MovieChat Forums > Pushing Daisies (2007) Discussion > How Is This Axed Show So Popular??

How Is This Axed Show So Popular??

posted 14 years ago by AussieEighties
46 replies | jump to latest

I've seen season 1, and am watching season 2 right now.

its one of the most boring shows I've seen for a while, IMDB lists in the genre section that its a Comedy, I have not laughed once and I think I've got a pretty good sense of humor but this show is NOT funny!!! the concept for the show was good, reminds me of Dead Like Me (which is a much better show) but it just gets too boring too easily. the characters aren't likeable, they are often annoying like the blonde chick and the others are just meh, nothing special. I heard so much buzz about this I thought to check it out, but see no good qualities in this show. like dead like me, it repeats itself but at least that show is more entertaining. when I watched the first ep, I had no idea it was set out like a fairy tale which annoys me cause it kinda looks like they are aiming it at kids or something even though it deals with death. the narrator is damn annoying, he seems to explain things to the viewer that we can figure out for ourselves, "Ned, walks in the room and sits down" - I made that up but its a lot like that and sometimes I just go "duh"

Im real glad it got axed!! is there anyone out there who hates it too?
cause I was real surprised that there was so many positive posts here.

[–] JupieSmurf 14 years ago

"Im real glad it got axed!! is there anyone out there who hates it too?"

Just because YOU hated it doesn't mean that it should have been axed. I can hate shows that you love but not be glad about them being canceled. I am sick of people like you who are happy about shows they hate being canceled. If you don't like something, DON'T WATCH IT! No reason to come on this board and gloat about it being canceled. What a jerky thing to do.

~*~*~*~*~
I figured out a way to make money while I'm working! -Gob Bluth-
~*~*~*~*~

[–] AussieEighties 14 years ago

its a very Jerky and American thing for you to think you can tell me what to do!

if I feel the need to rant and complain, its my god damn right to do so as a human being! forums and threads aren't just meant for 'I LOVE THIS SHOW/MOVIE' threads, If someone like me hates it then thats my business and not you or anyone can change that.

[–] drwordsmith 14 years ago

Wow. I'd guess you're, what, a 5 your old with a reply like that ? Grow up.

Sure it's your RIGHT AS A HUMAN BEING to moan if you want. But you can't expect to come to boards like this where people adore the show and agree with you.

It's an amazing show and quite honestly you're wrong for disliking it, but whatever, human rights and all.

p.s. Just because it's listed as a "comedy" doesn't mean you have to laugh at every line in the program, here's some thinking for you to do: poetry doesn't HAVE to rhyme.

http://www.petitiononline.com/bbmm/petition.html Less than Perfect DVD petition

[–] CorumJI 12 years ago

>>> its a very Jerky and American thing for you to think you can tell me what to do!

It's a very trollish and a$$holish thing to
a) Claim that it's "American" to tell you what to do.
b) Not grasp that "I'm glad it got axed" is a mean-spirited and obnoxiously trollish statement designed, most likely intentionally, to tick people off.

So, if you aren't deliberately trolling, then you should file that away for future reference -- while you are free to like or dislike what you want, telling people that you're glad something THEY like is dead and gone is a particularly obnoxious thing to say, and marks you as either a clueless dweeb at best and a disgusting troll as likely.

[–] SophomoreSlump 14 years ago

Wow, there are actually people who don't like PD. Sad, really. I don't know what's going on in your head. And none of the characters are likeable? You must have some serious problem.

TEAM ALICE
Quota: 30 sec!

[–] scoobsash 14 years ago

It got axed because of the Writer's Guild strike a few years ago. No more writers = No more show. They didn't have the best funding since they were only in the middle of their second season, so the show had to go. Popularity and likability wasn't an issue.

Is it also your right as a human being to be an ignorant *beep*?

[–] thomas998 13 years ago

And that dear friends is just another way that unions/guilds are evil.

Save America, shoot a union member.

[–] kassha-1 13 years ago

I didn't like the show at first when I saw it either. But that's when I used to watch Psyched.

This is Mike. He saves ghettos.

[–] Eric_The_Merciful 14 years ago

It's my favorite show if all time so Im not even gonna try to argue with you. and as for the person who said it was axed because of the strike you couldnt be more wrong. The show premiered during the writers strike which is why it had a short season. But it had the highest rated premiere of any new show that season so it was decided to give it a second season but not until the next fall. When it came back very few people knew it was back so it was cancelled after airing 10 episodes of season 2. then in july of that year the final 3 episodes were finally aired in the united states but to barely a million viewers. It was an amazing show but people just didnt get it

"All we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us"

[–] CorumJI 12 years ago

Eric, its biggest flaw is that it's too intelligent for the average audience member. Most of its whimsy and charm would go right over their heads.

[–] mollydtt 14 years ago

I guess I just don't go around posting how much I hate shows that were cancelled.
I could really say a bunch about most of the stuff that ends up on tv these days, but I just couldn't spend that much time complaining on each and every bulletin board.
Boy, are there some lame shows out there, and some of them haven't even been cancelled yet.

Do you visit every bulletin board to complain?

[–] robertwaynemoore 14 years ago

It is clearly over your head.

I just looked over the movies you have posted about and enjoyed and it is pretty clear that your interests are on the extremely elementary level. It is obvious that most things are going to challenge you too much.

So don't bother with it. Go watch SAW instead. It is more on your level.

[–] Zippy B 14 years ago

Either you love the show or it makes no sense to you. As ABC is a bunch of pointless pinheads they completely failed to recognize a total classic when they had one. It probably needed to end before 5 years (it likely would have started to get tired and you do not want that) but they needed to let it progress more naturally than it did. It was nice that they gave it a 2 minute wrap up at the end, but it would have been nicer to do that over a season.

It was the most refreshing and original thing to turn up on TV in quite some time, giving an almost theatrical experience on the small screen, and it looks incredible in HD.

Oh well.

TV Execs, what can you do.

[–] Eric_The_Merciful 14 years ago

once again do not blame ABC, they did what they could. Nobody watched it and thats not their fault

"All we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us"

[–] Zippy B 14 years ago

Some cult hits take a while to find their audiences, and live on forever in syndication. They do not have enough for a decent syndication run.

[–] JessaCita 14 years ago

You know, I've been thinking about this. Someone stated in another thread (perhaps you?) that shows typically need 100 episodes before being considered for syndication so the station(s) can play 5 episodes/week for 20 weeks before repeating. That makes a lot of sense, but I think that there's SOME station out there that might want to pick up "Pushing Daisies" - maybe even play it just once or twice a week. I remember that "My So-Called Life" was canceled by ABC after one season (I think just 19 episodes), but MTV replayed it for awhile a couple years later. In fact, MTV is where I fell in love with that show because by the time they replayed it, it was much more relevant to me whereas during its original run, I was just a bit too young & it wasn't appealing to me.

I'm not sure what station would be interested in "PD" reruns (perhaps SyFy??), but I bet it'd be pretty successful if they advertised it properly. It's the most charming show!

[–] ksmal87 14 years ago

perhaps we shouldn't blame ABC... but honestly. It's not as simple as saying "oh well nobody watched it"... The show was an obvious victim of the writer's strike.

Only made it through 9 episodes of a 22 episode first season (to my knowledge) and then had to go through a very long hiatus... Most shows can't maintain great retention after a super long 10-11 month haitus...especially not a show that was only 9 episodes long in its first season as result of the strike... (9 episodes that I remember they stretched out a bit..).

The show was fantastic...Emmy nods left and right... it just had bad luck... plain and simple... I don't believe that even a show with numbers like Grey's could have survived similar circumstances...

[–] gimmieacoookie 14 years ago

It's not the show's fault it got cancelled. The Writer's Strike that year just messed everything up. There was too long of a gap between the first and second seasons. People forgot about it. That doesn't mean it was a bad show that people hated. It was an excellent show that I believe will come to be known as a classic over time. How many shows that premiered that year are sucessful? The only one I can think of is 'The Big Bang Theory'. To a lesser extent, 'Chuck'. It still has to fight for renewal every season, despite the fact that it's pretty popular.

Why, I'm an expert on padded cells.

[–] CorumJI 12 years ago

I was editor for a number of on-the-bubble TV shows on a TV-oriented website a couple years back, and one thing I did was to post up asking for responses as to "if you aren't watching the show, then why aren't you watching it?"

I didn't get a LOT of responses (after all, if you aren't watching a show, you're not that likely to go to a discussion forum about it) but the unfortunate responses I did get were most of the form that I can only describe as "I'm too damned lazy".

For the most part, the usual complaint was that the show, and its characters, could not be categorized inside of 30 minutes, and that they could not see where the show was going (yes, how the hell Lost survived is a mystery). That this makes for boring, repetitious TV shows did not seem to matter -- they watched TV to turn their brains off, not to engage them in thinking more and better.

So, when the nets cancel something great after only a couple episodes, you should realize, they actually have data to support doing it -- for every Cheers there's two dozen other shows that could not capture an audience if people were forced into the viewing area at gunpoint.

[–] jadkins-4 14 years ago

I think this show looks incredible in any format. The art direction and color choices were just beautiful. A few times (such as in the Betty's Bees episode), I actually found myself getting more caught up in thinking about the backgrounds and surroundings than the actual story.

[–] mdjanssen 14 years ago

The art direction and color choices were just beautiful. A few times (such as in the Betty's Bees episode), I actually found myself getting more caught up in thinking about the backgrounds and surroundings than the actual story.

Completely agree! The M.I.L.F. truck the Norwegians drove made me laugh out loud, too.

You get what everyone else gets. You get a lifetime.

[–] MsCranky2003 14 years ago

I think this show looks incredible in any format. The art direction and color choices were just beautiful. A few times (such as in the Betty's Bees episode), I actually found myself getting more caught up in thinking about the backgrounds and surroundings than the actual story.

Didn't help when at times, the story simply wasn't compelling enough, and was overwhelmed by the show's color choices and set design.

[–] ryanmichaelwheeler 14 years ago

It really is a great show. I thought the fantasy element of it was a little strange at first, but it grows on you over time. You also have to understand that the narrator is supposed to be stating the obvious. Most of the time it is the way that he states it that makes it funny. You just have to have a more broad sense of humor to get it I guess. I watched both seasons recently with my girlfriend and we both fell in love with it. It's touching, hilarious and very well written. Too bad it is another one of those blink-and-you-miss-it shows. A wonderful show.