The Facts Were These: Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone Reported Canceled

E! Online is reporting that creator Bryan Fuller has confirmed the (more-or-less expected) cancellation of Pushing Daisies, the highly regarded but low-rated fantasy-comedy that has been under a Hollywood deathwatch for the last few weeks.

Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money also are said to have gotten the axe, though so far the word is unofficial.

Creator Fuller is philosophical about ending Daisies, which has had a bumpy road. "To be honest," Fuller told E!'s Kristin Dos Santos, "I'm really not feeling very boo-hoo about it. I am so proud of the show. We put together 22 really good episodes, and there is a lot to be proud of. I'm sure I'll be working with a lot of these people again, and I would love to do so."

Kristin Chenoweth, who plays the bright-and-shiny Olive Snook on the show, said Thursday night she'd already gotten the bad news. "I just found out about an hour ago," she said. "Pushing Daisies will probably forever be one of my most happiest times of my career. I loved being a part of that show, such quality, and I'm very sad." Chenoweth speculated the writers' strike, which interrupted and truncated the first season, had a lot to do with the show's failure to find an audience despite sharp scripts and innovative production.

The orphaned storylines for the unmade "back nine" episodes of this season are slated to be covered in a comic book, and Fuller has joked about the possibility of a feature film.

I'll miss Pushing Daisies a great deal, but I also agree with Fuller – perhaps a show this unique is better off, in a way, being represented as a handful of gems. Eli Stone, however, has, I think, run its course. My review of the second-season premiere noted how the show had, in deliberately casting aside the mystery involving Eli's visions, damaged its own appeal considerably, and the ensuing episodes tracking the disintegration of Eli's firm haven't changed my mind.

Goodbye, Daisies. Bryan – thanks for the pie. It was delicious.