Bryan Fuller recently revealed that his movie “Dust Bunny”  was originally supposed to be an episode for Apple Tv’s “Amazing Stories”. Fuller didn’t stay on the show and the episode was then pushed aside. He took the story and turned it into a feature length film for his directorial debut. Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time Fuller had done this. Three years after the end of his television show “Dead Like Me” he released a new series called “Pushing Daisies”. In a 2008 interview, Fuller revealed the premise of this show was also originally an idea for an episode of “Dead Like Me”

“Dead Like Me” follows a girl, George Lass (Ellen Muth). Lass dies by getting hit with a dislodged toilet from a space shuttle. She is then tasked to become a Grim Reaper. The series follows her, and her team of fellow reapers, as they collect souls and help them move on to the afterlife. 

“Pushing Daisies” is also a show that revolves around death. This time we  follow Ned (Lee Pace), also known as “the Pie Maker”, who has the unique ability to bring people back to  life with a touch of his finger (with some stipulations). This story follows Ned, his detective friend, and his childhood love as they solve murders by gathering information of those deceased. 

How did the idea of “Pushing Daisies” come to be?

The episode of “Dead Like Me” was supposed to follow George dealing with re-collecting souls that she had already collected. Eventually, that would lead to her discovering there was someone with the ability to touch people back to life. Ned was also supposed to function as a love interest for George. The episode was eventually scrapped, reworked, and extended to create “Pushing Daisies”.

“Pushing Daisies” added a subtle nod to “Dead Like Me” in one of their episodes. In an attempt to solve one of their mysteries, the team needs to infiltrate a honey company.  They used a temp agency called “Happy Time Temp Agency.” This is the same agency that George works at in “Dead Like Me”. (Unfortunately her job as a Grim Reaper didn’t pay her bills). Otherwise the two shows seem to operate in their own universe. Both shows ended after a 2 year run and have amassed cult followings. 

Fuller has always operated with the fantastical and coupling it with adding whimsy to grim subjects such as death. He works well with these themes and presents them in a visually striking way. This is something he has carried over in his recent film “Dust Bunny”, which perfectly encapsulates everything great about Fuller’s works.