ABC
Unfortunately, there is no new Pushing Daisies tonight. Ned and the gang are making way for Tom & Samantha and the big Dancing With The Stars results show. That doesn’t mean we can’t talk about the goings on down at the Pie Hole. In particular, I’d like to talk about ratings, or truth be told, the lack thereof.
One of the biggest surprises in this young television season has been the exceedingly low ratings of Pushing Daisies. With five entries in the season two books, the show is averaging just a hair over 6 million viewers, and just under a 2 demo. Those numbers assure that nobody involved with the pie maker is rolling to work rocking out to Timbuk 3. I find it all very puzzling, but I think I’ve sussed it out. The facts are these: Everybody hates Barry Sonnenfeld.
I’ve mentioned before that one of my most wanted DVD sets is Maximum Bob (7 episodes). OK, I haven’t mentioned it here, but the Clack is still a pretty new site. Trust me, I’ve said it elsewhere on the internet. Anyway, if you are among the twelve people that enjoyed that show with me, you know that it shares a few qualities with Pushing Daisies (14 episodes, and counting). It was really quirky, a very fun ride, and nobody could be bothered to watch. Taking a little trip through Sonnenfeld’s other TV credits shows more of the same.
Sonnenfeld was also involved in The Tick (9 episodes) and the updated Fantasy Island (13 episodes). But it isn’t just the quirkiness that viewers have abandoned. He’s had more mainstream style shows also fall by the wayside. Karen Sisco (10 episodes), Partners, Secret Agent Man (12 episodes), and Notes From The Underbelly (17 episodes) are also among Sonnenfeld’s credits.
Do the math. Pushing Daisies will keep pushing up the average, but as we sit right now, Sonnenfeld TV shows are averaging right around 10 episodes each. 10! Good grief, Barry was Tim Minear before Tim Minear was Tim Minear. I suppose that could be seen as me taking a shot at Sonnenfeld, or Minear. It really isn’t. It’s a compliment. Much like Minear, with Firefly, Wonderfalls, and Drive, Sonnenfeld has been part of some great shows that I really wanted to see more of.
Likewise, as with Minear, I find myself at a loss to explain why it hasn’t worked out for Sonnenfeld on TV, short of everybody just hating him. Sure, TV is hard, and if it was so easy to predict which shows would find an audience, things like Do Not Disturb would never make it past the idea phase. But it continues to boggle me every week. I check in with the ratings on Thursday, after watching another entertaining Pushing Daisies, only to find that not only does the show not approach the investigation of a crime scene, it can’t even muster the numbers of an exceedingly bad remake of a cheesy ’80s show about a car.
Those of you that have been playing along with the home game will know that I have a history with Dancing With The Stars. I’ve probably forgotten more about that show than most sensible people should ever know. Despite that attachment, I’m going to find it terribly disappointing to check in with the ratings and see that it managed double, or more, the viewers of a new Pushing Daisies. I don’t want any network executives getting any funny ideas about plugging in another unscripted show at 8 on Wednesday.
While Bob and I disagree on the merits of Pushing Daisies, I think he put it just right in his post last week. This is the kind of show that needs to be on TV. In a sea of ideas that are cheap to produce, and formulas that are easier to replicate, Pushing Daisies is truly original. The numbers give me pause, but I hold out hope that they will turn around, breaking Barry’s curse, and giving us all a chance to enjoy a lot more adventures with Ned and the gang.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Nov 05, 2008 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
It’s a surprise the rating are bad? To whom?
To me. I didn’t think Pushing Daisies would ever become a break out number one type show, but did you really think we would get to November having it beaten weekly by Knight Rider?
Sadly yes, this is America after all, we have no taste when it comes to shows.
I still want them to cancel Pushing Daisies and bring back Wonderfalls, I miss that show. :(
I just read a rumor that it has been canceled. Any substantiation around here? I love PD. So of COURSE it will be canceled. Just one more show that as has been pointed out around here breaks the typical mold and is different. So it’s gotta go. *hmph*
I think PD is original, funny, and like reading a wonderful book. I think nowadays this kind of series/stories might not appeal (no blood, no se*ual relationships, no graphic violence, no swearing… etcetcetc) to the majority of people but when I watch it, it makes my day. I love Ned and Chuck, I think Olive is fantastic, Cod is hilarious and the whole lot: scenography, script, music, dialogues, even the clothes they wear! it brilliant. It’s like a fairytale. You only have to like it and have the patience to watch. Nothing NAST, BLOODY OR SE*UAL will come out of it but many other things (such as Ned and Chuck’s silent and contained love, Olive and Cod’s gags – I crack up, the different story or murder and investigating each week…. the secrets that the characters don’t know – like the Aunts-)… are certainly worth it. At least for me.
And I wish the audience, American, European or worldwide, would appreciate something DIFFERENT for once, instead of throwing themselves to the TV each time another Big Brother or X Factor starts…. I, for starters, am tired of the same thing over and over again. People around the world whose only aspiration is to be rich and famous and programs like Big Brother and co. giving them the chance to think that doing nothing in life and being a millionaire should be the aim in everyone’s life.
I hope to enjoy a little magic and color, like when I was a child, with PD, for much longer.
B