Pushing Daisies - Main Cast

Ned has the ability to bring dead things back to life. But the catch is, if he leaves them alive for more than a minute, something else dies. And if he touches something a second time, they're dead forever. Ned makes pies (he has a shop called the Pie Hole) and helps Emerson solve cases by touching murder victims, finding out who killed them, and returning them to death; but he lets one victim live -- his childhood sweetheart Charlotte. He falls for her, but they can't touch or she'll die for good. Ned seems to have no last name. The narrator consistently refers to Ned as "the Pie Maker." Ned has a dog named Digby, whom he also can't touch, for the same reason as Chuck. He scratches Digby with a special long-handled dog-scratching stick.

Chuck lived next door to Ned as a girl, but the first time they see each other as adults is when Ned brings her back to life after she's murdered while on a cruise by herself (the newspapers call her "Lonely Tourist Charlotte Charles"). Having spent most of her life in the company of her beloved agoraphobic aunts, Lily and Violet, Chuck embraces her new life and is eager to help Ned and Emerson on their cases -- much to Ned's delight, but not Emerson's. Her only regret is that her aunts think Chuck is dead, which means that, as she's supposed to be dead, she can't see them. Thanks to her aunts, she knows a great deal about cheese.

Emerson is a private detective who found out about Ned's gift and set up a profitable partnership with him, collecting rewards by finding out who the murderers were directly from their victims. He is inclined to be grumpy and practical, and his main motivation seems to be making money. To manage his stress, he knits sweaters. He seems to be very good at it.

Olive works at the Pie Hole and has a thing for Ned, which is quite unrequited; her sense of neglect is exacerbated by Ned's unwillingness to touch her (she's unaware that Ned is unwilling to touch anyone). Her reaction to Ned's growing infatuation with Chuck is one of jealousy, and at first she schemes to displace Chuck somehow. When Olive discovers that Chuck is supposed to be dead, she sees her chance; but in the end she feels sympathy for Chuck. Olive takes care of Ned's dog when he's not around, and likes to sing (and does it very well).

Lily and Vivian, Chuck's aunts, were aquatic performers known as The Darling Mermaid Darlings for much of their lives, but Lily accidentally got dust in her eyes while cleaning the cat's litter box. This resulted in the loss of her right eye and the end of Lily's life as a synchronized swimmer and, as Vivian did not wish to continue without her sister, the team was disbanded. Lily and Vivian stayed at home with Chuck and became increasingly unsettled by the outside world. Lily wears a decorative eye patch and is inclined to be more cynical than her sister.

The other half of the Darling Mermaid Darlings, Vivian is a little friendlier than her sister Lily but shares with her many traits of their social disorder. Vivian is more inclined to speak in an uncensored way and dislikes being touched. Her manner in general is more ethereal. Vivian is an expert taxidermist and preserves their birds after they die in order to avoid looking at an empty cage.