I completely agree with you. When i heard that they had canceled Daisies, I went to my season passes to cancel everything ABC. The only thing I had to cancel was Lost

I get that people are upset that ABC canceled Pushing Daisies, but there's something about it I just don't understand. It was the network's lowest-rated show, every single week, and since when has a network ever ignored the ratings? Plus, at least ABC gave Pushing Daisies a chance. They renewed it for a second season, attached that free DVD with its pilot to every freakin' thing that they released in September, and are airing the series all the way through to the end. I even read multiple stories saying that the ABC execs told Fuller to wrap things up in the final episode – funny to read that it still ends on a cliffhanger.
I understand that people are going to be mad and hate ABC for this, but at least they didn't go all FOX on the show. FOX would've pulled it off the air after the first couple of weeks and it would've never seen the light of day again.

@Adam: I will admit, I was shocked when I went to my screening of Beverly Hills Chihuahua and before it they played a preview for Pushing Daisies that was damn near 5 minutes long.

Another victim of the writers strike. Their first season was cut terribly short and alot of people forgot about Pushing Daisies. Lee Pace is the Fall is what got me into PD. We will be seeing him in alot of movies in the future I think we can all agree on that.

@Brad Brevet: Yah, they really seemed to be pushing the show to make sure that it survived. Hell, it was one of the exec's favorite shows. But on a network that is averaging double-digit numbers, 4-6 million a week is just too low. And they couldn't try a new timeslot…they didn't have enough time and I bet that would've killed the show even earlier (anyone see what happen to Lisptick Jungle?). I think ABC handled it the best way possible and while everybody wishes the outcome had been different, I don't think anybody's in the least surprised.

Pushing Daisies, a brilliant series, and for ABC, a kind of renegade, I knew, sadly, from the first show was doomed to a premature death. As soon as I heard the soothing bed time story voice of Jim Dale begin the unwinding of an dark and comic adult fairy tale, I was hooked, and knew the drug would soon be pulled off the market.
It was simply too good for network television and a bit too literate. You cannot outsmart this Nation of Numbnuts for long before they either call you elitist, or drown you in low ratings. The narrative
voice over for Pushing Daisies was poetic, enchanting and as sharp as the editing and acting. Written like freshly snapped linen spread over a long dining table. Packed were the scripts with prickly words, each precisely honed, with word play and rythm. It sometimes felt as though, Nabokov meets Harry Potter and forces grows him up and turn into Ned, the propietor and lead baker of the Pie Hole. The make believe city a few minutes away from Cours d' Cours. The Heart of Hearts where Ned first appeared.

It's no mystery the show got spiked. Kristin Chenoweth as Olive Snook, the waitress panging for Lee Pace as Ned, the buddha pie maker with goo goo eyes. Remember her singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You" to the Ned's dog in the first season? I was
swept away. I confess infatuation with Chenoweth, who intially played the Wicked Witch of the West, in Wicked. She is a compact hottie with a voice to match. Great things come in petite packets, and she is super comic actress. Swoosie Kurtz did a fine job as the aunt/mother of Chuck, or Charlotte. Anna Friel played Chuck an American sweet heart and the actual femme fatale, and nailed it. The same praise could be cast upon for the rest of the cast. Emerson Dodd, PI, estranged father, played pitch perfect by Chi McBride. He was the Worchestershire sauce on Ned's gullible sugar. Whack. Snap. Crackle. Pop.

A show too clever by half, not quite, was Pushing Daisies. It won me over with art direction, coloring, acting and, totally, with the writing. Even a few of the guest roles
were luminous crystals. Paul Reubens as the nosy olfactory genius? Pee Wee Herman who sniffed out the aroma of death on Charlotte on a snowy rooftop with hives of
hibernating bees? Brilliant bit of casting and writing. David Arquette's stuff: sharp.

Cut my IQ by one third and spare me the pain of witnessing the death of a fine
series. By the way, did not ABC also hatchet out another too good for broadcast
show with Dennis Leary? "The Job" a few thousand years ago? It seems lightning
strikes ABC every few years and someone in programming actually green lights a paradigm shifting show which finds it way on the air. The new form gets raves from the critics then gets buried in the dismal swamp of fatuous viewers. The dipsticks and doo doo heads who spend too much time in front of the screen. It happened back in the early nineties with NYPD Blue, but that show morphed into a sermonizing on humans disposition to addiction and went off the rails, and despite what David Milch, the forever addict claims, never found it's footing again. The question remains can Jimmy Smits act, or is his face too weird and interesting to decipher? My wife thinks he is hot. I have a crushes on Kristin Chenoweth and Katey Segal. Real women.

Oh, and Mr. Frank as far as your malice towards Dancing with the Stars, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire they make Private Practice, arguably one the lamest shows on television look challenging. Any spin off of Gray's Anatomy is like Barbie giving birth to Barbie jurior, or Jackie Collins penning another Playtex Bra ripper. Gray's Anatomy is really Chicago Hope, redux, and Private Practice is, two footsteps into drek.

For some mental relief I recommend trying Sons of Anarchy on FX. Imagine Deadwood set on Harleys in woodsy wild east of the mountains of California. Watch it to actually see Ron Perlman act as conflicted human, sans masks or makeup, and see Katey Segal kill as the menopausal motorcycle queen bee. In fact just watch the show for Ms. Segal in the role of a lifetime. She is a brilliant reprise of Carmella Soprano, but this time she is pulling the strings on her Tony, Ron Perlman's gang chief. SOA is a very underappreciated show. The Harleys are really horses that propel one primal, masculine
tribe into another, in and around the aptly named frontier town of Charming.
Sons of Anarchy, has real potential as a long form, novelized treat.

Ugly Betty? Now there's a case of a seriously flawed gem. I have to give ABC a C+ on that one. Infinitely better than Gray's Anatomy, but a far cry from Pushing Daisies. It has it's moments and it's appeals and the show has all the components of becoming a B+ series. Except for the central character as written and therein lays the rub, the thorn, the twist.

Betty is a classic example of how not to write a series lead. Things always, always happen to her. As written she
is always the victim, never the protagonist, much less the antagonist. The first thing an emerging writer – television writers included – should learn is not make the central character a chronic victim. The circle of characters in the show surrounding Ugly Betty, paradoxically, are far more interesting. Justin, the gifted gay younger brother is always fun and could be the most intrigueing and pained character. Her cosmetically fixated older sister has a feckless working class charm. Vanessa Williams is Cruella DeVille with a luscious body. Judith Light as Mother Meade? A marvel. Judith Light's role is probably the best in the show. The few lines and scenes Ms. Light gets she nails. She perfectly understands it's not the length of screen time you have, it's what you do with it.

The earnest and earthy Scot seamstress is another plus. The seamstress is actually Betty's boxing coach. Her fight manager. The greatest weakness of the series is that Betty shows up in too many scenes like
the boring girl scout, the chubby, whiny playmate who sucks the air out of a child's birthday party. The class president who recruits you into making vasts murals out of construction paper on a Saturday while your friends are out getting dry humped, or so you imagine, while you're stuck cutting and pasting giant letters and rainbows with the Honor Society chicks.
The less seen of Betty's suffering, the better. Her terrible taste in clothes is a one trickpony that went lame about four episodes in the first season. Past time for her character
to develop personally, i.e., rub the wounds of Life's disappointment and heartaches sutured closed with cynicism. Give her a new wardrode or, perhaps, let her run butch. The series is a winner weighed down by the lead character being too much of the moral, nice nice anchor. If I were running the show I'd let Betty have a few good bangs, get sexy and show a dark side. She needs to lose the glasses and get plucked. Depilate Betty. The dark eyebrows and heavy glasses are not necessary parts of America's character but vaudeville props in a bad sitcom. A character's clothes should not represent an integral part of her inner self. An actor's words and deeds represent.
She needs internal conflict, and not just the struggle over whether to eat dirt and not complain, or eat dirt under protest. Enough of a Latina goody two shoes getting burned and microwaved over and over by the selfish. Let the homely Latina hit back, lose ten pounds of garish clothing and show some tension. Is Betty a pathetic clown girl or Dulce or a Dykette? Make her be. Make her ugly on the inside.

Now I will committ heresy and call Lost, lost. Heroes? Defied gravity of any narrative
success by introducing too many blonde chicks with super powers, including one with two or three personalities or doppel gangers. Too confusing, and with commercial
breaks, and the fossilized acting of Old Man Petrelli, and his game, it's lost.
The series writers and producers got too charmed with their own gimmicks and
cheats, and MacGuffins – gadgets or suitcases and formulas – to propel the story
forward. They forgot the primary element of compelling interest in the viewer; keep it simple and the characters sympathetic.

Now on Mondays, I think the Sarah Connor Chronicles, interestingly, in it's second
season actually got better, which is against the norm in television. The Chronicles
have a fast pace, a clear story line, good arc, and just enough surprises and twists to enhance the interest. Heroes, in counter point, is a case of throwing too many things at the wall too see which one sticks, much like, the metaphor of
the Indian cab driver intellectual, getting all stuck up, and cocooning apparently
innocent bystanders for no good reason. Too many gimmicks muddy the plot line and stifle the characters. In a phrase or addage, saying, Heroes,
did not abide to that old line, "Oh, the webs we weave." The spider like
aspects of the scientist who drank the Kool Aid is the metaphor for the series.
The only way to repair Heroes is kill off half the characters starting with Old Man
Petrelli and send Hiro back to 1600s Japan. Go back to the beginning and straighten the narrative out, untangle the rubber cement crap. Another possibility is to
have Hiro, the time jumper, carry away some of the bad guys and deposit them
in old Japan or colonial America.

One more ABC show I want to see succeed – if only to watch Gretchen Moll in a police uniform, and Michael "Christofah" Imperioli, as a bushy and bad cop and Harvey Keitel stealing every scene with his plasticene faceand heart – is Life on Mars. I am hardly confident about the series. Given the show's premise, a cop from the present drop kicked by a car into a coma, and time sucked into 1973 New York, I knew it was going to be problematic to sustain. Life on Mars, is not going to be renewed, or it will be on the ropes at best. It's a shame, too, although thematically the concept is a big hobbling, the ensemble is wonderful. The chemistry hot. Too bad. Oh, well, another form busting show, bites the dust.

In the end, I guess, television is like Evolution, a fact, and survival is determined by
Natural Selection. In the case of entertainment, however, the pressure of the environment and ecology is the great force of simple headed, who identifu with one dimensional to two dimensional characters. Third dimensions are confusing. A peek behind the curtains or a morally ambivalent lead is way too scary. In the words of P. T. Barnum, "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."

Absolutely. You want to make a successful series. Play it dumb and write it hack, stick to the formulas and usuall gags and bags of tricks – confused identities, woman
giving birth in elevator, car or plane, idiot husband, ya da ya da. Bing Bam Boom.
Smart Jews. Jive talking blacks. Wiley Oriental Gentlemen. Hard drinking Irish. The usual suspects. or shop it to HBO or Showtime, or even, FX. Or if you really want to be iconoclastic an creative, put it in a cartoon. Some of the most envelope busting stories
and characters and funniest stuff are to be found in animation. Simpsons and South Park were total myth busters. They opened the box.

AMEN AMEN AMEN! Pushing Daisies is the most visually appealing, warm, funny, beautiful show on television and its PG so Disney scraps it?! and leaves Desperate Housewives and a spin-off of that other crap show on the air, running for that long?! Are you kidding me?! I get goosebumps every episode of Daisies just over how beautiful it was made and seeing how much work must have gone into each episode from the amazing colors, wardrobe, music, camera angles and writing. Its really stunning, not to mention how stunning Lee Pace is and what an incredible actor he is(The Fall LOVE!);) But all in all I'm really heartbroken over this, this was the only hour long show I watched besides Ghost Whisperer(which is on my bad side right now) and the only show I looked forward to watching every week. I would have killed to be an extra on that set, I loved it so much.

You had me right up until you labeled "Boston Legal" as garbage. Have you actually watched an episode of the show, or are you assuming it's just another court show? :P

@William Shatner’s Ghost: Boston Legal was pretty good during its initial season and maybe even its second. But like all of David E Kelley's shows, it has completely crumbled…and is nothing but a lame phantom of its former self.

@Adam: You're absolutely right. ABC did try hard with Pushing Daisies. So I won't even say I was completely shocked either. However, I at least figured the end wouldn't come at mid-season (yes, Fuller was in talks to conclude the storyline if the show ended after a full 2nd season, but that wasn't the case, and from everything I read the show will end on a cliffhanger). Occasionally if a show does have some critical acclaim, a network will keep it around a little longer despite low ratings to boost their cred (The Practice–when it was good in its early seasons–or Alias were examples). And ABC is in desperate need of some artistic credibility right now. I think the bigger picture I was trying to get through is that with Pushing Daisies gone, ABC is almost nothing but BAD TV–with the possible exception of Lost. And many of ABC's shows that do draw in big ratings (Dancing with the Stars) may be nearing the tipping point of wearing out their welcome (and Lost which draws decent ratings and is a critical darling will be ending soon). So unless ABC infuses their programming with some fresh, original, innovative shows that they can sell the masses on, the network will be in some big trouble in the upcoming years.

@davidfrank: You're right about ABC being in trouble soon. Many of their current hit shows will be ending in or around 2011: Lost, Desperate Housewives, and I bet Grey's will end that year as well as all of the actors' contracts will be up that year. So for now they're good, but you are certainly right: ABC needs to establish some great shows before 2011 or they're going to be in the same boat that NBC is in this year.

My congratulations go out to ABC for finally making their network “utterly worthless.” I am done with ABC. Period. Every time I start watching a show on that network it gets canceled (and story is never resolved). First they canceled Daybreak, than Big Shots now Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone! What will be next — LOST? Because of ABC’s track record on canceling shows, I am now no longer watching Life On Mars since I feel it will be canceled shortly too. I refuse to invest what little free TV time I have in a network that randomly cancels shows mid-season without a single care to the millions of viewers who supported the shows each week. Common, it’s the holidays, “the time for giving,” so at least wrap-up the story for the viewers! Pushing Daisies was truly one of the most original shows to grace TV in the last few years. I’ve heard the ratings were low, but that doesn’t track those who — A. Watch the show online – or – B. Those who don't watch the show LIVE and DVR or Tivo the show to watch later. I happen to fall into both of these categories. Shame on ABC. Guess they better go back to making the same unoriginal shows you can watch anywhere else.

it dosent help with the video player that abc has is all choppy and barely works

If Firefly's fan barrage teaches us anything, even a smaller group of very vocal viewers will be listened to. Head over to the Pushing Daisies board on IMDB.com where they have the contact info necessary to voice your frustration directly with ABC over this decision.

Shows can come back from cancellation.

Yes,yes,yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I defenetly think pushing daisies was visually brilliant! It also had this charm many other shows dont have. If only i could get an explanation on why people dont like the show? Its got mystery,comedy, and even romance. If there should be a ABC show to be cancelled it should be Private Practice(ew). But Pushing Daisies is not "the only good show on ABC" i honestly enjoy Ugly Betty, and Lost equally to Pushing Daisies and Extereme Makeover Home Edition and Dancing with the Stars are just a notch below it. But overall Pushing Daisies under no circumstances should be deleted.

I enjoyed Daisies but there is no way the creative would have been sustainable much longer. Ultimately it's just a formula show with really good production design. Similar to Boston Legal, mentioned above, witty writing and strong acting can only last so long. Even House's rating are down this season.

For me the real question isn't why ABC canceled PD, but how can millions of viewers keep going back to the CSIs without getting bored?

That said, I'd love to see a Pushing Daisies movie.

i actually never liked this show. i tried to. but i couldnt. it looks amazing, but thats about all i got from it

I have to agree with all the Lee Pace lovers. I think he's absolutely brilliant. I love him in The Fall and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. He's got great potential (cue Oscar music here) and can't wait to see him in other movies. As far as the other shows–I am soooo glad that someone else thinks Desperate Housewives is crap. Everyone I talk to thinks it's great, and I think it's just shallow and perverse.

I don't think it's entirely fair for those lumping "Ugly Betty" in with all of the other ABC crap. In fact, it was the survival of something as imaginative and quirky as "Ugly Betty" that gave me hope that perhaps the tides were turning and "Pushing Daisies" might stand a chance. I think the biggest obstacle "Pushing Daisies" faced is it refused to incorporate any pop culture whatsoever. While this timeless quality is what endeared the show to many of us fans, it also made the show completely inaccessible to the uninitiated. Witty shows like 30 Rock and Ugly Betty manage to succeed because they pander just enough to the general public to make them feel in on the joke, whereas Pushing Daisies exists perhaps a bit too firmly in its own universe to attract much of a following.

And while ABC to its credit has been promoting the hell out of the show, it puzzled me as to why none of the ads never highlighted the guest stars. For me that is one of the great joys of the show–seeing people like Paul Reubens, Molly Shannon, and David Arquette completely playing against type. If these appearances were heavily promoted in the ads, I think the show would draw a lot more viewers. NBC has become very adept at this strategy in promoting appearances of Oprah and Steve Martin and others on "30 Rock." Actually come to think of it, ABC does this well with "Ugly Betty." So maybe ABC really had it in for "Pushing Daisies" after all.

What the F@*%! I can't believe you say Boston Legal is junk! It has one emmys and and is smarter than that bucket of crap you call 'Pushing Daises". Its funny how my show is still on and your's is not. so you really don't need to be reviewing any shows because you don't know what you are talking about.

I agree with some of the things you said..ABC programming was so unique a couple years ago with Pushing Daisies and Ugly Betty and it feels like they're giving up on both. I really hope Ugly Betty isnt cancelled.
I dont agree with you calling Betty "garbage". It deserves a lot more credit than it gets already.

@Ian:

Hear hear… BL is not garbage but neither is Pushing Daisies.

BL may not be the same as it was in the beginning… but in it's Genesis it was a spin off of the Practice.. it has grown to much more than that. Silly.. but then that's the fun otherwise it would be Law and Order.

PD wasn't given a chance.

To the Powers that Be at ABC – You should be ashamed of yourselves… I say to you, start dumping some of that mind numbing "reality tv" drivel otherwise… I'll watch the remaining episodes of BL and then you've lost another viewer.

@anna: Ugly Betty was interesting at first, but I think the novelty has worn off. However, I was probably too harsh in lumping it in with the garbage. I'll at least give it credit for being weird. That's never a bad thing in my book.

@Adam:

are you kidding me…we're going to have to put up with those loud and annoying desperate bitches till 2011…but they're canceling Pushing Daisies…NICE JOB ABC…really nice. LOST I can deal with and even that's getting old. It almost feels as though I'm watching the same episode every week. Ugly Betty I never got into…especially because its a cross over of a spanish soap opera that ran for months on telemundo or univision, which was cute but too be came old after several months.

After seeing in the last few years all the show's ABC has canceled and the crap that they let stay one air…I'm done with ABC. I will not watch anther new show on there network again.They have people get into these show and then they cancel them…they could at least finish off the story line in a few episodes. ABC STOP ENDING ON CLIFFHANGERS!!!! I'm so sad PD is going off air.It was the one show my family really looked forward to seeing every week. I liked Dead like me but PD was truly brilliant!
I hope we get a movie out of I would by it.

"Pushing Daisies" was my favorite show, or rather, it still is. I was so upset to hear it was canceled, I cried. Yes, I cried. This is the only show I watch weekly and plan my life around… other than "The Office". But, really ABC?! You just fucked yourselves. Your channel sucks! This was the only show worth watching and you just killed it.

So, as they finish the season, I will remain hooked.

But for now:

Goodbye, Ned. I will miss your adorable face and quirky smile.

Goodbye, Chuck. I will miss your "stick to it" attitude and the love you shared with Ned.

Goodbye, Olive. I will miss your silly remarks and google-eyes generally directed at Ned.

Goodbye, Emerson. I will miss you. I don't know what it is about you, but you're amazing.

Goodbye, Vivian and Lilly. I will miss the sisterly bond between that is oh so similar to one I have with a certain sister of mine.

Goodbye, Digby. I will miss you because you are the most amazing dog ever.

GOODBYE, PUSHING DAISIES!! You will be greatly missed.

I love you for writing this. Pushing Daisieis was the only show with charm left on that stupid network. What other show has production design and makeup design that amazing? No other show takes the time to be visually stunning like PD did. It's a pity for film students like me who actually appreciate the beauty of the medium, but apparently artistic richness takes a back seat to ratings.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about the sadness of the demise of Pushing Daisies. It's a serious miscalculation on the part of said ABC suit-bots. I'm glad to hear that Fuller isn't just giving up, though. I'll be getting the comic books, you bet!

I will disagree on one point though, and that is I feel you shouldn't lump Ugly Betty in with the rest of the garbage on ABC. Okay, it's not as edgy possibly as it could be, but it has some great acting and it's not always completely predictable. If on the other hand, you are bored to tears by fashion and by the struggles of young Latina women trying to make it out there in the cruel world, I can see why you might not like it much. But please allow that it is a good show of its ilk. It's certainly way better than either Grey's Anatomy or that primetime soap Dirty Sexy Money.

Also on a related topic, I am encouraging everyone to watch the new series Leverage on TNT. It is funny and well-acted and the casts are full of great character actors, etc. Plus it has Timothy Hutton doing angsty insurance adjuster-turned-Robin Hood figure. The banter is good, and oh, yeah, it has the wondrous Gina Bellman, late of Coupling UK, doing the Cinnamon Carter thing from the old Mission Impossible TV series. Definitely, a must see!!

@David Frank: Okay, fair enough, Ugly Betty is a bit weird, but again that's what I like about it. It's not predictable at the points where you expect it to be.

im sorry but a comic book will just NOT do it for me..MOVIE please please please!!!!

Loved this show on my network and then bought the DVD box set and watched the entire first season. It's not everyone's cup of tea, agreed, but it is undoubtedly good story telling and something fantastic and quirky. Why can't we have something like this on air? Must we have chick flick Tv like Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls, Lipstick Jungle and all that humbug? Surely ABC must reconsider. And yes, it's true Boston Legal has lost its charm and quirkiness. It seems no one wants the wonderful world's like Picket Fences, Ally McBeal and other such mad and wonderful shows. Pity.