Digital News Report- Pushing Daisies has been one of the most undervalued shows on television and has faced numerous obstacles including the WGA strike, scheduling problems, and declining ratings. Its’ small, but devoted fanbase has stuck with it through its’ ups and downs and has often felt as though they were being jerked around by the network. When its’ creator, Bryan Fuller, confirmed that the show had been canceled, fans were upset, but many saw it coming. The largest blow, however, is that the final airdate of the last three episodes has not been announced, though rumors have placed it in the summer of 2009.
The show was originally greenlit for 13 episodes, but the WGA strike cut that down to only nine which were hastily rewritten at the last minute to form a cliffhanger for the second season. The second season was greenlit for another 13, but only aired through episode ten in mid-December. This is not the first show by Fuller that has faced bad luck. Wonderfalls was canceled after only four episodes, despite rave reviews from critics.
In an interview with TV Guide, Kristin Chenoweth (Olive Snook) has revealed that the final three episodes will not resolve all the plotlines of the show. She stated, “It would wrap up a lot of the unanswered questions that people will have once they finally air our final episodes.” However, Fuller has said he would try to release a comic book or movie so that fans may have a conclusion.
This is one of the few shows on television that I’ll truly miss. It’s quirky style, unique characters, and clever premise tend to be missing from a lot of shows that get churned out by networks these days. However, if one must look at the bright side of things, at least Fuller will be moving on to Heroes, which has been floundering for the past two seasons. This can mean one of two things; Heroes will get a lot better with a creative mind at the helm or the “Fuller Curse” will finally put that show out of its’ misery.