Dead Last

Interesting, short-lived series that never found the audience it deserved. The premise seems like something Sid and Marty Kroftt might have cooked up for one of their live-action shows: A rock and roll trio come to possess a magical medallion that enables them to communicate with ghosts and send the troubled spirits on the the other side. Along the way, the two guys and girl who make up this little group struggle to make it in the music biz and deal with their various personal and family problems. What keeps this from turning into a 1970s Saturday morning cartoon is some pretty hip, rapier-sharp dialogue of the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER variety and the then-current rage of "seeing dead people" ala THE SIXTH SENSE. BUFFY fans might have liked it, if they had seen it. Too bad more people didn't.

I friggin loved this show! It made its debut in Canada on YTV's "Dark Corner" (a few hours of shows pertaining to the paranormal, most of them horribly faked). Much like YTV's Dark Corner, Dead Last was short lived and unfortunately the only episodes made repeated for a few months afterward and were eventually pulled off the air. I managed to record a few of the episodes but over the last few years they've succumbed to damage or some jagoff has taped over them. I'm stuck with the pilot, and I want more.

It's sad to think that if the show had been put out a year later maybe it would've had a stronger response; after all that is when pop-punk hit it's peak and spawned a fresh batch of poseur tweens who, without a doubt, would've taken to the idea of an indie rock band battling the "Unseen". So hardcore. Then again I'm thankful it came out when it did because I'm sure those damn kids and their eyeliner would've ruined it for the rest of us.

I found the show was well written and had a delightful sense of humor. You'll love it even if you're not that into ghosts. The characters were phenomenal, but of course it had the right cast to pull it off. I don't want to think of Tyler Labine as anyone but Scotty, and I just don't see enough of Kett Turton these days. There is a petition online to put the show on DVD (although I know most of us would rather them make more episodes)

I *loved* this show! And now. . . its not on the WB anymore. It was great, though. I'm really into the paranormal. . . so this was my kind of show. But, like all the good paranormal t.v. shows. . . its gone. I miss it. ..

Dead Last is a TV series that mixes ghosts, comedy and rock in a fascinating way. The rock band "The Problem" is on tour and the three members always are solving ghosts' problems. But the missions are sometimes funny, sometimes thrilling, and sometimes a real drama. In an hour they have enough things to do to make this a really exciting show. It's remarkable the performance by Sara Downing. She plays a rock girl, sexy, with brain and also she seems to need some love, but none of the members of the band would fill that need.

There's actually a real-world band called Dead F***ing Last. I wonder whether that's where they got the name for this show.

I confess, I only had an interest in watching this thing because Harry Groener was guest-starring on it. But I have since acquired all the episodes on DVD, partly because of Tyler Labine (currently starring on ABC's "Invasion"). He was far and away the most believable and convincing of the three "rock stars". This series wanted to be a supernatural spin on movies like "Almost Famous", and it would have succeeded, had the WB not been such arses about scheduling it. The rest of the cast and the writers would have gotten better with time. It's the curse of television sitcoms that time is one commodity they can't afford.

Best episodes: "The Crawford Touch" guest-starring "Ghoulies" Michael DesBarres as a evil rock producer impresario who traps the gang and forces them to contact his resident ghost, a Kurt-Cobain type genius whose final record is hidden/lost forever. "To Live And Amulet Die", simply on the strength of my Harry being in it :) as an evil professor obsessed with gaining the band's magical amulet. The pilot and the lion's share of eps I'm sorry to say weren't that good. But they *would've* gotten better-- and Labine is fun to watch in every single ep; we can only hope "Invasion" kicks him off on the strong career "Dead Last" should have.

Just an aside: no series about any band will ever succeed without extended footage of the "band" performing at least one honest to God hit. "Dead Last" made the mistake of cutting away right when The Problem hit the stage. Nobody is going to believe your series about a struggling rock band unless you actually show them playing; I'm sorry, but it's a fact. There's a reason "The Monkees" lasted more than one season.