Pushing Daisies has been canceled.

Well, no new episodes have been ordered, which is basically pussy network code for canceled. This is one of those times when you remember that Hollywood totally blows…oh wait, that’s all the time. Damnit! A great show.

I always feared it was too quirky and quite frankly too GOOD to survive on television (it should have been on HBO perhaps) but the fact that it was renewed last year gave me hope. Silly me to try and hope, why do I never learn? I think in this case the writers strike really did hurt Pushing Daises – it had such a tenuous grasp on a small quirky intelligent audience…and people forget quickly these days. I have to admit that I was not as enamored of PD this year as I was last, but I still watched, and it still remained one of the smartest shows on TV…also, ironically, one of the most upbeat…and who doesn’t need upbeat these days?! C’mon!

There’s talk of the show finishing as a comic book, but I think we all know how fulfilled that will leave the majority…hardly the same number of people read comics that watch TV…and that’s just part of the problem. The Buffy “season eight” comic book series works well – largely because Joss Whedon knows his comic books and is heavily involved…also, while the Buffy universe is an always continuing growing and changing universe, we were not left on a cliffhanger with the actual series end on TV, the way Pushing Daisies supposedly will. So having a “season eight” in comic books was not absolutely necessary, but rather a decadant way for fans to let the show live on long beyond when any actors etc. would want to stay involved. Angel also has an ongoing comic based off the show, and it is less successful in my opinion. There is the cliffhanger aspect the show was left on, which is pretty difficult to live up to in comics, and also just the handling of the book has been complicated and difficult to follow, as the show was in certain seasons as well. I also think, all due respect, that there’s not quite as much talent in the room on the Angel books as with the Buffy book. That said, I’m still reading the shit, so it can’t be that bad.

Would I read a Pushing Daises comic? Maybe. Probably, but only if I was already at the comic shop. If I was the average fan there’s no way I’m heading into comic stores (unknown territory for many people) to find out about an ending to a show that is pretty much guaranteed to be a let down. Then again, maybe this “we’ll finish it in a comic book” revolutionizes the industry and brings thousands (hundreds of thousands!?) of new fans to the comic book industry…a girl can hope. Wait…wasn’t I just saying something about hope a little while ago…? Hmmm…I forget. Oh well.