Why you should give a rat's booty about Pushing Daisies

If you need another reason to watch the quick, smartly-written Pushing Daisies, besides the fact that it's perfect, then let me present to you the hilarious Mr. Chi McBride.

I laugh during Pushing Daisies more than I laugh during How I Met Your Mother (which is a lot), and most of the time it's because of McBride's wry, compulsive-knitting, pop-up book-making Private Eye, Emerson Cod. Maybe it's because we have the same sort of mean, sarcastic sense of humor, but that man never fails to crack me up. He is the perfect balance to the sweet, fantastical Ned-Chuck-Olive love triangle.

Early in last night's show when the women are giddy over a magic trick that produces free tickets to a magic show, Emerson, who thinks magic is a "voodoo grift," feigns excitement, patting around his coat pockets exclaiming, "A magic show!? Where did I put that rat's ass I could give?" Then the Emerson eye roll I love so much.

Of course they go to the magic show, which is just a conduit for the magician (brilliantly played by Fred "I'm Not Made of Hugs" Willard) to convince Emerson to find out who is killing all his show animals.

Emerson doesn't want to take the case, since he's a real detective who doesn't investigate "missing puddy tats and dead bunny wabbits." That is, until The Great Hermann (Hair-mahn) promises to pay extra big bucks. All Emerson has to do is blow on his hand for the money to appear, to which Emerson impatiently demands, "Man, gimme my damn money."

The best episodes (to me) are the ones with lots of Chi McBride, and last night's episode was one of his best. Plus, it had The Great Fred Willard, which makes it maybe my favorite Daisies episode of all time. I can't even delete it from my DVR.

Willard doesn't overplay the magician bit. He's not some kooky cliche magician -- he's a businessman. Not cold, but practical. And blunt. When explaining to Piemaker Ned how he came to adopt Ned's twin half-brothers after their father "dropped them like they were hot," he says, "You can't sugarcoat that turd." He compares adopting the boys to feeding a stray cat. He says he loves the boys, but that tuna pate wasn't a promise. That's when you know the hot boys are about to get dropped again.

And in a way, they do get dropped because we only get The Great Hermann for about the first 20 minutes of the show. Yes, he sadly joins the puddy tats and bunny wabbits in that great false-bottom top hat in the sky.

The gang spends the rest of the show trying to solve Hermann's murder, honing in on the two remaining members of Hermann's magic staff.

Which leads me (in a roundabout way) to my other favorite reason for watching Pushing Daisies -- Kristen Chenoweth.  I actually laughed out loud last night when she tried to pull the railroad stake out of The Geek's nose -- "Oh no, that's all the way up in there, he's dead. Yep, he's gone."  Also golden: Swoozie Kurtz as Chuck's boozy one-eyed aunt/mother.

Oh, there are SO many reasons to watch this show. Quick! Before ABC cancels it.