A coincidence?

Last week's episode of "Pushing Daisies" (Wednesdays, 7 p.m., Ch. 4) startled at least a few local viewers — although the near-Mormon reference undoubtedly escaped the vast majority of viewers.

A pair of crooked funeral directors had been stealing valuables off the bodies. When this came to light, the relatives of the deceased were very unhappy.

One — named Wilfred Woodruff — took matters into his own hands, stuffing the body of one of the funeral directors into the freezer at the Pie Hole restaurant, and then fighting a sword battle with the pie maker, Ned (Lee Pace).

Wilfred Woodruff IV (Eddie Shin), we learned through flashbacks, was the descendent of Wilfred Woodruff I ... who wasn't really Wilfred Woodruff I, but a Chinese immigrant who assumed the identity of a Civil War Confederate officer killed in battle. (And that's not even close to being the weirdest thing about the weirdly endearing "Pushing Daisies.")

Yes, it was Wilfred Woodruff, not Wilford Woodruff (the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), but it still seemed to be perhaps more than a coincidence.

Wilford Woodruff, of course, was the LDS Church president who issued the 1890 manifesto ending the practice of polygamy.

And, coincidentally (?), an upcoming episode of "Daisies" revolves around the death of a polygamist (whose religion is never referenced). Ned, Emerson (Chi McBride) and Chuck (Anna Friel) try to figure out which of his four widows murdered him.

No airdate for that episode has been announced yet.

THERE WAS A MORMON reference in Sunday's episode of "Desperate Housewives." And it did involve polygamy.

Gay couple Lee (Kevin Rahm) and Bob (Tuc Watkins) moved to Wisteria Lane, and Susan (Teri Hatcher) rushed over to welcome them to the neighborhood and ingratiate herself.

She failed miserably at the ingratiation. Susan didn't get that Lee and Bob are partners, so Bob clarified. They're "life partners."

"That's super! I've seen a lot of cable so I get it!" she exclaimed.

"Thank you," Lee deadpans. "I hope we can live up to your stereotype."

Lee wasn't enthusiastic about leaving the city for the suburbs. So Bob reminded him that he was "the one who said moving here would be better for Raphael."

"So, there's three of you," Susan says uncomfortably. "Well, that must be ... cozy."