'Pushing Daisies'

By Kimberly Nordyke

Fans of ABC's "Pushing Daisies" can thank "Dead Like Me" for inspiring the freshman drama about a piemaker who can bring dead people back to live by touching them.

Bryan Fuller, creator/executive producer of both shows, said he got the inspiration for "Daisies" when he was working on "Dead," which ran on Showtime for two seasons, from 2003-04.

" 'Dead Like Me' was about a girl who died and became the grim reaper and took lives," Fuller told the crowd at the Cinerama Dome on Saturday night. "It was only natural to consider the inverse of that, where a guy who touches lives can bring them back."

That guy is played by Lee Pace, who previously worked on another Fuller (co-)creation, Fox's short-lived "Wonderfalls." Pace said he hadn't really been looking to work in television again when the "Daisies" script came along.

"I read it ... and I couldn't stop thinking about it," he said. "I thought it was a great character and would be a blessing to play him. ... (But) it's a lot of work to do a television show, and when you sign on (it could be) for a long time."

Pace's admission about not wanting to do TV inspired his co-star Chi McBride (Emerson Cod) -- who is quite the comedian and kept the audience laughing -- to launch a running joke throughout the night whereby he noted at some point or other that practically no one working on "Daisies" had been looking to do television before the show came along. (Lee Pace, left, and Anna Friel. Photo courtesy of Kevin Parry)

Executive producer Dan Jinks revealed that Pace was the only actor who tested for the role of Ned, and "he hit it out of the ballpark." On the other hand, 30-40 actors auditioned for McBride's role, and "when he started telling us all his (funny) stories, we knew there was no one else to play the role," Jinks said.

Among the stories McBride regaled producers with during his audition was the disclosure of "who did it" in his previous series, ABC's short-lived "The Nine," which traced the aftermath of the hostages in a bank robbery.

"It was me!" he said.

Co-star Anna Friel (Chuck) likely disarmed some in the audience when she spoke in her native British accent. She admitted that nailing an American accent was crucial to landing the role -- "or it would be back to Blighty." She also admitted that she often found it challenging not to accidentally touch Pace during filming.

Broadway veteran Kristin Chenoweth (Olive Snook), meanwhile, signed on for her role only after making the difficult decision to bow out of Mel Brooks' Broadway production of "Young Frankenstein," which opened last year.  

But she enjoys her "Daisies" role so much that "it definitely feels like I made the right decision." In fact, Chenoweth has even gotten to sing on the series, including a scene where she belted "Hopelessly Devoted to You." (She's also a trooper, filming the episode in which it was revealed that Olive used to be a professional horse jockey while nursing a broken rib.)

Ditto for fellow co-star and Broadway vet Ellen Greene (Vivian Charles), who also asked if she could sing on the show, and was told by producers she could have her moment during sweeps. They kept their word, and she sang "Morning Has Broken" in an episode that aired in November.

Co-executive producer Peter Ocko noted that, while the show might be unrealistic as far as someone being able to bring dead people back to life with just a touch, "with this cast, they are so good that they make everything seem real, it's like, 'Let's tell these stories, we can go anywhere.'" (Chi McBride, left, Kristin Chenoweth and Ellen Greene. Photo courtesy of Kevin Parry)

(Another series regular, Swoosie Kurtz was not in attendance because she was with her mother, who is dealing with health issues. Executive producer Barry Sonnenfeld and series narrator Jim Dale also couldn't make it. Although the kids who play young Ned (Field Cate) and young Chuck (Sammy Hanratty) were in the audience.)

The producers also noted that the writers' strike -- which kept "Daisies" to an abbreviated nine-episode first season -- can be perceived as somewhat of a blessing in disguise.

"We got to look back over the first season to see what worked and what didn't work," Fuller said. "The arc was more of a soft romance, and we want to do something harder, a more aggressive style of storytelling, in the second season."

Executive producer Bruce Cohen agreed.

"When ABC called and told us they weren't going to try to rush us back on the air, but take some time to regroup, start over, start fresh, I immediately knew that it was a really good decision," he said.

As for any hints about Season 2, Fuller offered up a couple: Chuck will "definitely" find out who her real mother was, and story lines also will explore Emerson's relationship with his daughter. Fuller also hopes to address the issue of whether Ned eats meat -- "Yes, he is a vegetarian because whatever he ate would crawl right back out" after he touched it and it came to life -- and teased that Chuck might realize that being brought back to life has other consequences in that she, like Ned's dog, Digby, who also was brought back to life and must be about 22 years old at this point in the show, might not age.

As for the decision to make Ned a piemaker, Fuller said: "I was just putting as many things that would make me happy as I could in the pilot: dogs, bees, honey and pies. I shoehorned them all in."

Fuller also noted that a "Daisies" DVD will be released in September, and a soundtrack release also is being considered at some point down the road.