women with marriage and kids. Mrs. Walker is a complex, intelligent character, as are the other women represented in the show. I recently discovered Alias on DVD and cannot say enough about Lena Olin, either. She's gorgeous and fierce, while not trying to be 25. I also love that these women don't look like they've been Botoxed within an inch of their life. I remember growing up watching Golden Girls and Designing Women with my mom. I know lots of young women who still find these reruns delightfully funny. It seems like that genre has been missing from TV in the last few years. What do you think the odds are that we'll see more of these characters or women-focused shows in the future? Do you think TV execs will ever get comfortable with women ... read more

Has Mrs. Huff Had Enough?

• Apr 21, 2006 04:00 AM ET
• by Matt Webb Mitovich

Paget Brewster, Huff

On Showtime's Huff (Sundays at 10 pm/ET), Paget Brewster plays the forlorn and fed-up wife of Hank Azaria's sad-sack psychiatrist. Could she be playing someone more different from the hottie Friends' Chandler stole from Joey? TVGuide.com spoke to the actress about her Huffing and puffing, read more

Hi there, Televisionary! Say, ...

• Nov 29, 2005 03:00 AM ET
• by TV Guide News

Question: Hi there, Televisionary! Say, what can you tell me about Tony Randall's short-lived Love, Sidney? All I really remember is the opening theme.

Answer: Short-lived it was, Sidney. However, while your TV counterpart, artist Sidney Shorr (The Odd Couple's Randall) enjoyed his own show from October 1981 to August 1983, that's a relatively long time compared with the truly here-and-gone life spans of modern shows, which aren't given much time to make a mark at all.

The setup of the show was that Sidney had befriended a single, pregnant young actress (Swoosie Kurtz years before and had talked her out of having an abortion. When the series began, Kurtz's character, Laurie, showed up with daughter Patti (Kaleena Kiff) in hand to live with him. Alan read more