You know how you can usually tell if a TV show is going to be canceled? If it's awesome. There are scores of examples of great, interesting, exciting new shows that make it a scant couple seasons at best when they get axed. Need we remind you all of our favorite new show of 2007, Journeyman? It was intelligent, thought-provoking, and deep - dense without being confusing. It had a great look and style, and it was naturally canned before it found its audience while heaps of garbage got a pass for a second season. Does anybody miss Bionic Woman now that it's gone? Imagine if Journeyman had gotten a second go-around to flesh itself out and see where it could go.

So we now come to Pushing Daisies, one of our very favorite TV shows of all time. It was quirky and cute, clever and quick, smart and stylish, hilarious and heartfelt, and it revolved around one of the more interesting concepts network television has ever tried - a man who can bring the dead back to life, but only for 60 seconds (if he lets them live longer than 60 seconds, somebody else has to die to keep the world in balance). It was like Amelie meets Tim Burton ('Big Fish/Edward Scissorhands' Tim Burton, not 'Sleepy Hollow/Sweeney Todd' Tim Burton). Full of lush, vibrant colors, quirky characters, and lightning-fast dialogue that was just so fun to listen to.

The acting was charming as it could be, and we loved the whole cast - including the impossibly adorable Kristen Chenoweth as Olive and (one of our favorites) Chi McBride as Emerson Cod the Private Investigator. We love, love, loved this show. And now it's gone. Our tribute:


The core Pushing Daisies cast by Adam & Comfort

Perhaps the worst thing we can do to a show is to like it. Our history is dotted with shows we really liked that wound up canceled or ruined in some way. There remains some hope - the creator of Daisies is talking about continuing and finishing the story as a comic book and possibly a movie. Both of which would be welcome, as the last season of the show is finishing with a cliffhanger episode.

So anyway, if you have never seen Pushing Daisies, the first season is available to rent or own on DVD and we can't recommend it highly enough. We love pretty much everything about it, and it's incredibly rare that a show like that comes around. And who knows - if reception to the DVD is strong enough, it can only help the show's chances in finding new life in another medium. Oh, and it would make a great gift for a loved one, since there's something about gift-giving around this time of year. Hmmm...

We'll maybe pop in next week to see how everyone's Christmas is going. If we don't post before then-- Happy Holidays, internet!

-Adam & Comfort