Pushing Daisies still pushing out good stuff

Last night was the episode I was worried about.

The first two shows had been directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, who got the heave-ho from the studio in a budget dispute.

So the third episode was new director/lower budget, which sounds like a troubling combination.

However, I liked it a lot. Yeah, there was nothing as obviously expensive and ridiculous as a car that ran on dandelions, but the writing was still sharp, it still made me laugh and it had plenty of the absurd dark humor that leavens out the preciousness.

Favorite bit? When the coffin closed with the undertaker still alive inside and Chi Rodriguez ran for his life as the minute ran out. Good stuff.

So, I'm a lot more confident now that they'll be able to keep this up. I will be interested to see the ratings come in. The first two episodes were way more popular than I expected - this thing had quickly canceled cult hit stamped on it like a tattoo. But will they stick around?