Drop Dead Diva

"Drop Dead Diva" is a new series on Lifetime. The pilot is very enjoyable, mainly because of the star, Brooke Elliot, who is fabulous. She plays a brilliant, highly successful attorney, Jayne, who pays no attention to her appearance - she's on the heavy side, and her hair is long with no style. One night, she stays late at the office, and a man, angry with one of the partners, comes in with a gun. She is killed. At the same moment of her death, a shallow, pencil thin, blonde beauty named Deb is driving to an audition to be a prize demonstrator on The Price is Right and crashes while putting on lipstick. Upset that she's dead, once in heaven, she hits a "return" button when the check-in person isn't looking. She ends up with Jayne's body, Jayne's brains, and her own memory.

I love the premise - it's been used in movies before, but usually seriously. Some of the scenes are great, including when Deb first sees herself as Jayne, Jayne trying to get into Deb's clothes - I won't spoil it for you. Since Deb has inherited Jayne's brain power, she's thrilled that she's now smart, and certainly knows how to deal with competitive women, which Jayne did not. I love how Elliot incorporates Deb's bubbly personality beneath the person of Jayne.

Very well cast, with Margaret Cho as Jayne's assistant and Kate Levering, a talented Broadway actress, as Deb's friend Kim.

Great fun, and I'm so happy that Lifetime has been branching out from its women in jeopardy theme.

I love this show! My sister is the one who turned me onto this. She was visiting and while I worked she spent a lot of time watching TV and movies. Anyway one day she kept bugging me to watch this show she DVR'd. It sounded idiotic to me, but I gave in. And I was hooked. I always set my DVR to record it now.

This show is so funny and witty. I like all the cast members, no one is overly annoying, even Kim can be OK at times. I can't wait for the next season. I hope this show stays on too, my sister also got me hooked on Kyle XY and Veronica Mars and both of those great shows were canceled. I hope this show can hang in there and get the viewers it deserves.

OK, you KNOW if Margaret Cho is involved, there will be some decent writing. As much as I like the show, Cho's is my favorite character. She fires up any scene she's in. Wait, no Fred is my favorite character. And Grayson. And Jane! Everybody's interesting, seriously, and the acting is really right on. The premise is Freaky Friday meets LA Law, but add in a guardian angel, smart chicks, models, and fresh story lines.. and hey, you've got my attention. Drop Dead Diva is unpredictable, but with the likable hooks surrounding romance, achieving partner, and beauty. You can stream it on Netflix, which is slightly addictive. So beware.

What a FUN show. The plot is familiar but well worked. Brooke Elliot is delightful to watch! She captures the flirty sorority girl trapped in a plus sized body with panache. The rest of the cast is delivers interesting performances and I really want to get to know them all. It will be interesting to watch the development of her guardian angel as he figures out life on earth. The court cases are interesting to observer. I usually avoid Lifetime and its sentimental disease of the week programming, but I am seeking this show out. I hope that they will be able to sustain their great start. I am not sure if it is being picked for more episodes, but I hope this show has a long run!

Like Tom Hanks, Brooke Elliott has "that certain something", that very few actors have. It has to do with Likability. She exudes a very pleasant charm. She makes it easy to believe that a sweet, model-aspiring airhead has inhabited a high power attorney and has access to her rapid-firing brain cells. I like it that the Jane Bingum character has a golden moral compass and yet is playful like a Sex in the City girl. Kudos to the creator and writers for creating a character that is like a real person. The Jane Bingum character reveals great sensitivity and vulnerability along with areas of great strength and fortitude. This is no "one note" character like the many that usually populate series TV shows. Drop Dead Diva is both high drama and wry comedy by virtue of its excellent writers. But, where would this show be without Brooke Elliott? It will be interesting to see what she does next. I predict a smart producer or director will cast her in a movie on the big screen very soon.