Dead Like Me

Finally a show I can watch and get interested in. Dead Like Me continues to intrigue me through great acting and well written scripts. The whole reaper thing seems to be a sub culture; go to the message boards. There are back and forth discussions about minute details, as if the reapers are real. They aren't, but one can still empathise with these "dead" people. As each reaper grows through life situations (usually sticky) the viewer grows to like each character even more.

Mandy Pantinkin adds a wonderful balance to the whole cast. His character Rube fascinates me. He is secretive, yet he opens himself to emotional attachments with the reapers he "manages." Each of the reapers have their weaknesses and strengths, but like the viewer, they discover them through the crazy situations they find themselves in.

Its on late Sunday night, I'm on the West Coast, but I don't care because the show is the highlight of my Weekend TV viewing. Watch it once and you will be hooked!

This show is easily one of my favorites. Ellen Muth's interpretation of the disaffected, cynical teenager who is forced into sticking to a higher standard is right on. The writers have produced some of the funniest comedy, especially where George's boss Dolores is concerned; a former junkie who has taken home drifters ("passionate lovers", she calls them), who gives no thought to using a Tazer on a courier at the elevator in order to get her incontinent cat to the vet. The dialogue is funny, and hearing what's going on inside George's head while she puts on a smile is more than a little amusing. The show still visits the serious side of things, showing how the Lasses lost a daughter, while George has lost her whole family. Little by little, the audience is fed bits and pieces of information about the lives and deaths of the main characters. Most mysterious is Rube. He has a love-hate relationship with the unseen being who delivers the death lists, and we know only that he had a daughter, and that he attempted to send money to someone named Rosie and her mother back in the 1920's. (The postal service failed to deliver it,unknown to him until 2004.) We can only wait to find out how everyone's lives -and deaths- have played out. This show is absolutely nothing like Six Feet Under, for which I am grateful.

For me, TV hit a golden age during the early-mid 80's. It's been a long time since I've been as moved by a television show as I was with Dead Like Me.

Dead Like Me features Ellen Muth, who plays an 18 year old kid who gets killed by a toilet seat from the space station MIR. Her death introduces us to the fascinating world of the Grim Reaper. Full of workplace rules, guidelines, assignments, and generally horrific deaths, Dead Like Me explores the subject of death in a very unusual, yet original way.

When George(Muth) becomes a reaper, her whole world as she knows it changes. She, and her group of reapers, lead by Rube(Mandy Patinkin), use a German waffle house as their base of operations, receiving post-it notes with the names and times of their reaps. Another sub-plot of the show centers around George's family, and the adjustment that they go through after George's death.

Throughout the two seasons(currently available on DVD), the viewer follows life through the eyes of George, and also though her quirky narration. We see George grow into a more confident young woman, and also witness the interactions amongst the various characters and their reaps.

This show is without a doubt one of the most interesting shows out there, and with any luck, Showtime will decide to re-visit this show. I watched for about two minutes and was hooked. I'm certain you'd enjoy this show, too.

This program is only like 6 Feet Under in that it deals with death. The rest is totally different. The characters are believable, sad, and sometimes stereotypes, but what show doesn't use stereotypes?? The cast is great, I wish they would use the Roxy character in their story lines more. Actually, this program deals more with life and how to live while you're alive than with death. The deaths are always wildly improbable, but then again, if you watch the news people die in weird ways every day. The music is appropriately atmospheric and thoughtful. The story lines are always a mix of sad, inspiring, and philosophical. These characters learn something and grow with each episode. An excellent show all around.

It's hard for me to like much on TV. I was devastated when they pulled Keen Eddie, it was one of the best things I've ever seen on network TV. I feel better after watching this show. It's quirky, engaging, and humanizing. I particularly admire the upbeat take on death juxtaposed to the darkly comic view of life. Dead Like Me is the only reason I'll continue to pay for Showtime. Most studios are desperate to be fringe and edgy, neglecting to notice that (while audiences love novelty) we also want characters with flaws. I'm sick to death of the beautiful empty. The show helps to remind us of what we are neglecting to notice in everyday life, the mundane poetry of the collective order. George discovers the beauty of life only after she's dead. The character's are lovably eccentric, the dialogue is casually caustic. It's Gen-X genius.