Totally Terrific Television is Just Around the Corner!

It’s almost here.   We’ve waited all summer for our favorite programs and our wait is nearly over.

There are only a couple shows I’m really excited about.   The first one is “Pushing Up Daisies.”  

This clever, outside-the-box show was hit hard by the writers’ strike.   I wasn’t sure it would make it out alive (punny, if you watch the show), but apparently it has.   The show is about Ned (Lee Pace), a pie maker who has an unusual talent.   If he touches a dead person  he can make them come alive (Jesus-style). However, there’s a catch.  If he touches the same person  after he has “brought them back to life”  the person  will die again.  He and  Private  Investigator  Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) have put Ned’s odd talent to use by  investigating strange murder cases in hopes of finding the murderer (and in hopes of getting a cash reward).   The vivacious and busty Kristin Chenoweth and girl-next-door cutie Anna Friel  round out the brilliant cast.

The show unfolds as a sort of adult-oriented fairytale (and I don’t mean salacious fairytale).   The creators have  developed an imaginary world  that is  peculiar and strangely mesmerizing. Starting on October 1st, the show will make it’s long awaited comeback to ABC.

The next show I’ve been eagerly anticipating has been moved from CBS to the Travel Channel.   I’ve been watching The Amazing Race for about  six of the eleven seasons.  The race around the world starts tomorrow night (Sept. 3).  

The show involves teams of two who race around the world (literally), completing challenges along the way.   The first team to make it to the final destination wins $1,000,000.   It’s an inside look at the interpersonal dynamics between people and an interesting view of the world.   The only  issue I have with the show  are some of the  bad mannered  contestants.  Some contestants  fit too perfectly into the “rude American” stereotype that  my husband and I work  to debunk when  we travel abroad.

The show is a  never ending source of entertainment for my husband and I.   On our last trip to Mexico we were late getting to our Cozumel ferry.   As we ran through the streets of Playa Del Carmen, backpacks and humidity weighing us down, we joked about being on The Amazing Race.   In my pretend-turned-to-real excitement, I ran right past the ticket collector at the ferry gate.    The poor guard  must have thought I was trying to  rush past without paying and he ran  after me crying, “Senorita,  Senorita!”   It was more than a little embarrassing.   But if we had been on The Race, we’d have kicked butt!