ISABELLA VOSMIKOVA/ABC
Amid all the hype and schadenfreude around Viva Laughlin this fall, it’s worth noting that we already have a successful primetime TV musical on the air: ABC’s Pushing Daisies. While the knives came out for Laughlin, Daisies has quietly–which is to say, not so quietly–been having characters burst into song, to charming and, as in Wednesday’s episode, beautiful effect. That’s a natural outgrowth, I suppose of the show’s penchant for casting Broadway workhorses like Kristin Chenoweth, Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz. (Mrs. Tuned In and I have been making running bets on which musical actor/tress shows up next. She’s guessing Patti LuPone, but let’s not forget that Mandy Patinkin has some time on his hands now that he bolted Criminal Minds–and a history with Bryan Fuller’s Dead Like Me. I doubt we’ll get a number from next week’s guest star Mike White, but I wouldn’t rule out Paul Reubens.)
Daisies is probably better suited to the musical format than Laughlin to begin with; it already has the built-in whimsy and suspension of realistic expectations, and Aunt Vivian’s delivery of “Morning Has Broken,” complete with a big synchronized-swimming finish, was weird and touching in a way that only this show can be.
Anyway, on the off chance that any Daisies fans are reading this on the morning after Thanksgiving, I ask you: What singing actor do you want Daisies to cast next? Bonus question: What do you want them to sing? That, or you can just make another turkey-and-sweet-potato sandwich and crawl back to bed.