Comic-Con 'Pushing Daisies': More singing, family issues and (almost) touching

Comic-Con's Pushing Daisies panel couldn't be any more awesome if it were scripted. Not only is the rapt crowd treated to Kristin Chenoweth belting out a  heartfelt rendition of "Over the Rainbow," but creator Bryan Fuller and his very attractive cast reveal a veritable pieful of goodies we'll be seeing this upcoming season.

Tasty spoilers ahead.

First up is a two-minute tease of scenes coming up this season that looks just as colorful, whimsical and full of macabre humor as the first season. Some quick impressions: a day at the circus, a human cannonball, a dead mime, the new pig character Pigby, Kristin Chenoweth undercover as a nun (and doing a Sound of Music homage), Chuck drama, secret passages, Missi Pyle as Betty Bee, and a swarm of bees flying out of a dead girl's mouth.

In the second season, Fuller promises trips to the nunnery, bee factory, circus and something he calls a "dim sum world." He also emphasizes the ensemble this time aroun d, so the show will delve into the childhoods of Ned, Chuck, Emerson and even Olive.

Fuller's overview of major themes and developments this season:

"We're going to be visiting a nunnery where there will be a new character introduced to the show called Pigby, who we will be adding to our cast. And we have David Arquette joining our cast in a recurring role as a guy named Randy Man. He is going to be Ned's best friend. We're going to see a sort of character of what Ned would be if didn't have a magic ability. We're going to be dealing with Ned's father issues in some fun ways, and some Chuck father issues. And we're going to be introducing a character named Dwight Dixon around Episode Five that has a shared history with both Chuck's father and Ned's father and the aunts. So we'll be able to fold them into the omelet of the Pushing Daisies storytelling world more efficiently than we did last year. We're going to meet Emerson Cod's mother. We're going to be dealing with a lot of family issues in Season Two. And if you remember an episode last year called 'Girth,' it opened with Ned realizing that he has two half-brothers out there in the world. We're going to see them as adult characters coming in and traumatizing him with father issues."

Whew!

As if that isn't enough, we see Ned struggling to win back Chuck after she moves out and moves in with Olive, which naturally results in a catfight. As far as Ned and Chuck's romance goes, there will be more opportunites to see physical, albeit prophylactic, affection between them thanks to some creativity.

"We're working on all sorts of contraptions on this show," says Fuller. "One is we get to see some affection with gloves, and the Digby petting device isn't just for Digby. We're working out some ways for them to be very affectionate, including a plastic divider that separates their beds so they can spoon."

A worried fan asks if there's hope for a resolution to their sticky romance, to which Fuller responds, "I think you would get a resolution, but in a way that would open us to do features."

There may also be some love for Emerson Cod, although more in the familial, not romantic sense. An unnamed Broadway actress will play Emerson's mother in the fourth episode, and we learn more about Emerson's estranged daughter.

"We have a great arc on that storyline," says Fuller. "One of the things about watching the first episode when you watch on October 1st, if you look closely at that episode, it's kind of a road map for the entire season. So when you're done with the entire season, you can look back on that episode and see all the little clues setting things up. One of the things we do in that episode is talk about how Emerson Cod wants to publish a pop-up book called Little Gumshoe. It's basically a how-to guide for his daughter to find him."

The panel also reveals the following:

- Chenoweth as Olive sings in the first episode back, and some celebrity friends of the actress will appear on the show, although their identities are still under wraps.
- Fuller would love to have a whole musical episode of the show since his cast, even the non-theater ones, are talented singers.
- The aunts finally leave their home and visit Ned at the Pie Hole. Lily later finds herself in the nunnery with Olive and Pigby.
- Wonderfalls mom Diana Scarwid will have a recurring role in the first three episodes.
- Fuller would like to see Marianne Marie Beattle also make an appearance as her Wonderfalls character or bring in other crossovers like Jaye Tyler.
- When Friel laments that she'd like Chuck to have more funny lines, Chenoweth comments, "She's the heart of the show though ... better than being the appendix."
- Fuller is a fan of They Might Be Giants in the '80s, and was thrilled to use the song "Birdhouse in Your Soul" in "Daisified" form. He's open to using other songs by them, but makes not promises.
- Joining the staff are Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts as writer/producers and Buffy writer Doug Petrie.
- Raul Esparza has been cast in David Mamet's Speed the Plow, so he currently is not available to reprise his role as Alfredo Aldarisio

For more Comic-Con coverage, check out Zap2it's Misfits of Sci Fi blog, Zap2it's Comic-Con '08 photogallery and Zap2it's Live Twitter.

Looking forward to the show returning? Who's your favorite character? Are you also a Dead Like Me or Wonderfalls fan?

Comments

Having Caroline Dhavernas on as Jaye Tyler would be too weird since Lee Pace played her brother. I'd love Caroline to guest, but not as Jaye. And yeah for Diana Scarwid. She's awesome!

Dee | Jul 29, 2008 7:06:56 PM | #

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