The Facts Are These ...

The new episode of Pushing Daisies that aired tonight may be the last episode for a while, as there was no preview at the end of the show. I hope that ABC decides to re-run the series during the remainder of the writer's strike, as they seem to be doing for Dirty Sexy Money.

One of the things I've been noticing with Pushing Daisies--as well as with Chuck, another new show that is getting a lot of praise--is that the main plot is moving quite rapidly. At the very least, each episode moves the plot (or plots, if you also count the Darling Mermaid Darlings and their return to the water) forward in a measurable way. This puts it into sharp contrast with shows like Lost and Heroes, which have a frustrating tendency toward wheel-spinning. It's also especially remarkable when you consider the fact that each episode of Pushing Daisies also features a satisfying done-in-one mystery plot.

Other highlights:

• I want a Christmas sweatshirt just like Sy Richardson's.


• I know it's wrong, but I enjoyed the fact that the terminally ill kid was a real dick.


• It was nice to see Grant Shaud. I can't remember if I've seen him in anything since Murphy Brown.


• Paul Reubens should be made in to a regular cast member.


• Emerson's and Lily's revelations, in an episode that involves Chuck's renewed grief over her father's death, seem to crystalize an emerging theme of "parenthood" in the series.


• The monkey did it! Man, I love monkeys.


• Could anyone figure out what movies the sick kid was watching? I was hoping they might be more Hitchcock references, but I don't think that was the case.

This episode, once again, reinforces that this is my favorite show on TV right now, at least until The Wire starts up again in a month or so. But, as The Wire is the greatest series in the history of television, it's hardly fair to make a comparison.