Replanting 'Daisies': Will it bloom or wilt?

0 Comments | USA TODAY, August, 2008 | by Gary Levin

BURBANK, Calif. -- Ned the piemaker can bring the dead back to life with a touch of his finger, but for ABC's Pushing Daisies, the resurrection is more complicated.

The drama, a unique mix of romance, comedy, fantasy and crime-solving, produced just nine episodes last fall, not always smoothly. Then it abruptly shut down last November -- along with much of Hollywood -- for the three-month writers' strike.

When that cloud was lifted, ABC decided to shelve the series until this fall. It returns Oct. 1, nearly 10 months after it left off.

Four other first-year shows face a similar holding pattern: ABC's other Wednesday dramas, Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money, and NBC's Life and Chuck. (Only Life has the misfortune of also switching time slots, to...