TV: ‘Pushing’ its luck
From the National Association of Broadcasters show at the Las Vegas Convention Center …
The narrator has long been my biggest pet peeve with ABC’s “Pushing Daisies.”
“Young Ned was 9 years, 27 weeks, six days and three minutes old. His dog, Digby, was 3 years, two weeks, six days, five hours and nine minutes old.” We get it. The show is quirky.
But it turns out finding just the right voice to read the aggravating lines was a major undertaking. Creator Bryan Fuller said when he was writing the show’s pilot episode, he kept hearing Patrick Stewart’s voice in his head. But once it came time to cast the part, no one struck the right tone — until executive producer Dan Jinks, who’d been listening to the Harry Potter audio books, suggested their acclaimed narrator, Jim Dale.
Dale eventually got the job, beating out numerous other actors — including, Fuller revealed, “Desperate Housewives” star Kyle MacLachlan — who could have been just as annoying.