10 TV Backstories Revealed In Opening Credits
6. Pushing Daisies
Pushing Daisies was a rather interesting series about a pie maker, the woman he loved, and his magical ability that kept them forever apart. The backstory is somewhat complex, but thanks to the talents of one of the world's greatest narrators, the whole thing is spelled out in less than 30 seconds in the opening credits.
The narration was provided by the inimitable Jim Dale, who manages to be brilliantly succinct. The manner in which he speaks pulls the viewer into a fairy tale world like no other narrator possibly could, but more than that, he spells out the basis of the series, and leave the viewer wanting more.
"There once was a pie-maker who had a gift. A touch that brought the dead to life. The gift followed these rules: Touch a dead thing once, alive. Touch a dead thing twice, dead again forever. Keep a dead thing alive for more than a minute, something else has to die."
This is followed by a shot of a man rolling dough and some more pastoral imagery with a bee. That brief explanation spells it all out, and the first episode introduces the pie-maker and the woman he loves, but can never touch...