Bryan Fuller: Past Works

Bryan Fuller has created some great shows, but due to network meddling, Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me were never given a chance to flourish. But these weren't where he started in the television business; a self-described sci-fi fan, Fuller wrote scripts for two Star Trek series, as well as a few other projects. He has also written for Heroes (which will be discussed more in the posts about that show), but while the aforementioned series have all been successful, his own shows have crashed and burned (Wonderfalls) and have been removed from his control (Dead Like Me).

Since I may one day do a more in-depth post on Wonderfalls, I won't delve into its themes too deeply here. The show followed Jaye Tyler, a graduate of Brown University who chooses to work in a souvenir shop at Niagra Falls and live in a trailer. The rest of her family (whose names all rhyme, a fact further separating her from them) are successful overachievers who are perplexed with Jaye's choices, but still love her. But Jaye's life is put on a course she never hoped to take when she started hearing voices from inanimate animal-shaped objects. These trinkets give her obscure instructions that allow her to help out people in need (a fact that Jaye detests; why should she help anyone else?!). FOX quickly lost faith in Wonderfalls (sound famliar Firefly fans?) and gave the show at least three different time slots across four weeks. Having seen the entire series and hearing about where the show was heading, I can say that FOX once again killed a potential classic-in-the-making.

On the other hand, Showtime's Dead Like Me lasted two seasons. However, Fuller left early on in the show's development, since MGM insisted on making changes to the show that Fuller deemed necessary (one important one was the sexuality of lead character Georgia "George" Lass' father; a scene in the pilot suggested that he was gay, and then was ignored throughout the rest of the show, since MGM didn't want him to be gay). I only saw about a quarter of the episodes, all of which were from the second season, so I cannot comment on the quality of the series as a whole. From what I saw, I found the premise interesting and the episodes funny and somber enough, but it just didn't click with me the way I thought it would.

George Lass dies in the very first episode, killed by debris from the MIR space station (specifically, the toilet). Instead of going on to the afterlife, she is recruited to be a reaper, undead beings who walk to Earth in order to remove the souls of those about to die (they do this by touching them; this detail will become relevant by the end of this post as well as for the next one). She joins the reaper crew led by Rube, a man who died in the 19th century and has become somewhat jaded with and tired of life on Earth. The other reapers try to find ways to hold on to and honor their own lives. Former flapper Daisy (played in the series by Laura Harris and in the upcoming direct-to-DVD continuation by Sarah Wynter; I mention this because those two actresses played sisters on 24 in the second season) tries to make sure that people still find her beautiful and interesting, while 60s druggie Mason can't get past his mooching and layabout ways.

Fortunately, after two failures, success finally has come to Fuller with Pushing Daisies, which sort of started out as an idea to use on Dead Like Me; the reapers can take life with a touch (well, they actually take out the soul with a touch; the mischievous gravelings do the actual killing), while Ned, the lead character of Pushing Daisies can return life with a touch. Daisies is probably the quirkiest show Fuller has created yet (and that's saying something), and it is by far the best.

Up next: The facts are these...