±±¾©Èü³µpk10

The mix-up is due to the channel only having an eight-week window in which to show the nine-part series, which, like many US shows, was itself truncated by the writers' strike.

The series will continue this coming Saturday with the third episode rather than the second, which will be shown "at a later date" according to an ITV spokesman.

He said the situation had developed as a result of the US writers' strike, which left the series and others such as 'Bionic Woman' and ' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' with shorter runs than normal. Those two shows aired only eight and nine episodes respectively.

Schedulers decided to cut the series run down to eight episodes and selected the second episode as the one that could be removed with the smallest disruption to the narrative flow.

Asked whether ITV would change its mind if viewers complained, the spokesman said it would not be possible to screen episode two before episode three this Saturday.

'Pushing Daisies' features British actress Anna Friel as the childhood sweetheart of pie-maker Ned, played by Lee Pace, who can bring people back to life by touching them, but he if touches them again, they die.

Although the first episode lost out to 'Casualty' on BBC One, it did well with the highly sought after younger audience, with 31% of 16- to 34-year-olds, compared with 18% watching 'Casualty'.