Pushing Daisies Lives at Paley Fest

At this very moment in Hollywood, CA, the ninth day of the Paley Festival ended with a rare afternoon session that was more a celebration than a wake. Even if Pushing Daisies has only three episodes left, the crowd was still excited to see them before everyone else.
The facts are these...people still had a blast seeing creator Bryan Fuller, now trying to save Heroes,



Jim Dooley and the Pushing Daisies Orchestra..



and a couple of cast members...



Yes, that is Chi McBride, Ellen Greene and Barry Sonnenfeld, who has an Emmy for directing the pilot.

This was also a general admission event, which means anyone can sit anywhere. I was lucky to get a second row seat in the middle, and even more later on.
The final three episodes start right after Ned decides not to use his magic finger to ask dead people who killed them, figuring that would make his life simpler.
Well, not so. For one thing, two guys who were sent to prison for kidnapping Olive when she was nine escape from prison to have a nice little chat with her...literally. It has something to do with the kidnapping being, well, fudged. But never mind that. The real treat is seeing George Segal and Richard Benjamin as the not-kidnappers. For once, the Crime of the Week, involving murder and window-dressing at a department store, is almost the "B" story.

The second story, involving murder, robbery and the water system, features Gina Torres as a woman from Emerson Cod's past, and Fred Williamson as the victim. Simone's back, too, and her face-off with Gina is automatically better than the cheesy crazy-woman-tries-to-steal-husband-or-else movie, Obsessed.

The final episode has Lily and Vivian given a chance to revive their synchronized swimming act after their formal rivals suffer a tragedy while they perform. Think Orca, the Killer Whale. You have GOT to see this. However, that's nothing compared to the last five minutes, where something happens that changes the game several times over. You will be stunned, and maybe angry at ABC. Before the showing, McBride was directing the crowd to the pitchforks and torches that weren't really there....yet. The crowd gasped when they realized what was about to happen in the final scene of the last episode.

Oh, and I also got this...



I've always had a soft spot for Ellen, but I really wish the other sister was there, along with a few other cast members. Still, this was the best panel so far. I wish I remembered to suggest in my survey they do more afternoon sessions on Sundays. In fact, why not panels on kids shows or cartoons? The 50th anniversary of Bullwinkle isn't too far off.

Our Scooby Gang is Growing Up, and Other Thoughts

This week I am off to Los Angeles again for the Paley Festival. I will be seeing the Dollhouse panel, which I am sure some people predict will be a wake for what is now a program that should be too intriguing to die. Still, with some people claiming that Joss isn't too confident the show will last past May 8th, you can't help but pray for another season. The other panel is definitely a wake: the showing of the final three episodes of Pushing Daisies, which should look even more incredible on the big screen. That's worth 15 dollars. I kind of hope that someone from the cast will drop by to say thanks to those who supported the show. After the show, I may just head to the House of Pies to pay my respects.

The real reason for this post, however, is admitting that it has been a long time since a little girl named Buffy, who is born to slay vampires, came into our lives...as long as we were near a WB station. In fact, it's been 12 years since the show started.

It really dawned on me yesterday when I learned that Sarah Michelle Gellar is now 32. Nick Brendon just turned 38 (!) while Alyson Hannigan is now 35. David Boreanaz, the one true repenting vampire, will turn 40 next month (about a month before 50 pins me to the mat), while James Marsters aka Spike is 46(!!). Also, Charisma Carpenter is also 38. If Sunnydale was still around, we'd have enough to create a horror version of Desperate Housewives. That's quite a long way from Sunnydale High School.

On the other hand, they would be the perfect group to establish a new generation of Slayers, led by not-quite-Slayer-but-on-her-way, Dawn. Since Michelle Trachtenberg is only in her mid-20's, that may be an interesting idea. Eliza Dushku, as Faith, could also help out as a young Watcher..and Slayer, too. Throw in Felicia Day as a Slayer and internet icon and you could have something there.

Realizing how old our Scooby Gang is right now makes me dread hitting 50 a bit less. It also shows that if we do get a new set of Tales of the Slayers for TV or the movies, I'd rather have Emma Roberts or Kristen Stewart cast as a Slayer than, say, anybody from Gossip Girl or 90210.

I'm going to the PaleyFest, but when?

As some of you may know, this year's Paley Festival will feature two Whedon projects, Dr. Horrible and Dollhouse. They'll be on consecutive nights, April 14th and 15th. Some other show will also be part of the event, from Desperate Housewives and The Mentalist to The Hills (why?) to 90210 (see The Hills). There's also True Blood, Big Love and Fringe on the lineup.

You'd think my chances of going depend on the Dr. H/Dollhouse doubleheader, since both are sure to sell out before the mere mortals get a chance at tickets on March 1st. In an ideal world, where Fargo would have been Best Picture at the 1997 Oscars, I would get tickets to Dollhouse because the whole cast, and The Man, would be there. However, there is one event that will make it certain I will be in L-A during the festival...
they're showing the last three episodes of Pushing Daisies at least four months before ABC will bother to show them on TV.
Not only that, it will be a matinee, and the price will be about the same as seeing Watchmen in Imax!

That is enough! If I luck out on Dollhouse, I'll go there too, but my trip will be around my final, fateful trip to the Pie Hole. It's only a question of whether I'll arrive on Dollhouse night, or Pushing Daisies Day. Anyway, Bryan Fuller, who created the show and is also Heroes' Last Hope, will be there to introduce the episodes. I would hope he'd be around at the end, maybe organize a crowd to head to ABC's office complex and start throwing pies at the programmers' offices. Or...he'll give us pie. That would work. Maybe he'll also talk about the Dead Like Me DVD movie that someone should have told him about so it would be done right.

I would be very surprised if anyone from the cast would be there for the matinee event. It would be a kick, and you never can tell. Afterwards, maybe I'll go see Coraline in 3-D, if I don't get a chance to do that next week during Wondercon.

Getting back to the festival, I noticed that while Joss, his brothers, Nathan Fillion, and Felicia Day will be there, Neil Patrick Harris may not. I'm guessing it's due to his sitcom, How I Met Your Mother, but maybe he can call and give ominous warnings from the Evil League of Evil boardroom. I hope his presence will be felt somehow. This will be a treat for those who weren't at the Doc's appearances at Comic-Con last summer. Believe me, the electricity felt when it was shown on a big screen with the cast there....once in a lifetime!

Some are also wondering if Dollhouse will stay on TV when April 15th rolls around. At least one smart aleck at Aint It Cool News has brought it up. I am certain both shows will survive long enough on Fox and the Festival.

In any case, pies will definitely get me to L-A in April.