[Scarlett.]

Friday, 30 January 2009, 10:00PM - 11:00PM

Narrated by Jim Dale, this whimsical tale describes how Young Ned (series star Field Cate) discovered that he could return the dead briefly back to life with just one touch. But, as he soon finds out, his gift isn't without consequences, and he quickly learns the rules. With the first touch, life; with the second touch, death again, this time forever; and the final rule: if something is kept alive for more than a minute, something else must die in its place. Now grown, Ned (series star Lee Pace) is a pie maker, and puts his ability to good use, not only touching dead fruit and making it ripe with everlasting flavor, but working with a morally ambivalent private investigator, Emerson Cod (series star Chi McBride) to crack murder cases by raising the dead and asking them to name their killers. The tale gets complicated, as all tales do, when Ned is handed a case that will change his life forever. His childhood sweetheart, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (series star Anna Friel), is murdered on a cruise ship under strange circumstances. Ned brings Chuck back to life, albeit briefly, to solve the crime. But once reunited with Chuck, Ned can't bring himself to touch her again. Chuck encourages Ned to use his power to help others, instead of merely solving mysteries and collecting the rewards, and becomes the third partner in Ned and Emerson's PI enterprise. Ned is overjoyed to be reunited with Chuck, the only girl he's ever loved. Life would be perfect for Ned and Chuck, except for one cruel twist: If he ever touches her again, she'll go back to being dead, this time for good. This season, Ned and Chuck's relationship begins to change as Chuck yearns for more independence and moves out of Ned's apartment - without Ned's support. Olive Snook (series star Kristin Chenoweth), the waitress at Ned's Pie Hole, with the loaded gun of secrets, cracks under the pressure of keeping the deep, dark secret of Chuck's eye patch-wearing, drink-swilling Aunt Lily (series star Swoosie Kurtz) - that Lily is actually Chuck's mother - and runs off to a nunnery. Digby the dog gets a new friend when Pigby, a truffle-hunting sow, moves in. And the sudden appearance of mysterious Dwight Dixon (recurring guest star Stephen Root - NewsRadio, The West Wing, King of the Hill, Leatherheads), who is an old friend of Ned's and Chuck's fathers, spells trouble for everyone. The series also stars Ellen Greene as Vivian, Chuck's other aunt and Lily's sister. Together, the two sisters make up the famed Darling Mermaid Darlings synchronized swimming team. In the second season premiere, Chuck goes undercover as a "Bee Girl" at a honey-based cosmetics company after their new spokesmodel (guest star Autumn Reeser - The O.C.) is stung to death. Chuck soon discovers that office politics are killer - literally - between the founder, Betty Bee (guest star Missi Pyle - Boston Legal, Heroes) and the new owner, Woolsey Nicholls (guest star French Stewart - 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Closer). Meanwhile, Ned can't stand Chuck's growing independence - or the fact that she wants to move out of his apartment. And Lily spirits Olive off to a nunnery so she won't spill Lily's deep, dark secret.