What with all the media buzz surrounding Pushing Daisies, it seems to me as if you’d have to be pretty dead not to have heard of it. Not to worry, though: protagonist Ned can help with that. Temporarily, at least. You just have to get him to touch you before 8 pm (7 central) tonight, October 3, to bring you back to life…and then keep him from touching you again, or you’ll be permanently kaput. And you’ll miss the show. (It’s on ABC.)

I attended a screening of the pilot at Comic-Con this year and was very pleased with what I saw. It’s hyper-colored, sweet and snarky by turns, narrated by Jim Dale (who did the Harry Potter audiobooks), and hey, Ned is a baker. I’m sold. I can’t wait to see it, and I’ve already seen it. Let’s wake the dead with these ratings.

In honor of the Heroes DVD release, here’s a truck that’s almost, but not quite labeled for Primatech Paper:

Prime Tech Cabinets, Inc.

Interestingly, it’s been a month for timing pop culture releases with relevant astronomical events. First Stardust, all about catching a falling star, arrived in theaters the same weekend as the Perseids meteor shower. Today, the Heroes Season 1 DVD arrives on the same day as a total eclipse (albeit a lunar one, rather than solar).

The Heroes season finale was excellent. They did a good job of resolving the main story arc established at the beginning of the season (the bomb threatening New York City), balanced action and characterization, answered some questions while still leaving things open—and set up a really interesting situation for season 2.

It’s also nice to see that they’re keeping the weekly online comics going between seasons—and that they mentioned it during the broadcast. I think that’s a good move for keeping fan interest going until fall. I’m still hoping they’ll collect them in print, though. They could probably put everything concurrent with season 1 into a ~200-page trade paperback and sell it in bookstores. It would be a great companion item to go with the DVD set.

Now for more detailed thoughts on the episode. Spoilers follow: Continue reading