PUSHING DAISIES Narration: Yay or Nay?
October 22, 2007 by Kath Skerry
My love for PUSHING DAISIES knows no bounds, but I know others haven’t taken to this show as I have. As a fan I’m always interested in hearing from those who don’t share my opinions. Will they bring to light something I wasn’t considering? Can I offer up a counter opinion that will convince them to give the show another chance?
In the case of PUSHING DAISIES, one of the criticisms I hear most relates to the role of the Narrator, brilliantly created by Jim Dale. Unlike other shows that have main characters providing voice over exposition, in PUSHING DAISIES the narrator serves as an essential character. The narration is such an important part of the show that without it I would feel like something was missing. But is the narration adding to the show’s brilliance or detracting from it?
ThePieMaker.com takes a look at the issue and asks readers to weigh in with their opinion.
Here’s an excerpt…
The topic of debate is the NARRATION and whether it adds or detracts from the brilliance of the show. I bring it up because Chuck (Kath..that’s me) and I realized that we’ve had this discussion with numerous people over the past three weeks who are either in love with or turned off by the narration.
I’m typically a person that doesn’t want much narration with my narrative. It’s often used for exposition or to cover something that the actor or the writer couldn’t achieve on their own within any given scene. It’s often a sign of laziness or more commonly to dumb it down for the masses.
Most of the time...
(continue reading: Pushing Daisies Debate: Jim Dale’s Narration).
Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments over at ThePieMaker.com
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I enjoy the narration but as the series winds on I could use a lot less of it. Early on it’s been a clever gimmick to retell a lot of mythology and it 100% beats the previously on type stuff that other shows give us… but as we settle in I feel like a lot of it starts to become redundant. I’m not sure I need to hear that Ned can bring things back to life via narration every week… no matter how clever the dialog is I’ve heard it and it feels more like a way to let new viewers tune in and not feel left out.
Interesting debate GMMR, or should I call you “Chuck”. I just read your comments over at The Pie Maker and I think you’re right on.
I’m not going to comment here because I already commented over there.
Thanks for pushing Pushing Daisies!
I love the narration and thinks that it helps set the tone of the show: quirky and offbeat! I would be sad to have it go away.
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I like the narraration but I’m getting tired of the “Ned, when he was exactly __ years, __ months, __days, __ hours, and __ minutes old…” It was alright in the first episode, but after that, no.
I also love the narration in Pushing Daisies. I think it sets the tome very nicely. Maybe it’s just me but I feel like there was less of it this past episode…so maybe there’s a balance in there somewhere.
I think the narration adds to the overall feel of the show. He adds some magic to it (maybe its just because i associate him with the Harry Potter books). I think without it the show just wouldn’t be the same.
I enjoy the narration. I think it adds even more to the sort of fantasy quality of the show. And I think that this narration, like the narration done on Arrested Development, is an almost essential part of the show, but in a different way than on AD. And I mean seriously, who doesn’t love his amazing British accent!
I think that the narration is required in order to hold up the fairy tale conceit. Without it, it would be a very odd guy, with an very odd job, doing very odd things with odd people and I think some of the necessary whimsy would be lost. Without the narration I think it could take a very dark turn because at least with Jim Dale at the helm, we know what to look out for.
If you read the article, it’s not really about whether or not to keep the narration but more about the appropriate amount.
This show is like a fairy-tale and I think the narration really fits well. I don’t think it overpowers or slows the pace.
The narration is fine, but I have had it with the giving the age of someone down to the second. It got old after the second time they did it in the “Pie-lette.” Other than that, narrate away!
I may join the debate over at the Pie Maker, but I thought I’d leave two cents here, too. I think the narration will find its own level. I haven’t reached the Office-writers-level-of-trust yet, but Pushing Daisies is so intelligently written that I trust when they think they have their audience set, they will stop mentioning the premise so much. This is the issue with your ‘high concept’ TV shows – to gain the sort of audience you need to stay on the air, you have to keep explaining the concept.
So, in the name of keeping the show ON THE AIR (are you listening, network suits?), I am willing to suck it up and listen to some unnecessary (to me) narration to get some more people on the piewagon.
I like it. I think it is different and makes the show interesting. It reminds me of Dr. Seuss =)
I don’t like it. The problem for me is that it’s not someone in the story doing the narration. I didn’t mind Veronica Mars, or Meredith Grey or Mick St. John giving me narration because it is personal. The narration – although brilliantly done – unfortunately serves to remove me from the characters.
I also dislike the childhood scenes and as much as I admire the innovation in this show, I find myself distanced from the characters and uninvested in the show.
For myself the narration and the overall show reminds of an adult version of a Dr. Seuss book. From the first time I have watched it that keeps coming back into my head.
Im a yay on the narration. It is retelling the story but he adds little points of interest (like Digby enjoying salt) that can’t be explained anywhere else. plus, it adds a whole fairytale layer to it.
Plus, I love the childhood scenes, which adds layers to the characters as well.
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