So, Pushing Daisies is finished, with little hope of rising from the dead. ABC finally aired the final three episode, with the finale airing this past Saturday. It was truly a magical show, with production design outpacing anything else on network television. In case you never watched it, here’s my take on the ingredients that went into its amazing potion:

Characters and plot like Lemony Snicket (cartoonish, punny, clever, full of secrets and back story) involving illusionists, half-brothers, beekeepers, aquatic shoes, pop-up enthusiasts, window dressers, secret recipes, rival Norwegian gumshoe gangs, and so forth.

Sets like Tim Burton (think saturation and wonder like Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, or the dollhouse artifice of the suburbs in Edward Scissorhands) overflowing with detail and color

Shots like Wes Anderson (characters centered in frame with lots of details, fast zoom-ins and so forth)

Narration from the guy who reads the Harry Potter audiobooks; impromptu musical numbers once every five or six episodes (with the actress who starred in Wicked as the singer); Guest stars from A Mighty Wind and all sorts of other good stuff

Dialogue delivery like Gilmore Girls (fast-paced like old gumshoe movies, or more accurately like The Middleman, but no one watched that)

Costumes like uh, frickin’ magic. I can’t think of anything else that has costumes like this show. So amazing.

Ten more brilliant and dearly missed costumes/sets/shots after the jump.

Continue reading R.I.P. Pushing Daisies