Line #156 Series/PushingDaisies


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21	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pushing_daisies_sm_6389.jpg]]
22	->''"Well, I suppose dying's as good an excuse as any to start living."''
23	-->-- '''Charlotte "Chuck" Charles'''
24
25	[[CatchPhrase The facts are these:]]
26
27	There once was a piemaker who could raise the dead with a touch, only there were two catches. Firstly, after sixty seconds, someone else has to die to take the place of the person raised from the dead and secondly, if the piemaker touches the resurrected person twice, they die again. Permanently. One day, the piemaker was given the opportunity to raise Chuck, his childhood sweetheart... So he did. This act brought the two much closer, but tragically kept them apart; one touch would mean Chuck would be dead forever. Along with his [[InsistentTerminology alive again]] dog, a grumpy private eye, Chuck's eccentric aunts and a jealous singing waitress, they solved murders, asking the dead who their murderers were in those sixty seconds and then collecting the often substantial reward for finding the killers.
28
29	That could be the premise of ''Pushing Daisies'' if it weren't a laughably inadequate description.
30
31	Created by ''Series/{{Wonderfalls}}'' and ''Series/DeadLikeMe'' creator Creator/BryanFuller, and set in a world lavishly [[RetroUniverse decorated in Fifties styles]], the show effortlessly makes its faintly ridiculous plots believable, as it deftly traces the line between earnestness and irony. Its fast-paced and witty dialogue, quirky characters, and great acting really bring out what can only be called the heart of the show: showing how people connect -- or don't connect -- with their fellow humans.
32
33	Unfortunately, it ended up doomed to live up to its name. The first season was truncated by the 2007 UsefulNotes/TVStrikes, and the second season didn't have much of a head of steam under it. The writing team was given 3 episodes to wrap up the series, and the last episode was aired on June 13, 2009 - [[LudicrousPrecision one year, eight months, one week and three days]] after the first. The two seasons together make up a normal full-sized season.
34
35	[[Recap/PushingDaisies Recaps page is here.]]
36
37	----
38	!!The Tropes Are These:
39
40	[[foldercontrol]]
41
42	[[folder:A-G]]
43	* AbortedArc: When the first season was cut short due to the Writer's Strike, most of the plot threads set up during the first half received abrupt AssPull resolutions. When the second season suffered a similar fate upon the show's cancellation, most lingering threads were simply left hanging, though a choice few received mention in a AssPull epilogue. Sadly, the two half seasons do not equal a whole in terms of story.
44	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E7TheSmellOfSuccess The Smell of Success]]"
45	* AccidentalKidnapping: [[spoiler:Olive Snook]] as a child.
46	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: The writers seem very fond of this. See also RepetitiveName, below.
47	** Recurring character Dwight Dixon
48	** Merle [=McQuoddy=], his boat the ''Knockout Nora'', and Typhoon Tyrone, which sunk her.
49	** Main character Charlotte "Chuck" Charles and her father Charles Charles.
50	** Episode 11 of season 2 is full of alliteration.
51	* AllGermansAreNazis: Invoked and subverted twice. In "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E3BadHabits Bad Habits]]", a threatening guy with an accent, thought to be an 'Angry German' by Emerson Cod, was actually Swiss (and non-threatening). In "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E8ComfortFood Comfort Food]]" was the Waffle Nazi, who appeared with full Lederhosen get-up, GratuitousGerman, [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler speech patterns]], and threatening personality - only for it to be revealed as fake: he is neither German nor actually speaks the language, but is putting on a show.
52	* AlmostKiss: "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E1Pielette Pie-lette]]"
53	* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Ned saves Chuck fully knowing someone else will die for it.
54	* AmbiguouslyGay
55	** Leo Burns, the coordinator in [[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E8ComfortFood Comfort Food]]. HilariousInHindsight as he's played by [[Series/ModernFamily Eric Stonestreet.]] [[spoiler:Oh, and he's the murderer of the week.]]
56	** Virtually all the males involved with the aqua dance show in [[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E13Kerplunk Kerplunk.]]
57	** Willy Gherkin, the new real estate agent/former personal trainer in "The Legend of Merle [=McQuoddy=]"
58	* AndStarring: With Swoosie Kurtz (Aunt Lily) And Creator/KristinChenoweth (Olive)
59	* AndTheAdventureContinues: Due to the sudden cancelling of the show, numerous plot threads were either abruptly tied or left hanging. By its finalé, Series 2 ends with: [[spoiler:Vivian discovering what occurred between Charles and Lily, Chuck revealing herself to Lily and Vivian, Ned and Chuck still continuing their relationship, Emerson getting "Lil Gumshoe" published and presumably finding Penny, and Olive staying with Randy Mann and going on to start her own novelty restaurant.]]
60	* AnimalReactionShot: Digby, in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E6Bitches Bitches]]"
61	* AppealToObscurity: in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E2CircusCircus Circus Circus]]":
62	-->'''Emerson:''' Have you ''seen'' the special lockup they keep for cocky young acrobats? Because ''I'' haven't.
63	* ArcVillain: Dwight Dixon for half of the second season.
64	* ArbitrarySkepticism: despite having magical necromancy powers, Ned finds the notion of ghosts risible.
65	%% * ArrangedMarriage: In "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E5DimSumLoseSum Dim Sum Lose Sum]]"
66	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
67	** In "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E5DimSumLoseSum Dim Sum Lose Sum]]", when discussing the gambling regulars:
68	-->'''Simone:''' Shrimpboy's the gangster in charge of the table and paying off the manager. Anson Chen did eight years in the state pen for armed robbery. Jin Quin is a thug for hire who'll do anything for a few dollars. Louie Lu strangled his mother-in-law, got off on a technicality. Jim is a plumber.
69	** Also, when Olive tells the legend of Merle Mcquoddy:
70	-->'''Olive:''' He flew into rages! Roamed the beaches at midnight! Shunned indoor plumbing!
71	* AshesToCrashes: In the episode "Girth", [[spoiler:in this case they aren't human ashes]].
72	* AssholeVictim:
73	** Lawrence Schatz, the grave-robbing funeral director who dies after Chuck is brought back for more than 60 seconds.
74	** Pinky [=McCoy=], who fixed horse races resulting in a near-death injury at the Jock-Off 2000.
75	** [[spoiler:Dwight Dixon, a grave robber who was only moments away from shooting Ned and Chuck when Charles Charles's 60 seconds ran out.]]
76	* BackFromTheDead: Chuck, most obviously; but also, briefly, the week's murder victim(s).
77	** And now, it would seem, [[spoiler:Charles Charles.]]
78	* BadassBystander: [[spoiler:Lily, who blasts Chuck's assassin with a shotgun, complete with a nice PreMortemOneLiner: "I can hold my breath for a long time."]]
79	%% * BadHabits: In "Bad Habits."
80	* BalancingDeathsBooks: There's a grace period of a minute, but if Ned doesn't re-touch the re-animated, something else of approximately equal "life" value will die in exchange. And even after said grace period, Ned can't touch the re-animated person/creature/whatever, or they'll be dead again.
81	* BananaInTheTailpipe: A potato variety appears in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E9Corpsicle Corpsicle]]"
82	* BandagedFace: [[spoiler:Chuck's dad.]] He even has a smiley face drawn on it.
83	* BedsheetGhost: Happens twice in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E5Girth Girth]]": Young Ned has this as a Halloween costume, and Chuck wears this as a trick-or-treater to her aunts.
84	%% * BeeBeeGun: "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E1Bzzzzzzzzz Bzzzzzzzzz!]]"
85	* BigDamPlot: "Water & Power" involves a murder at a hydroelectric dam, involving WaterSourceTampering and a MineralMacGuffin hidden in the dam.
86	* BindleStick: Young Ned, in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E2CircusCircus Circus Circus]]"
87	* BitterAlmonds: Almond-flavored coffee creamer in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E6Bitches Bitches]]".
88	* BilingualBonus: In "Dim Sum Lose Sum", the spoken Chinese is all real. except for adding details [[spoiler:about the speakeasy]], Chuck's translation is nearly verbatim.
89	** The sign in Emerson's window, supposedly for his PI business, is actually for a restaurant across from the firm that specializes in pork ribs. Because it is a sign from another business visible in Emerson's office, it is readable from inside the office instead of backwards as a sign for the PI firm would be from inside the building.
90	* BlackHumour: All the time, from the word go:
91	--> Digby was three years, two weeks, six days, five hours and nine minutes old... and not a minute older. '''''splat'''''
92	* BlatantLies: Any lie [[BadLiar Ned]] ever tells.
93	%% * BlessedWithSuck: Sorry, you can't touch your girlfriend...
94	* [[BoardingSchoolOfHorrors Boarding School of Loneliness, Grayness, and Crushing Depression]]: The Longborough School For Boys
95	* BlindIdiotTranslation: The S2 episode "Robbing Hood" erroneously claims that the Latin phrase "orbis pro vox" translates as "ring for rights" (as in, "ring bells for rights"), when it can ''at best'' be translated as "a voice for the deprived".[[note]]And even that translation is only possible by ignoring the word order and taking "orbis" as the ablative plural of a fairly obscure adjective ("orbus") rather than its much more common noun meaning of "sphere".[[/note]]
96	* BodyHorror: Many of the murder victims, who retain their injuries after Ned brings them back to life. Among them a man with a chunk of his face torn out by a Rottweiler and a woman whose face melted as a result of being pressed up against a lamp.
97	%% * BornDetective: Emerson Cod
98	* BrickJoke: Emerson's confusion of "narcoleptic" and "necrophiliac" -- set up in "Pie-lette" for a payoff in "Pigeon".
99	* BrainyBrunette: Chuck is book smart on everything.
100	* BulletTime: "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E5DimSumLoseSum Dim Sum Lose Sum]]" has [[PlayedForLaughs a humorous example]] with a steam explosion.
101	* CameBackWrong: All of the bodies of the people Ned brings back to life remain as they were when he touched them. This is not always pleasant to watch. Interestingly, this doesn't seem to apply to the fruits Ned resurrects. One explanation or rationalization could be that Ned's powers can reverse/heal the effects of time or death by "natural" causes but can't reverse physical trauma.
102	* CanineCompanion: Digby (though of course, Ned can't touch him, as Digby was the first thing Ned had ever brought back to life).
103	* CantHaveSexEver: Ned and Chuck, though deconstructed in that they've apparently found ways around the "no touching" problem.
104	-->'''Ned:''' It's hard enough being in a relationship where we can't touch. But… we improvise, figured out ways around that. I've even built contraptions.
105	* CassandraTruth: Charlotte tells Olive the truth in the ninth episode, but Olive understandably believes it’s a SarcasticConfession:
106	-->'''Ned:''' How much does Olive know?
107	-->'''Chuck:''' Don't worry about what Olive knows. Even if I told her the truth she wouldn't believe me.
108	-->'''Ned:''' You don't know that.
109	-->'''Chuck:''' Yes I do, because I told her and she wouldn't believe me.
110	* CatchPhrase:
111	** The narrator has "At this very moment" and "The facts were these..."
112	*** Played with in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E7RobbingHood Robbing Hood]]":
113	---->'''Rob Wright:''' I know how it must sound, but the facts were these...
114	---->'''Chuck:''' Huh?
115	---->'''Rob Wright:''' These were the facts...
116	*** Played with once by the Narrator himself when describing a scene faked to look like a natural death:
117	---->'''Narrator:''' The facts were ''not'' these...
118	** Emerson's is "Aw, ''hell'' no!"
119	*** Which has been stolen by the Narrator once and by Olive on more than one occasion.
120	* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: Alluded to in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E1Bzzzzzzzzz Bzzzzzzzzz!]]".
121	* ChekhovsGun: "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E2CircusCircus Circus Circus]]" has Chekhov's ''Cannon''. A dwarf with a cannon happens to pass by when Ned and Emerson are at the ringmaster's trailer... then, later in the episode, the human cannonball gets fired at them.
122	** Charles Charles' pocket watch also applies. It was shown ''in the very first episode'', and cropped up again when Lawrence Schatz stole it [[note]]the funeral director revealed to be running a grave robbing racket in [=S01E03=][[/note]], and then became relevant again come Season 2.
123	** Emerson Cod's revolver also applies; throughout the show it is used only to wave around, but it finally gets fired in [[spoiler:"[=S02E07=]: Robbing Hood" when he destroys an escape rope.]] It's even noted by Cod:
124	-->'''Emerson:''' It's about time I get to do the gun pointing around here.
125	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Ned and Chuck... more or less.
126	* ChineseLaborer: Wilfred Woodruff's ancestor, in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E3TheFunInFuneral The Fun In Funeral]]".
127	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Alfredo Aldarisio. Initially a love interest for Olive, he eventually fixes the espresso machine for her and attempts to catch her eye [[AllLoveIsUnrequited to no avail.]] Later on in the series, he then simply disappears [[PutOnABus with minimal explanation]] and the Alfredo/Olive subplot is dropped, only returning when [[spoiler:Olive is quickly paired with Randy Mann when the show suddenly ended.]]
128	** Justified, in that Alfredo's last appearance is in an episode where he is PutOnABus, and Olive realizes she loved him too late.
129	* CityWithNoName: The city where the main action takes place is never named, though we do know that it's in (fictitious) Papen County, 131 miles due north of Coeur d'Coeurs (Ned and Chuck's equally fictitious hometown). Information on placing Papen County in a US state or region is internally inconsistent.
130	** Ned's apartment building, though, is "played" by the famous Bradbury Building in Los Angeles.
131	* ClearMyName: Ned is jailed for the murder of Billy Balsam in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E8BitterSweets Bitter Sweets]]".
132	-->'''Emerson:''' I mean, it's a broad generalization, but my guess is an attractive man who makes pies for a living [[{{Black Comedy Rape}} shouldn't spend even a short amount of time in prison.]]
133	* ClingyJealousGirl: Olive Snook, who bordered on StalkerWithACrush early on.
134	* ClownCar: A number of clowns were driving away from the circus when they were forced off the road and into the lake. When their car is dragged up and the police start pulling the bodies out, it starts out with only one clown...and then another one is pulled out and another one and another one (including a clown ''wearing stilts''), and they just keep coming.
135	* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: Even without Ned's aid Emerson Cod is a capable investigator. But he still can't find his daughter.
136	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The interiors of many buildings. The Pie Hole and the morgue are green, Betty's Bees is yellow, the convent (and the nuns' habits) are aqua, and the Chinese restaurant (plus Emerson's office upstairs) are red.
137	* ComicRolePlay: Olive on Aunt Lily-- who tells her to pretend she's [[spoiler:Chuck, her daughter, and to tell her what she'd say if Chuck were alive. Chuck is listening in.]]
138	* {{Confessional}}: Ned, in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E3BadHabits Bad Habits]]".
139	* ContinuityNod: After nabbing a criminal with a fake arm in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E4Pigeon Pigeon]]" (Ned: "Is this the hand you were holding?"), Ned keeps the arm. In later episodes, he uses it to pet Digby and fish things out of a vat of taffy.
140	** The bee brooch used as a [[StealthPun bug]] in "Bzzzzzz!" is also used for the aforementioned ComicRolePlay in "Oh Oh Oh--It's Magic"
141	* CoolOldLady: Both of Chuck's aunts are cool old ladies, but especially Aunt Lily, [[spoiler:who shot Chuck's murderer. After nearly being killed herself. With zero depth perception. ''In the very first episode.'']]
142	* TheCoroner: Mmm-''hmmm.''
143	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E2Dummy Dummy]]", "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E1Bzzzzzzzzz Bzzzzzzzzz!]]", "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E4Frescorts Frescorts]]"
144	* TheCorpseStopsHere: "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E8BitterSweets Bitter Sweets]]"
145	* CosmicDeadline: The last couple of episodes are a very obvious rush job that fail to resolve most of the lingering plot threads.
146	* CostumePorn: Everyone dresses very nicely, but it's Lily and Vivian who pull out the bejewelled eyepatches and qipaos.
147	* CurseCutShort: in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E2CircusCircus Circus Circus]]", a dead clown mentions that the clowns had made up a limerick about an audience member named Bryce von Deenis. Chuck and Ned speculate on the contents of the limerick:
148	-->'''Chuck:''' There was a young man named von Deenis
149	-->'''Ned:''' Who they said had a very big-- (act break)
150	** The show also uses SoundEffectBleep--see below.
151	* CursedWithAwesome: Ned can revive the dead with a touch, and has used that power to revive his dog and later his childhood sweetheart, make lots of money investigating murders, ''and'' open a thriving bakery by using old, rotted fruit in his pies (since it becomes fresh-off-the-vine as soon as he touches it). And as a result, he can't touch the woman he loves lest she drop dead instantly, ditto his beloved pet, and if he ever ''eats'' any of his pies the fruit will wither and rot in his mouth.
152	** Although, if he ever wanted to make a pie for himself, he could get around the whole rotting-in-his-mouth problem by actually using fresh ingredients, which he does later in the series.
153	** His second revival was his mother whose lingering caused the death of Chuck's father and then she promptly died when she kissed him good night.
154	* CutesyNameTown: Coeur d' Coeurs. You can't really get more cutesy than that. For the non-Francophones in the room, it means "Heart of Hearts"
155	* CutShort: The finale is a mad rush to try to tie up several of the loose ends, and misses a few in the process. We never did find out what happened to [[spoiler:Charles Charles]] or meet Ned's dad beyond a five second shot at the end of one episode. He was going to be played by George Hamilton.
156	* CymbalBangingMonkey: "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E2CircusCircus Circus Circus]]"
157	* DaydreamSurprise:
158	** Olive, as she realizes (too late) how Alfredo feels about her.
159	** In "Comfort Food", Lily imagines a conversation with Dwight while she waits for him.
160	* DeadpanSnarker: Emerson Cod, Aunt Lily
161	** {{Lampshaded}} in "Dim Sum Lose Sum", where a sudden lack of snarkage clues Ned and Chuck into Emerson's absence.
162	* DeadPersonImpersonation: "Pigeon"
163	* DeathAmnesia: Though the newly-revived are generally aware that they have died, they do not remember any sort of an afterlife.
164	** The only one who ever actually recalled the period between death and being alive again [[spoiler:Charles Charles]] just described it as "gliding."
165	* DeathByChildbirth: Chuck's mom. [[spoiler:This is later subverted when it is revealed that Aunt Lily is really her mother. She lied because Vivian was engaged to Charles.]]
166	* DeliciousDistraction: Ned's pies, especially those Chuck bakes with cheese on the crust for her aunts.
167	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: ''everywhere'', as well as all over the place. (See also RepetitiveName, below.) Chuck's aunts used to be the Darling Mermaid Darlings. There's a life insurance firm called Uber-Life Life Insurance. The travel agency Chuck frequented was Boutique Travel Travel Boutique. It was run by... Dee Dee.
168	* DiceRollDeath: A caveat of Ned's resurrection power is that if he brings someone back for more than one minute, another life must be exchanged for the one brought back. This only affects the immediate area and appears to be completely random.
169	* DiggingToChina: Young Olive in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E3BadHabits Bad Habits]]"
170	* DiscriminateAndSwitch: A bartender refuses to serve Emerson in "Girth"--not because he's black, but because he's too tall (the bar, as it turns out, is specifically for horse jockeys).
171	* DoubleEntendre: [[HehHehYouSaidX Hur Hur,]] Bee-Girls. It's a pun on B-Girl, a euphemism for prostitute.
172	%% * {{Dramedy}}
173	* DrivingADesk: Olive Snook on horseback in "Girth" and Dilly Balsam in a motorboat in "Bittersweets".
174	%% * DropInCharacter: Olive, initially
175	* EquivalentExchange: Giving someone life costs another's: a human's for a human's, an animal's for an animal's, a plant's for a plant's.
176	* EroticDream: Ned, in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E6Bitches Bitches]]".
177	* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The very first scene of the show is of young Ned and Digby running playfully through a gorgeous field of flowers until [[MoodWhiplash Digby abruptly gets run over by a truck]] and Ned resurrects him. This instantly establishes both the premise of the series and its signature mix of storybook whimsy and morbid humor.
178	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Specifically, Jim Dale always refers to "Young Ned" in the flashbacks, but adult Ned is always "The Piemaker."
179	* MessyPig: Pigby [[spoiler:who accidentally killed someone in "Bad Habits"]].
180	* EvilGloating: Dilly in "Bitter Sweets"... until the Pie Hole gang proved they had nothing to do with her brother's murder.
181	%% * EyepatchOfPower: Aunt Lily
182	* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo: Chuck [[spoiler:is the daughter of the woman she always believed to be her aunt.]] See also ParentalAbandonment, below.
183	* FairyTale: Essentially. It mixes what is something of a fairy tale romance with some of the darker themes present in the older fairy stories.
184	* FakingTheDead: Chuck, sort of. Olive thinks Chuck's faking her death.
185	* {{Fanservice}}:
186	** Used a fair bit, especially with Olive's outfits -- the costuming department really got the most out of using Creator/KristinChenoweth, that's for sure. The ultra-low-cut mermaid costume with the one-leg so she had to hop up and down to move is probably the shining example.
187	** They also got a fair bit of use out of Lee Pace as well. Perhaps the best example for him is the two minutes or so he's standing in nothing but a pair of boxers in the season 2 opener.
188	* FilmNoir: The show's aesthetic draws pretty heavily on the Film Noir, particularly Emerson's office, the clipped, rapid-fire dialogue, and a good portion of "Dim-Sum Lose Some". Also, several film noir classics can be seen playing in the background in a few scenes of "Corpsicle".
189	* FirstEpisodeResurrection: Chuck dies and is revived in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E1Pielette Pie-lette]]".
190	* FiveFiveFive: 555-0155 is Emerson Cod's phone number.
191	* FlashBack:
192	** As mentioned above, each episode begins with a segment indicating something about young Ned's past.
193	** Usually the VictimOfTheWeek recounts something about their murder, or the Narrator sums up the clues Emerson and company have found to solve the MysteryOfTheWeek.
194	* FlirtyStepSiblings / NotBloodSiblings: How they explain Vivian and Lily having the same last name as Charles and Vivian thinking Chuck is hers and Lily’s niece if Charles is Vivian’s ex-fiancé and [[spoiler:Chuck being Lily’s secret daughter.]]
195	%% * FootPopping: Olive, in a DaydreamSurprise.
196	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
197	** In "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E7TheSmellOfSuccess The Smell of Success]]" Aunt Lily mentions a sweater that belonged to Charlotte's mother. The narrator mentions that this made her go to "her dark place." The moment is framed such that it appears Chuck's aunt simply misses her niece. [[spoiler:But a later episode reveals that Aunt Lily is Chuck's mother.]]
198	** In the first episode, Lily mentions that Chuck used to threaten to bake anti-depressants into their food in order to cheer them up. Come episode two...
199	* FourPhilosophyEnsemble:
200	** The Cynic: [[TheFettered Ned.]] [[note]] ReluctantWarrior[=/=]ResignedToTheCall. The [[FreudianExcuse traumatized]] bundle of anxiety who often has to get over his own neuroses in order to save the day.[[/note]]
201	** The Optimist: [[ThePollyanna Chuck.]][[note]]TheHeart[=/=]PluckyGirl. Also TheDeterminator, considering she doesn't give up despite having lost everything in her life (except Ned.)[[/note]]
202	** The Realist: [[DeadpanSnarker Emerson.]][[note]]KnightInSourArmor[=/=]TheSnarkKnight. The OnlySaneMan between his three [[BunnyEarsLawyer quirky]] associates who [[CloudCuckooLandersMinder brings them back to reality]] when their quirks get in the way of the job.[[/note]]
203	** The Apathetic/Conflicted: [[CloudCuckoolander Olive.]][[note]]SupportingProtagonist[=/=]CuteAndPsycho[=/=]TheDitherer, especially considering she is frequently left out on secrets and goings-on.[[/note]]
204	%% * FreeTheFrogs: Young Ned, in "Bitter Sweets"
205	%% * TheFunInFuneral: [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]]?
206	* FriendlessBackground: Ned very explicitly had no friends as of the start of the series. Emerson and Olive start as more business associate and [[ObliviousToLove oblivious crusher]] than anything.
207	* FriendlyLocalChinatown: As part of the Emerson's PI status, as well as the pervasive noirish milieu, his office is located in the local Chinatown, directly above a dim-sum restaurant.
208	* GenkiGirl: Chuck, determined to make the most of her second chance at life.
209	* GenreSavvy: Chuck is aware of and afraid of Film/{{CHUD}}s ('''C'''annibalistic '''H'''umanoid '''U'''nderground '''D'''wellers).
210	** [[spoiler:Chuck's father]] is aware of and afraid of becoming a [[ZombieApocalypse flesh-eating Zombie]].
211	* GRatedDrug: Chuck spikes her aunts' pies with homeopathic remedies, and Aunt Lily accidentally get an overdose in "Corpsicle". A MushroomSamba results, and HilarityEnsues.
212	[[/folder]]
213
214	[[folder:H-Z]]
215	* HalloweenEpisode: "Girth".
216	* {{Homage}}: Exactly how much this show owes to the classic French film ''Film/{{Amelie}}'' varies from "it's the writer's favourite film, there's bound to be some similarities" to "attempted shot-for-shot remake".
217	** Also see the homage to Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds'' in "Bitter Sweets".
218	** As well as the Hitchcock references in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E6Bitches Bitches]]", culminating with Emerson's dream homage to ''Film/{{Vertigo}}''.
219	** In some episodes Chuck's fashion style is a clear tribute to Creator/AudreyHepburn.
220	** A lot of scenes are shot in style of a Film Noir with the window shades casting shadows over the characters' faces, most notably in "Girth", "Bitches", and "Bad Habits" when Olive goes to hire Emerson.
221	* HeroOfAnotherStory: Emerson Cod, who runs the B-Plot in almost every episode; as numerous episodes are Ned/Chuck/Olive central for the A-Plot, Emerson always takes care of the murder case alongside it when other plots are explored elsewhere.
222	* HormoneAddledTeenager: The 14-15 year old son of the dead lighthouse keeper in "Legend of Merle [=McQuoddy=]" is genuinely upset, but when Olive offers him a hug he buries his face in her cleavage.
223	-->'''Olive:''' There-there... ''[pushes him away]''
224	-->'''Elliot:''' ''[moves to do the same to Chuck]''
225	-->'''Chuck:''' Not here-here. ''[also pushes him away]''
226	* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Aunt Vivian seems to have ''really'' bad taste in men.
227	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Casting Lee Pace and Chi [=McBride=] (6'3" and 6'4", respectively) opposite Anna Friel and Creator/KristinChenoweth (5'2" and 4'11", respectively) guaranteed lots of this.
228	* HumanShield: The villain in "Oh Oh Oh--It's Magic" does this to Olive, and is mocked for his choice of hostage by Emerson.
229	-->'''Emerson:''' You need a bigger human shield or something. You're hanging out all shorts of places I can shoot!
230	* HumiliationConga: Buddy suffered one in his FlashBack in "Frescorts."
231	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: All of them are whimsical, from "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E1Pielette Pie-lette]]" to "Dim Sum Lose Sum".
232	* IdiosyncraticWipes: Often an IrisOut. These were once extremely common, especially in cinema, but they look old-fashioned or even slightly cheesy to modern eyes, which are used to more unobtrusive scene wipes. (Therefore, perfectly suited to the show's theme of retro charm.).
233	** In "Oh Oh Oh--It's Magic", some of the scene transitions are curtains opening and closing.
234	** "Robbing Hood" uses an animated bell for some of its scene transitions.
235	** "Window Dressed To Kill" uses slide-close doors.
236	** "Kerplunk" used shark jaws.
237	* IgnoredEnamoredUnderling: Olive to Ned, who eventually hashes it out with her.
238	* ImpairmentShot: In "Oh Oh Oh--It's Magic", we see what the dead person sees when Ned touches them a second time.
239	* ImpossiblyAwesomeMagicTrick: A few examples in the episode "Oh oh oh it's Magic." While several tricks of the episode are explained throughout the course of the episode, a couple are patently impossible (including the twins elevating a LovelyAssistant with bolts of electricity).
240	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Ned, in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E2CircusCircus Circus Circus]]"; Emerson, in "Robbing Hood".
241	* IndirectKiss: Ned and Chuck, by necessity, in increasingly creative ways.
242	* InsistentTerminology: In "Pie-lette":
243	-->'''Ned:''' [[NotUsingTheZWord I asked you not to use the word "zombie".]] It's disrespectful. Stumbling around squawking for brains? That's not how they do. And "undead"? Nobody wants to be "un"-anything. Why begin a statement with a negative? It's like saying, "I don't disagree." Just say you agree.
244	-->'''Emerson:''' Are you comfortable with "living dead"?
245	-->'''Ned:''' You're either living or you're dead. When you're living, you're alive. When you're dead, that's what you are. But when you're dead and then you're not, you're alive again. Can't we say "alive again"? Didn't that sound nice?
246	%% * InstantMessengerPigeon: in "Pigeon", naturally.
247	* InstitutionalApparel: Ned wore a bright orange jumpsuit when he was MistakenForMurderer in "Bitter Sweets".
248	* IntercontinuityCrossover:
249	** In "Comfort Food"; Mary Anne Marie Beattle, from the ''Series/{{Wonderfalls}}'' episode "Muffin Buffalo", appears.
250	** Happy Time Temp Agency from ''Series/DeadLikeMe'' is mentioned in the first episode of season 2
251	* InterrogatingTheDead: At least OnceAnEpisode
252	* ITasteDelicious: Said almost word for word by [[spoiler:the Colonel]] when Ned brings him back in the episode Comfort Food.
253	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Olive expresses this sentiment at the end of "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E6Bitches Bitches]]" but struggles to actually stay true to it.
254	* JawDrop: Ned, when he's shocked.
255	-->"If I could breathe I would ''vomit.''"
256	* JustBetweenYouAndMe: {{Subverted}}. The murderer in "Dummy" explains his entire plan... without realizing that the heroes, who are trapped inside a car, can't even hear him.
257	%% * KeepingSecretsSucks
258	* LampshadeHanging: "What the hell happened to people shooting each other with guns?"
259	* LastRequest: Chuck appends asking for this to Ned's usual "who murdered you?" once she enters the picture.
260	* {{Leitmotif}}:
261	** The love theme, which is somewhat the theme of the entire series.
262	** Emerson Cod's theme, which is a noir-esque jazz piece with vibraphone and finger snapping.
263	** Olive Snook's {{Sexophone}} theme.
264	** In the season two opener, "Bzzzzzzz!" a [[RearrangeTheSong cheerfully tango-ized]] variation of "Flight of the Bumblebee" threads under and through the rest of the background music.
265	** Arrangements of "Ave Maria" appear in convent scenes fairly often.
266	%% * LemonyNarrator
267	* LighthousePoint: One episode featured the murder of a lighthouse keeper.
268	* LipLockSunBlock: Ned and Chuck's first kiss as children
269	* LiteralCliffhanger / TakeMyHand: towards the end of "The Norwegians".
270	* LiteralMetaphor: Emerson Cod is fond of these.
271	** In "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E7TheSmellOfSuccess The Smell of Success]]":
272	--->'''Emerson:''' Your book was a bomb.
273	--->'''Napoleon:''' Who are ''you'' to criticize my life's work?!
274	--->'''Emerson:''' ''[deadpan]'' Your book. Was a ''bomb''. It ''exploded''.
275	** And this from "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E3BadHabits Bad Habits]]":
276	--->'''Emerson:''' That's bat crap.
277	--->'''Olive:''' It's a frickin' convent. Show some respect.
278	--->'''Emerson:''' ''[pointing at the white-streaked wall of the bell tower]'' I'm ''showing'' you bat crap.
279	* LittlestCancerPatient: Subverted, in "Corpsicle", by heart patient Abner Newsome, the least likable kid-with-a-terminal-disease in the history of the trope.
280	** It's because he's ''heartless.'' (See also StealthPun.)
281	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Olive doesn't know about Ned's strange touch-related gift, other than that he can't/won't/doesn't touch Chuck or Digby and has a locked room full of rotten fruit. Chuck actually [[CassandraTruth told Olive the truth, with predictable results]].
282	** Chuck's aunts don't know that Chuck has been brought back to life.
283	*** [[spoiler:At least, not until the last few seconds of the series finale.]]
284	* LonelyRichKid: Olive grew up this way.
285	* LongLostSibling: Ned has twin half-brothers from his father's second marriage. Ned's father abandoned ''them'', too
286	* [[LostHimInACardGame Lost Her In A Card Game]]: how Mei got engaged, in "Dim Sum Lose Sum".
287	%% * LoveMakesYouCrazy: Ned, Olive
288	%%* LoveTriangle:
289	%%** Ned, Chuck and Olive.
290	%%** Getting slightly more complicated with Alfredo and Oscar Vibenius
291	%%** Also made awkward in the episode where Ned dreams Chuck and him getting intimate and actually touching [[spoiler:and then it turns out that it's actually Olive in a Chuck suit.]]
292	* LudicrousPrecision: The narrator when explaining how long ago something happened.
293	* MacGuffin: Charles Charles' pocket watch, apparently.
294	* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Emerson suggests this to Ned, about [[spoiler:Chuck's alive-agained father, Charles Charles]].
295	* MeaningfulName: ''Many'' of them, including
296	** Harold Hundin ("Hundin" is German for "female dog") in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E6Bitches Bitches]]"
297	** Buddy Amicus ("amicus" is Latin for "friend") in "Frescorts"
298	** Bao Ting ("bao" is Cantonese for "bun") in "Dim Sum Lose Sum"
299	** Napoleon [=LeNez=] ("Le Nez" is French for "the nose") in "Smell of Success"
300	** Coeur d'Coeurs (French for "Heart of Hearts", symbolizing Ned's suppressed emotions and past).
301	** Arguably, Ned's name - an anagram of "end", symbolizing his connection to death.
302	* MenDontCry: in "Bzzzzzzz!", the Season 2 opener, Emerson is quite outspoken about this. Even Ned agrees.
303	* {{Metaphorgotten}}
304	%% * MsFanservice: Olive Snook.
305	* MineralMacGuffin: The Dam Ruby in "Water & Power".
306	%% * MistakenForMurderer: Ned, in "Bitter Sweets"
307	%% * MommasBoy: [[spoiler:John Joseph Jacobs]] in "Girth".
308	%% ** And to a lesser extent, Emerson seems to be a bit of a mama's boy when we meet his mother in "Frescorts".
309	%% * MonsterClown: in "The Legend of Merle [=McQuoddy=]".
310	* MoodMotif:
311	** There's music intended to bring to mind ''wind'' in the episode "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E7TheSmellOfSuccess The Smell of Success]]".
312	* MotorMouth: Ned tends to babble rapidly when he's nervous, and he's nervous quite frequently.
313	** Arguably Chuck as well. The two of them together have a lot of whiplash-inducing back-and-forth conversations together.
314	* MundaneUtility: Ned's pies are great because the fruit he uses is extremely fresh; all the fruit he touches is brought back to life, so it tastes like it's not more than a few minutes off the plant when it hits the oven.
315	* MrViceGuy: Emerson Cod and Greed.
316	%% * MushroomSamba: Aunt Lily in "Corpsicle".
317	%% * MysteryOfTheWeek
318	%% * {{Narrator}}
319	* NavelDeepNeckline: Olive rocks some while wearing the Darling Mermaid Darling outfit.
320	* NeverSayDie: Ned is reluctant to ever refer to someone as dying or having been killed if it's due to his touch.
321	* NeverSayThatAgain: {{Averted}}.
322	-->'''Emerson:''' And don't you say "ginormous", 'cause that ain't a word.
323	* NeverTrustATrailer: the episode "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E6Bitches Bitches]]" was advertised in a way that implied Ned and Olive would hook up.
324	%%* NewspaperThinDisguise
325	* TheNicknamer: [[DeadpanSnarker Emerson]] has a nickname for every character, every episode.
326	** Especially so when you consider he calls even calls pre-nicknamed characters by his own terms; despite Charlotte Charles understandably being called "Chuck", Emerson instead opts for [[ShapedLikeItself "Dead Girl".]]
327	* NoFullNameGiven: If Ned has a last name, we haven't yet learned it. The narrator, who often refers to characters by their full names, calls him "young Ned" in the flashbacks and "the pie maker" in the present. Doubles as a meaningful name, given that it is an anagram for 'End' and 'NDE', the acronym for 'Near Death Experience'.
328	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: in "Bitter Sweets". Ned goes to clean up a vermin infestation planted by Olive and Chuck (a task made even more difficult for him because he can't directly touch the dead rodents) in a rival's store--only to [[TheCorpseStopsHere find a corpse]] and get MistakenForMurderer.
329	* NotUsingTheZedWord: Ned, in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E1Pielette Pie-lette]]"; he thinks it's disrespectful.
330	%% * NunsAreFunny
331	* ObfuscatingDisability: In a season 2 episode we see a brief flashback to Emerson Cod's childhood. His mother faked putting him in danger to expose a man who had made fraudulent insurance claims. She pushed a stroller with a baby doll in it down a flight of stairs- the allegedly wheelchair-bound man with a neckbrace and a broken arm ran from his wheelchair to catch the baby with both hands.
332	* OfCorpseHesAlive: Used to flush out the victim's murderer. Of course, done with the advantage that, for one minute, he ''is'' alive...
333	* OrAreYouJustHappyToSeeMe: {{Subverted}}, as is usual for this trope: Olive asks Ned if that isn't really a rolling pin under his apron; Ned silently produces the rolling pin, to Olive's dismay.
334	* OverlyLongGag: All the clowns being taken away on stretchers in [[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E2CircusCircus Circus Circus]]. It doesn't help that one of them is still on stilts.
335	* ParentalAbandonment / ParentalNeglect: Ned and Chuck both ended up orphaned and eventually grew up in the care of others.
336	** MissingMom: Ned's mother died suddenly when he was nine. Chuck grew up believing that her mother had [[DeathByChildbirth died in childbirth]], but later discovers that her mother [[spoiler:is her "Aunt" Lily]].
337	** DisappearedDad: Chuck's father died when she was eight, as an unfortunate side effect of Ned bringing back his mother. Ned's father just abandoned him. Emerson Cod is himself a DisappearedDad...but not through any fault of his own.
338	* ThePollyanna: Chuck. Despite losing her father, being unable to speak to her aunts, and completely unable to make contact with the man she loves, she still keeps her optimism for the majority of the series.
339	* PostKissCatatonia: Ned sort of dangles in the air with his eyes closed and his lips puckered even after Chuck has stopped kissing him. It happens every time she kisses him, along with the [[MoodMotif theme music swelling with violins]].
340	* PowerIncontinence: Ned is forced to use an extendable arm with a fake hand on the end to pet his dog, and to come up with multiple creative ways to touch Chuck, because his power is always on.
341	* PowerTrio: Ned/Chuck/Emerson as [[FreudianTrio Ego/Superego/Id]], respectively.
342	** Also: [[BigThinShortTrio Thin/Short/Big]] (respectively).
343	* PreviouslyOn: The Narrator mentions Ned's ability and its rules OnceAnEpisode so new viewers are not lost.
344	* PrivateDetective: Emerson Cod
345	* PunnyName: Randy Mann.
346	* RaisingTheSteaks: Ned's touch can revive ''anything'' dead, including bear skin rugs and rotten fruit.
347	* RedOniBlueOni: [[TheCynic Aunt Lily]] and [[TheIdealist Aunt Vivian]].
348	* RepetitiveName: Charlotte "Chuck" Charles and her father, Charles Charles
349	** Which is why the recurring fan favorite choice for Ned's last name is Edwards.
350	** The Mother Superior of the nunnery is named Mary Mary.
351	* RetroUniverse: From Chuck's [[Creator/AudreyHepburn Hepburn-esque]] wardrobe to Ned's and Emerson's beautiful old cars, the world is like a more colorful version of the past... or the past as it should have been (although the idealized past apparently includes the Reagan administration as seen in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E7TheSmellOfSuccess The Smell of Success]]").
352	%% * RetrauxFlashback
353	* RidiculouslyAliveUndead: While Ned doesn't think "undead" is the best descriptor, those brought back by his power do fall under this trope. Any being Ned brings back to life appears to be no different from the way they were before they died, unless they sustained a gruesome injury or have significantly rotted. They can eat, drink, get hurt, etc. They don't appear to age, and to the trained nose they smell of death, but that's about it.
354	* TheRunaway: in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E2CircusCircus Circus Circus]]". (Kids still run away to join the circus in this world.)
355	* RunningGag: Emerson has trouble keeping track of the difference between "narcoleptic" and "necrophiliac."
356	* SadisticChoice: In "The Legend of Merle [=McQuoddy=]", [[spoiler:Charles Charles, the father Chuck always longed for, offers to take his daughter on a life of adventure--far, far away from the man she loves]].
357	* SarcasmMode: Emerson, all the time: "Oh, look at that, a dumb idea just found a friend!" And very occasionally, Ned: "'Come to our show, Frère Pie-Maker! It's a ''magic'' show."
358	* ScoobyStack: Chuck, Emerson, and Ned peeping out from a curtain in "Dim Sum Lose Sum".
359	* SecretChaser: Oscar Vibenius
360	* SecretKeeper: Though most of the main characters are keeping secrets, Olive seems to be an especially popular secret repository.
361	** Except, of course, the biggest secret of all...
362	* SeriousBusiness: Very nearly ''everything'', from honey to pop-up books to scratch-and-sniffs to synchronized swimming to department store window dressings.
363	* SesquipedalianSmith Emerson Cod
364	* SexyBacklessOutfit: The Dandy Lion model costumes in "Dummy". At the same time, the front leaves everything to the imagination.
365	* ShapedLikeWhatItSells: The Pie Hole is shaped like a giant pie.
366	* SherlockScan: Oddly enough, it's not PrivateDetective Emerson Cod who does this, but smell experts Napoleon Le Nez and Oscar Vibenius.
367	* ShoutOut:
368	** "[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Follow the yellow thick hose]]!"
369	** Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds''
370	** Emerson describes a character as going [[Literature/RedHarvest Blood Simple]].
371	** ''Film/TheGodfatherPartII'': "I knew it was you, Fredo."
372	** [[Series/DeadLikeMe Happy Time Temp Agency]]
373	** ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic''
374	** Father Dowling Mysteries
375	** ''Series/{{Mash}}''
376	** ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'': "What got thee to a nunnery?"
377	** Sister Christian
378	** "The Legend of Merle [=McQuoddy=]" is larded with shout outs to the 1977 Disney movie ''Film/PetesDragon1977''. The movie had starred ''Pushing Daisies''' narrator Jim Dale.
379	** ''Film/SupermanTheMovie''
380	--->'''Olive:''' You've got me? Who's got you?!
381	** ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'': in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E6Bitches Bitches]]"
382	** "You want to walk down together?" "That'd be swell, [[NotSoImaginaryFriend Harvey]]."
383	** Music/TheyMightBeGiants : Olive makes a metaphor about "a birdcage in your soul" and sings ''Birdhouse In Your Soul'' not long after in the same episode.
384	** [[Franchise/StarWars "I'm channeling fear into anger." "Anger leads to hate." "And hate leads to stress baking."]]
385	** [[Series/ArrestedDevelopment "Magicians?" "Illusionists!"]]
386	** Emerson describes Chuck as [[Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys happy-Golightly]].
387	** A 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' example appears in episode 3, when Alfredo Aldarisio is imagining the atmosphere leaving the earth and sucking him out into space while destroying the earth, you can see a [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy yellow bulldozer]] driving by outside.
388	** Another 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' example appears in "The Norwegians" -- the charcoal sketch of Dwight Dixon Vivian gives to Emerson has Dwight posed like Rose in ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' (complete with his pocket watch around his neck like Rose's sapphire necklace).
389	%% * SiblingYinYang: The Aunts
390	* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: "I grew up" is the reason Ned gives for disliking Halloween, even though it is really because [[spoiler:that's when he found out his father had a second family.]]
391	* SimilarSquad - the Norwegians though judging from some viewer reactions, they weren't similar enough
392	* SingleTargetSexuality: Ned doesn't want anyone but Chuck.
393	** He's claimed to have had girlfriends before Chuck, albeit not very believably. It may be a case of FirstGirlWins.
394	*** Aside from various emotional issues he has with getting too close to people, stuff like the little story about the bear skin rug explains a lot.
395	* SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty: Very, ''very'' shiny.
396	* SmokingGunControl: The newly-revived generally have incomplete or imperfect information regarding their deaths.
397	** Averted in Bitter Sweets. The murder plot is handled in the first 12 minutes. [[spoiler:Well, the first one anyway.]]
398	* SmellsOfDeath: One episode introduces a man obsessed with scents and odors, and he instantly takes an interest in Chuck and Digby, Ned's girlfriend and dog respectively that he brought back to life with his magic touch. He can smell that there's something off about them and wants to know ''what'', as there's not much that he can't normally suss out through smell.
399	%%* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Veronica Villanueva, in "Frescorts".
400	* SoundEffectBleep:
401	** in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E2CircusCircus Circus Circus]]", Ned repeats the secretary's description of the head clown as a "real low-down, dirty _____________" just as a circus performer walks by breathing fire, the flames both drowning Ned out and preventing viewers from [[ReadingLips reading his lips]]. When the flames clear, Emerson says "I've never heard ''you'' say those words."
402	** in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E3BadHabits Bad Habits]]", a revived nun swears a blue streak, conveniently drowned out by a church bell.
403	* StageMagician: Ned's twin half-brothers and their mentor, the Great Hermann.
404	* StealthPun: Usually {{Subverted}}, in that the narrator does not spare himself the joy of actually making the pun. For example, in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E7TheSmellOfSuccess The Smell of Success]]" Ned dredges up a sock from the sink in the kitchen of the Pie Hole. By the reactions of Chuck, Olive, and Emerson, its smell is most unpleasant.
405	-->'''The Narrator:''' The message was clear. Someone wanted to make a stink.
406	* StigmaticPregnancyEuphemism: [[spoiler:Lily]] spent time at a convent when pregnant [[spoiler:with Chuck.]]
407	* StupidSexyFlanders: Emerson can't stop looking at the [[AmbiguouslyGay highly effeminate]] male aqua dancer in [[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E13Kerplunk the series finale.]] And he's not happy about it.
408	* SugarBowl: The ''Pushing Daisies'' world is brightly coloured, full of pies, tender sweet moments, coy glances, happy honeybees, whimsy, and little charming gestures. This offsets the bizarre murders, morbid humor, and unflinching examinations of personal responsibility and morality.
409	* TheSummation: The narrator does this, sometimes several times an episode, and always starting with the phrase "the facts were these..."
410	* SureLetsGoWithThat: As to why Chuck is alive, the simplest answer is that she faked her death. See also CassandraTruth.
411	%% * SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel
412	* SwordFight: At the climax of "The Fun in Funeral", Ned has a sword fight with Wilfred Woodruff, the man who killed the victim of the episode. Woodruff's ImplausibleFencingPowers are justified; Ned's not so much:
413	-->'''Wilfred Woodruff:''' You should know that I was thrice named ultimate sword master at the Southern Area Regional Volunteer Infantry Reenactment Regiment.
414	-->'''Ned:''' I wanted to be a Jedi.
415	* SynchronizedSwarming: While following a case where a woman says she was attacked by a "terrifying bee man", Ned speculates about being chased by a human-shaped swarm of bees. [[spoiler:Turns out it was actually a person covered in bees.]]
416	* TaxidermyIsCreepy: the reason Randy Mann doesn't have many friends.
417	* TaxidermyTerror: Ned is terrified of preserved animals, but not for the usual reasons. He's afraid of accidentally resurrecting them.
418	%% * ThatPoorCat: "Comfort Food".
419	* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: With Broadway actresses Kristin Chenoweth and Creator/EllenGreene in the cast, it was [[TheCastShowoff inevitable]].
420	** Unfortunately, Olive was provided a missed love connection in the person of one Broadway veteran Raul Esparza, who... well, would a duet been too much to ask for?
421	*** File his song-less appearances on the show along with that of Christopher Seiber.
422	* ThemeNaming: Ned's three closest human associates all have food-related names: ''Olive'' Snook, Emerson ''Cod'', ''Charlotte'' Charles. (A ''charlotte'' is a French dessert: a "crust" made of ladyfinger cookies enclosing a mousse of some sort. Her nickname, "''Chuck''", can also refer to a cut of beef.)
423	** Also, both Snook and Cod are types of fish.
424	* TheyCalledMeMad: The scent scientists--both Napoleon Le Nez and Oscar Vibenius.
425	** [[spoiler:[[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mark Chase]] during his MotiveRant about the invention of the Dandy-Lion SX.]]
426	* TheyWouldCutYouUp: Ned's greatest fear.
427	-->'''Ned:''' Ever since I was a kid, I'd have this dream where somebody would find out what I could do. It starts off with lots of ice cream and balloons and ends in a small white room where little bits are cut out of me until there's nothing left to cut.
428	* ThisIsNoTimeForKnitting: Literally--Emerson Cod's knitting needles turn out to be instrumental in saving himself, Ned and Chuck from the bad guy.
429	%% * ThreateningShark: Bubba the Shark in "Kerplunk".
430	* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: "The Fun in Funeral" has a slight variant--Ned throws his sword into the wall, where it trips the fleeing villain.
431	* TimeshiftedActor: Because of the opening flashbacks mentioned above.
432	* TitleOnlyOpening: Made in some way out of daisies.
433	* TomboyishName: Charlotte "Chuck" Charles. (A common trope in Creator/BryanFuller works.)
434	* {{Tradesnark}}: Both the Narrator and Ned refer to "Betty's Bees, trademark" in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E1Bzzzzzzzzz Bzzzzzzzzz!]]".
435	* TranslationConvention: {{Subverted}} in "Dim Sum Lose Sum", when the Narrator notes that "Bao chose to respond in English."
436	* TranslationYes: In "Dummy", when the CEO of Dandy Lion is presenting a crash test to [[{{Japandering}} Japanese investors]]:
437	-->'''CEO:''' Science guy, tell them what happens in here!
438	-->'''Scientist:''' This is where we use electronic-anthropromorphic units.
439	-->'''CEO:''' ''[to investors]'' Dummy.
440	-->'''Scientist:''' To test the Dandy Lion SX for structural integrity, as well as the viability of all the restraint and impact-initiated safety systems.
441	-->'''CEO:''' We crash things in here. Boom ''desu ka''!
442	* ThemeTwinNaming: Averted if you consider the show tendency to alliterative and repetitive names.
443	* TwitchyEye: Ned. As noted by Emerson, Chuck and the Narrator, it twitches when he's lying.
444	* UnbelievableSourcePlot: Subverted because the investigator is on the inside and therefore knows the secret. The protagonist can bring the dead to life for a minute and interview them about their death. Sometimes, it feels like they still have to lie all the time to others about why they know so much. Not quite a paradigmatic example, but still showcases the endless lies necessary to cover their secret investigative trick.
445	* UndeathAlwaysEnds: Averted with Chuck, Digby, and [[spoiler:Mr. Charles]]. Exaggerated with everyone else, for good reason.
446	* UnlimitedWardrobe: To the point Chuck can dress thematically to the centerpiece of a given episode. So can Olive. And Chuck's aunts... right down to Lily having eyepatches to match her outfits.
447	* UnPaused: In the first episode, the first thing Chuck does after Ned brings her back to life is grab his tie and bang him on the lid of her coffin in self-defense against her killer.
448	* UranusIsShowing: Young Emerson gets sent to the principal's office for making this joke.
449	* ValleyGirl: Elise, the gold-digging wife in "Robbing Hood."
450	%% * VictimOfTheWeek
451	* WakingUpAtTheMorgue: at least OnceAnEpisode, starting with Chuck in the first episode
452	* WeatherAndEnvironment:
453	** RedemptionInTheRain: the aunts, in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E7TheSmellOfSuccess The Smell of Success]]"
454	** SnowMeansLove: "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E9TheLegendOfMerleMcQuoddy The Legend of Merle McQuoddy]]"
455	** AStormIsComing: "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E8ComfortFood Comfort Food]]" and "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS2E9TheLegendOfMerleMcQuoddy The Legend of Merle McQuoddy]]".
456	%% * WeHelpTheHelpless
457	* WhamLine: [[spoiler:"I'm... Charlotte's mother."]]
458	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Following the sudden cancellation of the show, the finalé of Season 2 leaves a few plot threads haning:
459	** The relationship plot between Alfredo Aldarisio[[note]]Travelling Holistic Businessman[[/note]] and Olive.
460	** [[spoiler:The fate of re-living Charles Charles.]]
461	** [[spoiler:The fate of Ned's father, as well as the hints of his return.]]
462	* WhodunnitToMe: Chuck helps solve her own murder in "[[Recap/PushingDaisiesS1E1Pielette Pie-lette]]".
463	* WindowLove: Practically obligatory for Ned and Chuck, as they can't touch in any other way.
464	[[/folder]]
465

Context Series / PushingDaisies