My Weekend Crush

How cute is Kristin Chenoweth? So cute that in this week’s episode when she brandished a knife while threatening “Don’t make me cut a bitch!” I think I actually squealed. Out loud. Like a little girl. Since I’m on the wrong coast to be a big Broadway fan, I had never experienced Kristin at length before “Pushing Daisies.” In fact the most I knew about her was from “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” where the character of Harriet Hayes (played by the equally brilliant, not to mention gay, Sarah Paulson) was based on her. On Daisies, Kristin’s Olive Snook is so disarmingly adorable you can’t help but fall in love. She is pocket-sized perfection -- pretty, petite, perky. Plus, she tends to wear low cut tops. Hey, I’m only human.

Now normally I don’t go for the overly perky type. Kelly Ripa and company are high on my list of people I’d never want to get stuck in an elevator with. But with Kristin, underneath the perky is untold depth. In a few episodes she has turned the cheerily love struck Olive into a rich, not to mention hilarious, character. And from everything I’ve read and seen about the woman herself, she is just as delightfully kooky and charming. OK, sure, she recorded a Christian album and there was that unfortunate “700 Club” club appearance. But she later apologized and called Pat Robertson and his ilk “scary.” She has been unquestionably great to her large gay fan base and fully supports gay marriage. I mean, a woman who names her dog after Madeline Kahn could never be all bad. And I haven’t even gotten to her voice. Sweet Lord, her voice. And at 4 foot 11 she is finally a woman I could tower over. OK, fine, “tower” may be an overstatement. Happy weekend, all.