Dead Like Me
>> Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Dead Like Me is an American television comedy-drama starring Ellen Muth and Mandy Patinkin as grim reapers in Seattle, Washington. Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, the show was created by Bryan Fuller for the Showtime network, where it ran for two seasons in 2003 and 2004 before cancellation. Fuller left the show after five episodes due to creative differences; he went on to co-create Wonderfalls and create Pushing Daisies. Creative direction of Dead Like Me was taken over by executive producers John Masius and Stephen Godchaux. HDNet is currently showing reruns of the series on Monday evenings; the series is also being rerun in Broadcast syndication. A direct-to-DVD movie has completed filming and the target release is 2009; depending on the movie's success, the series may be picked back up again. A petition to bring back Dead Like Me is currently running.
Eighteen-year-old Georgia "George" Lass (played by Muth) is the show's protagonist and narrator. George dies early in the pilot episode. She becomes one of the "undead", a grim reaper. George soon learns that a reaper's job is to remove the souls of people, preferably right before they die, and escort them until they move on into their afterlife. George's death leaves her mother (Cynthia Stevenson) and rest of her family behind at a point when her relationships with them were on shaky ground.
The show explores the "lives" and experiences of a small team of such reapers — led by Rube (played by Patinkin) — as well as the post-mortem changes in George and her family as they deal with George's death.
Eighteen-year-old Georgia "George" Lass (played by Muth) is the show's protagonist and narrator. George dies early in the pilot episode. She becomes one of the "undead", a grim reaper. George soon learns that a reaper's job is to remove the souls of people, preferably right before they die, and escort them until they move on into their afterlife. George's death leaves her mother (Cynthia Stevenson) and rest of her family behind at a point when her relationships with them were on shaky ground.
The show explores the "lives" and experiences of a small team of such reapers — led by Rube (played by Patinkin) — as well as the post-mortem changes in George and her family as they deal with George's death.
Georgia Lass is aloof and emotionally distant from her family and shied away from her life. After dropping out of college, she takes a job at Happy Time Temporary Services. On her lunch break of her first day, she is hit and killed by a toilet seat from the de-orbiting of the Mir space station. She is informed shortly after her death that, rather than moving on to the "great beyond", she will become a grim reaper in the "external influence" division, responsible for reaping souls of people who die in accidents (many of which are of Rube Goldberg-style and complexity), suicides and homicides.
Through the first season, George has trouble adjusting to her circumstances: collecting souls, while holding a day job at Happy Time. By the second season, she has mostly adjusted to her new role, though still has unresolved issues with her life and her afterlife.
George's family is struggling to deal with her death. Her mother, Joy, is depressed, and visibly repressing it, while Clancy, her father, is cheating on Joy. George's sister, Reggie, acts out — stealing toilet seats from neighbors and school, and hanging them on a tree — before being sent to therapy by Joy. She clings to the belief that George visits her, but is starting to lie to cover this up. At the start of the second season, the family began to break apart as divorce proceedings began.
Nearly all of the main characters have some form of depression, but they cope with it in different ways: Mason resorts to alcohol and drugs; Daisy puts on a veneer of perkiness; and Roxy is physically and verbally aggressive. Rube and George are more open about their sadness.
Through the first season, George has trouble adjusting to her circumstances: collecting souls, while holding a day job at Happy Time. By the second season, she has mostly adjusted to her new role, though still has unresolved issues with her life and her afterlife.
George's family is struggling to deal with her death. Her mother, Joy, is depressed, and visibly repressing it, while Clancy, her father, is cheating on Joy. George's sister, Reggie, acts out — stealing toilet seats from neighbors and school, and hanging them on a tree — before being sent to therapy by Joy. She clings to the belief that George visits her, but is starting to lie to cover this up. At the start of the second season, the family began to break apart as divorce proceedings began.
Nearly all of the main characters have some form of depression, but they cope with it in different ways: Mason resorts to alcohol and drugs; Daisy puts on a veneer of perkiness; and Roxy is physically and verbally aggressive. Rube and George are more open about their sadness.
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