The success of the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter has been one of the biggest talking points over the past few days, and it’s not just good news for Veronica Mars fans. The campaign, which passed its $2 million goal in less than 10 hours, has got a lot of people asking whether the crowd-funding approach could resurrect any other TV shows that were canceled before their time. Joss Whedon, who was almost immediately inundated by fans with questions about a follow-up to Serenity, described the Veronica Mars Kickstarter as “a game-changer.”
Bryan Fuller, creator of short-lived but well-loved series such as Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls, has also apparently been inspired by Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell’s bold decision to create a fan-funded project, and has responded to questions about whether he plans to do something similar for his cancelled show Pushing Daisies.
Like the other shows created by Fuller, Pushing Daisies took a light-hearted approach to its rather grim subject manner – telling the story of a sweet-natured pie-maker called Ned, who has the power to bring the dead back to life with a single touch … and kill them again permanently with another. Ned manages this blessing/curse for many years, until one day his childhood sweetheart, Chuck, is murdered. Ned chooses to save her from death’s clutches, but is stuck with the dilemma of never again being able to touch the love of his life.
We might not have seen the last of Pushing Daisies, as it now seems that Rob Thomas and Bryan Fuller are putting their heads together. In an interview with HitFix, Thomas revealed that Fuller had e-mailed him shortly after news of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign took over the Internet:
“I did get an email from Bryan Fuller earlier today saying, ‘Hey, can you jump on the phone with me at some point? I know you’re busy, but I would love to talk to you about how this thing works.’ And I know it was specifically for Pushing Daisies.”
It wouldn’t be the first of Fuller’s shows to get a follow-up release after cancellation: Dead Like Me received a direct-to-video movie in 2009 but Fuller was not involved in its production and actors Mandy Patinkin and Laura Harris were written out and recast, respectively. Pushing Daisies was canceled by ABC at the end of its second season due to poor ratings, and a series of comic books based on the show were eventually postponed due to the loss of their publisher.
The fact that Fuller sounds so eager to learn from Thomas’ approach is exciting news for fans of Ned and Chuck’s story, though we’ll have to wait and see if cast members Lee Pace and Anna Friel express an interest in returning to the Pie Hole. Pace was recently name-dropped for a possible role in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy adaptation – a part that eventually went to Parks and Recreation alum Chris Pratt – unless Marvel is still interested in the actor for another part (perhaps Ant-Man?). Either way, demand for Pace is on the rise – so we’ll have to see if he could even make time for a Pushing Daisies return.
Would you be interested in a continuation of Pushing Daisies and – more importantly – would you be willing to help fund it? Could Kickstarter be the kiss of life for our favourite cancelled TV shows? Let us know what you think in the comments. Donations are still open for the Veronica Mars Kickstarter, and we’ll let you know if a similar page gets created for Pushing Daisies.
Source: HitFix
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I liked the show but not enough to give money for it’s return. It was too stylized, it seemed very “Big Fish” to me. Dont get me wrong, “Big Fish” is perhaps my favorite Burton film, but on a crime tv series, it just seemed odd and out of place. Its like the humor played second fiddle to the style.
So, people will give money so other people can embark on a commercial enterprise and make a profit. The first group gets nothing…
Uhh, so people go hungry in this country but some people will give money so others can make a profit.
This country is way screwed up.
I never thought about it, but yeah I believe you’re right. About the people who give, I do think that they receive a digital copy of the movie and a t-shirt, so they receive something but, overall I would say you have a point.
As has been said many times since VM made such a splash the other day, Kickstarter is not a charity.
I just can’t emphasize that enough. Unlike other sites like Indiegogo, Kickstarter doesn’t even have a charity selection. People investing in a Kickstarter are investing in a product, NOT giving to charity.
“some people will give money so others can make a profit” – Yes, this is what entertainment is. You give money so your favorite restaurant or author or actor or guitar player or video game coder can make a profit. That’s how our current society works.
And your argument is pretty easy to reduce to absurdism.
“People go hungry in this country but some people…
…spend their money on books so that authors can make a profit.”
…have cats and dogs so that pet stores can make a profit.”
…buy laptops and use them to post inane comments on the internet so that Apple/their ISP/screenrant.com can make a profit.”
You don’t get to control what other people do with their entertainment dollar. You probably shouldn’t even judge it, unless you’re giving every spare cent/minute you have to charity, which makes me wonder why you have time posting here. Trying to guilt folks by saying that “every dollar that you spend on personal enjoyment could be spent on charity” is a quick way to drive people off from giving altogether.
Additionally, on Kickstarter, the “first group”, aka the folks giving money, don’t get nothing. They get to see a movie that they obviously really want to see, plus DVDs, digital copies, t-shirts, signed posters, and tons of other rewards. They’re buying a product that they value.
Maybe it’s a product you wouldn’t buy, one that you have no interest in. But please don’t see it as taking money out of charitable giving. You might view it instead as taking money away from the next Michael Bay movie or a trip to Olive Garden or a Twilight novel.
Either it’s an investment – in which case you get your money back plus some profit possibly if it does well – if it does poorly then you lose your cash.
Or it’s charity.
There’s no other option. Sure you get some lame ass piece of sh*t to say you contributed maybe, but nowhere near the value of what you paid.
Right now we have people earning minimum wage contributing towards paying someone else’s much bigger wage.
The ultimate scam.
Guess what, some people even pay money to watch people pretending to be someone who they aren’t or so that grown men can play ball for a living. If hunger irks you so much you are free to stop buying movie tickets or Blu-rays or any other useless stuff and donate the money to charity instead. Anything else would make you a hypocrite.
Count me in!!!!! u can put me down for :pulls out wallet: 5..dollars
I haven’t even read the article but YESSS!!!!!!!!’nn
This is insane. First the ‘entertainment’ industry plays loose and fast with their production company accounting to ensure that they don’t “make a profit” and thus avoid paying taxes.
Now they want ‘viewers’ to subsidize their production costs.
They can all go directly to Hell.
I never really liked Pushing Daisies but I’m happy that Veronica Mars is coming back now I only wish firefly would come back to tv…
My problem with this is that it looks like it’s starting a new trend with the TV and Movie industries. There are some projects worth bringing back, but unless there’s a demand from fans, they shouldn’t really be asking for money. Sites like Kickstarter are meant for the little people to accomplish things they can’t fund by themselves, and offers a way to give back to the backers. I’m just worried that Hollywood’s going to abuse this and steal the little guy’s thunder.
Most definitely. Pushing Daisies has some of the best writing and visual design on TV. I’m dubious about the comic book project but I would love to see it come back as a movie, a TV series, or even a Broadway musical.
They should try to bring back Heroes, because that show had so much potential. Four seasons of greatness in my OPINION, never heard of pushing daisies though.
I already got over the cancellation of Veronica Mars, and now it seems like the cast is too old. However, I desperately want more Pushing Daisies! The actors and story still have so much to offer!
Yes, please! Pushing Daisies was a great snow! I would love to see it come back.
Show* ugh
I’d pay for “My name is Earl” to come back.
I’d definitely donate to its kickstarter, but it might be too expensive to fund.
In an article on The Holywood Reporter, Fuller said that the film would need a minimum of $10 million to be funded, since each episode was on average $3 million and the visuals and sets would not make it possible to be greenlit as easily as veronica Mars.
Dead Like Me was one of the best bits of TV in the last 15 years. The movie they made was an abomination.
I would feel fine donating hundreds of dollars if the perks were good. I love the show.
I LOVE Pushing Daisies and would definitely give to get it back on!
After (again) watching both seasons with my wife we’ve been asking ourself, if there is NO possibility to restart this show. It gave a good feeling, it showed the world as it never would be, used clishés, everything someone grabes for after a hard day, just escaping from reality and what – in my opinion – tv shows and films are made for.
)
And for these (as some people may call it: profit-)reasons i would give some 10 dollars (as far as it’s in my budget) to give this heartwarming show a kickstart and i bet the numerous followers in europe as well as in the US would get the 10-12 mio (as seen on wikipedia) – we’re not on fb but i guess Pushing daisies would be on more succesful story on the internet.
And in the end i excuse for my horrible english (austrian teachers are not the best
I am not even going to bother addressing some of the people posting on this site complaining about people putting money into something that they like/love/want. In the end you can either put up some money if you want, or don’t…but don’t whine when other people want to try and get one of their favourite shows up and running again.
I would gladly donate money, I can’t afford a lot but something is better than nothing.
PD was one of the most funny, well-written, clever, creative and touching shows ever to appear on television. My whole family LOVED it. Sure, at first glance it may appear silly, even screwball, so some casual viewers and channel surfers may have cast it aside prematurely. I did too, until my wife made me sit down and watch one episode from start to finish. Its excellence was disguised by its lighthearted approach, bright colors, fast banter and goofy characters. Catch an episode on blu-ray and you’ll appreciate the high standards and enormous craftsmanship in script, art direction, camera work, lighting, set design and costume. The cast and crew were first rate – and fearless. To experience that magic again at our local cinema, we would make our contribution today.