Published Sep 9, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT
Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.
A two-part fantasy TV masterpiece is a perfect combination of Tim Burton’s style and Sherlock, and is a must-watch for fans of mystery, fantasy, and a touch of whimsy. A variety of fantasy shows can be found among the best TV shows of all time, some of them key to shaping the genre into what it is now. One of the best things about the fantasy genre, especially on TV, is the creative liberty it allows, making way for different types of fantasy shows.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender are some of the best fantasy TV shows of all time, giving a good idea of the range of the genre – but as it happens with other genres, many great fantasy shows have been overshadowed by the biggest hits. One of them is Pushing Daisies, a unique blend of fantasy, comedy, whimsy, and mystery created by Bryan Fuller and which premiered on ABC in 2007.
Pushing Daisies has a bright, whimsical, and colorful visual design reminiscent of Tim Burton’s works, most notably Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In terms of tone and story, Pushing Daisies takes a lot from Sherlock, with each episode covering a different mystery. Pushing Daisies is one of the best and unfortunately forgotten gems of the 2000s, and it deserved more than just two seasons.
Pushing Daisies Is Both An Underrated Fantasy & Detective TV Show
Pushing Daisies introduces viewers to Ned (Lee Pace), a pie-maker with a rare but exceptional skill: he can bring dead things back to life with his touch. However, this gift comes with some limitations, as if he revives something or someone for more than one minute, a similar “life value” in the vicinity dies to keep balance. If Ned touches the revived being or thing a second time, they die for good.
Ned has his own restaurant called The Pie Hole, but he has a side gig completely different from making delicious pies. Ned works alongside private investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride), who accidentally discovered Ned’s powers, so they made a deal: Ned brings murder victims back to life for less than a minute to get as much information about their deaths as possible, they solve the case, and they split the reward money. However, Ned’s life takes a turn when his childhood crush, Chuck (Anna Friel), is killed and he revives her, but he can’t bring himself to touch her again.
Pushing Daisies is unlike any other detective show thanks to its fantasy elements in Ned’s powers, its colorful, sometimes feverish aesthetic, quirky comedy and characters, and cases that are not exactly realistic but are quite engaging. Pushing Daisies is described as a “forensic fairy tale”, and it’s one of the most creative fantasy shows of the 2000s, but its early cancelation, mostly caused by the 2007-2008 Hollywood writers’ strike, led to it being forgotten.
Will Pushing Daisies Season 3 Ever Happen?
The writers’ strike, a drop in ratings, and high production costs ultimately led to the cancellation of Pushing Daisies after just two seasons, despite the show’s great critical reception. Unfortunately, unlike other prematurely cancelled shows, Pushing Daisies has struggled to continue in other media, beginning with plans for a comic book series serving as a third season that, ultimately, never happened due to losing its publisher.
Fuller later shared his interest in continuing Pushing Daisies as a miniseries or a crowdfunded movie, but to this day, these plans haven’t materialized. The closest Pushing Daisies has gotten to a return was in 2025, when Fuller confirmed there are plans for a third season, with a pitch ready and the cast interested in returning, but at the time of writing, there haven’t been any updates on a potential third season.
With the reboots and revivals trend still going strong, especially on TV, it’s a great time for a Pushing Daisies return to finally happen, but there’s a lot to solve behind-the-scenes so that a new season or a movie can materialize. Until then, Pushing Daisies will remain one of the best and most underrated fantasy and detective shows of the 2000s.
Release Date 2007 - 2009-00-00
Directors Bryan Fuller
Writers Bryan Fuller
English (US) ·