Christmas TV Binge

So I don't have cable at my house. Also, I'm not great at making time for sitting during the semester--and I don't mean this in a "my mom only lets me watch documentaries" kind of way, I just never have made time for TV really so now it's hard to find time? You know how time expands that way? Anyway. Christmas break is when I catch up. My TV shows this break have been Pushing Daisies, finally, and 30 Rock, even more finally--my brother-in-law has been pushing this show since its inception.
Pushing Daisies is adorable. To be critical and intellectual for just a sec: I think this and Dead Like Me (who was created by Brian Fuller too) probably say something about something, about us searching for meaning in a secular world or showing our discontent with traditional explanations of life-after-death or discontent with the explanation that there is no life after death. On a less critical level, it's a really cute show. I think it's clever and funny. The dialog is spry and cleverly written, the premise is ridiculous (a man who bakes pies can bring people back from the dead but only for a minute or someone else dies and if he touches them a second time they're dead forever), but is pulled off marvelously. I also really like the design: colorful and quirky. I'm not in love with the CI stuff, but whatev. The casting is really interesting too. Lee Pearce, the hero, is the kind of normal looking skinny guy (normal leaning toward adorable) who aces the "I can bring people back from the dead but it's not that big a deal really" understatement that is the essential ingredient in making this and Dead Like Me believable in any measure. And Anna Friel plays a great free spirited (red-haired) counterpoint to Pearce's hair pulling nervousness. Meh meh generalities, mostly positive, it was good. But question: is there not an overabundance of cleavage? The premise preempts any sex between the main characters which is really nice, but I think they might be making up for it with a lot of low-cut/unzippered outfits/mermaid costumes.
For 30 Rock I also give some thumbs up. Like I said, my brother-in-law loves the show and I've been meaning to watch would only watch a part of an episode and I was done. I guess what I'd like to say it this: it gets better with every episode. I love Tina Fey and her obvious poking fun at herself, Tracy Morgan is kind of over-the-top, but that's the point, and Alec Baldwin is soo good at being smarmy and disconnected. The real strength is this, I think: it's fast paced and sharp, but manages too to get at the characters' humanity which is the thing that gets me coming back. It's a good balance. Go TV binge!