Courtesy of ABC

Filling in for Dan Kois today is Fluxblog editor Matthew Perpetua.

In a fall season where even the two shows that qualify as breakout hits — NBC's Bionic Woman and ABC's Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice — seem curiously low on buzz, Bryan Fuller's critically acclaimed dramedy Pushing Daisies seemed like it could be the saving grace of a rather fallow crop of new shows. So, now that it's aired, is there any chance that it is going to take off?

Well, it's a question of scale, maybe. Pushing Daisies may be the twee-est show in the history of network television, and as such, its audience seems limited from the start, at least in the sense that Michel Gondry and Wes Anderson films don't exactly dominate the box office. Everything about the show seems self-consciously geared toward achieving cult popularity, which may not be enough to sustain the quality of its meticulous art direction and expensive production values.