Perhaps. I missed the first two minutes of the show. I could have sworn that the narrator said that reviving his mother was actually when he realized what he could do.
The span of time from reviving the dog and his mother keeling seems to have been about the time it took for a pie to cook, if I read the opening right.
He brought back Digby the dog first, after he was hit by a semi. And the squirrel died. Then his mom swatted the fly and he brought it back (squished - eww) and we didn’t see what else died. Then his mom died and he brought her back, but Chuck’s dad died (he didn’t know at that point what the conditions of the deal were - he was just glad his mom was alive). Then his mom kissed him and she died again, but couldn’t be resurrected. He doesn’t touch Digby, which the waitress said made Digby neurotic, although he has a fake skeletal hand he pets him with.
StG
I DVR’d it, so I can check later to see what the narrator said; I know there was something said about him realizing the extant of his powers, but don’t recall exactly when it was said or how it was phrased.
I really wasn’t giving this show too much of a shot; it looked just too gimmicky. Like it’d have no story for the sake of being really pretty and quirky.
And it was pretty, and it was quirky. But it definitely benefitted from the very bittersweet vein of the relationship to Chuck, that they will themselves to be so close, but cannot touch. It’s much more of a punch than I expected.
I also enjoy seeing Chi McBride getting work.
I think this gets a DVR spot, so I can see all its glory in HD, even if I can’t park in the living room for the hour.
ETA:
I forgot one major distraction during the episode:
Ellen Greene just cannot do anything without me thinking of Little Shop. And then “Somewhere That’s Green” gets stuck in my head for days. Shit.
Which brings up an interesting question: did his mother die because he revived a dead fly?
But, as Newsweek used to say, “Buy the premise, buy the flick.” It’s not worth worrying about the details and foolish consistency.
I just watched it, I liked it.
The dog got hit by a car, he brought it back, a squirrel died and oh by the way, the dog is still alive 20 years later, a very healthy 23 year old, so there appears to be a little more to his powers than just bringing them back to life.
The Mom was brought back to life and accidentally killed before he knew how his power work.
In bringing back his Mom, Chuck’s (Charlette) Dad died.
I liked the characters and the quirkiness. I hope the rest of the shows can hold this quality.
Jim
Burtonesque – yeah, even the music. One reviewer compared it to Amelie, and that works too.
It’s so pretty and colorful. The set design in the aunts’ house was luscious, and the Pie Hole is kinda neat too.
So does the power also include a truthiness component?
How cool that Chuck asked that guy if he had any last thoughts or wishes.
I teared right up when they held their own hands. Where’s the “Awwww” smiley?
Edited to add – a check of IMDB shows the Narrator as Jim Dale, who was in the Digby movie. He’s also done a bunch of “Carry On” things, which I’ve heard of but know nothing about. And did he write the song Georgy Girl? And do a whole bunch of Broadway? He also does Harry Potter audio books.
I can quickly see this becoming my favorite t.v. show (House is it right now).
It’s so sad though. The girl he’s obviously meant to be with is there, and she wants to be with him, and they can’t even touch the slightest bit or else he will lose her forever.
I’m all depressed now. I’m such a woman.
He realized he could revive the dead once he did so to his dog, but he didn’t realize that someone else would die until Chuck’s dad ended up pushing up daisies after he revived his mom.
I liked it. I don’t know how it will stand up over time, but I liked this episode. Good choice of a narrator-- he reminds me of the narrator for “Fractured Fairy Tales” (my favorite cartoon as kid).
I couldn’t help but conjure up an evil counterpart. He would be more adept at controlling the power, able to specifically designate who was going to die if he didn’t snuff the newly reanimated within the time limit.
Well, the pilot also shows that they re-die if they touch him. And, sorry, his dog has to have touched him in 20 years. Hell, my cat jumps on me several times a day. Any dog I ever had has come up and put his nose on my or his head under my hand a few times a day. Sorry, this almost ruins the show for me.
Not to mention why the fuck doesn’t he buy gloves! (I see Evil Captor noted this also).
I dunno, I think "Back to You"might be a better choice for this slot.
That ruins the show for you? Weird.
Anyhow, perhaps dogs can sense his power, much the way they can sense earthquakes and smell cancer. I wish they’d put in a throwaway line to address that, but I’m also willing to totally overlook it.
I’m also NOT going to always bring a stopwatch and time the revival minute down to the second. I think doing so would NOT increase my overall enjoyment of the experience.
My daughter thinks the narrator also did the *Lemony Snicket * audiobooks.
It was quirky, but what the hell was up with the commercials every two minutes during the last half hour? That was very distracting.
Ivylad fears it’s going to be the same thing week after week…touch someone, find out who killed them, put them back under, collect reward money, lather rinse repeat. I’m hoping they can expand beyond that.
A lot of loving care went into set design…if nothing else, the person responsible should get an Emmy.
Any importance to the hometown which translates into Heart of Hearts?
Isn’t 20+ years really old for a dog? Does getting touched by Ned give you somekind of eternal youth?
All in all, I really loved the look and feel of the show. Very Big Fishy to me. It’s a great premise and for the most part, smartly written. That being said, I’d be shocked if it lasted more than two seasons. These kinds of shows just don’t do well. Wonderfalls, anyone?
That’s what Hallboy said 10 minutes into it.
Absolutely he should wear gloves! I really liked the show, but it was ridiculously nerve wracking for Ned and Chuck to sit so close together, when an accidental touch would kill her.
I liked Swoosie Kurt’s line, “I can hold my breath a long time.”
The narrator is Jim Dale, who did the Harry Potter audiobooks (in the US; Stephen Fry read them in the UK). He does a good job. And I agree that it’s implausible that the dog hasn’t tried to touch or lick him (not to mention the dog’s advanced age).
It was incredibly noticeable in The West Wing when she was standing/walking next to Allison Janey - who is not a short woman.
As I saw it, once the minute time limit was explained, Mom died because the fly, once revived, flew away. Therefore it was out of rage and couldn’t be touched again, so something/one else had to die. That would have been Ned’s mom, who was the closet living being to Ned. Then, after Mom was alive for more than a minute, the next closet living being was Chuck’s dad (Chuck had headed into the house before then.)
I like this show. True, as stated above, it’ll be hard to maintain fresh story lines for more than a season or two, but I’ll take it for now.
And Sonnenfeld also had something to do with the live action The Tick (producer? not looking it up right now.) There’s the same feel to both of these shows.
I wish I still had it on my DVR, 'cause I’m pretty sure there was a moment devoted to the dog’s uncanny age. Not an explanation, because I don’t think the characters understand it any more than we do, but somewhere near the end, Chuck did say something about the dog - maybe she asked if it was the same dog, or something? And there was a silent moment of “ah.” where it seemed (to me, anyway), that everyone suddenly “got” that there was some sort of extended youth or immortality thing that probably applied to Chuck, too.
Which would be really interesting, perhaps in flash-forwards. What happens when, after a lifetime of loving one another from inches away, he gets old and she doesn’t? It’s like a Rogue vampire story…