Much like Judd Apatow, Bryan Fuller has been hit by the Louisville Slugger of fate creating innovative, yet ultimately cancelled shows. Before Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me ran on Showtime from 2003-2004. Its main character Georgia “George” Lass (Ellen Muth), a bored college dropout, dies when a toilet seat from the Mir space station slams into her. Because she didn’t care about choosing a direction in life, she is reincarnated as a grim reaper.
Every week George would be assigned souls to take by fatherly Rube (Mandy Patinkin). She’d bond with her fellow reapers: angry meter maid Roxy (Jasmine Guy), immature thief Mason (Callum Blue), carefree flapper girl Betty (Rebecca Gayheart), and vain actress Daisy (Laura Harris). Reapers don’t get paid so George worked at the Happy Time employment agency. She’d crack wiseass jokes about workplace clichés and her nutty maternal boss, Delores Herbig (Christine Willes).
One of the inventive aspects of Dead Like Me was how it turned death into black comedy. People rarely died predictably. Their last moments unfolded like the Three Stooges performing a Rube Goldberg routine. And, the “reaps” as they were called, also commented on the morality of ending life.
In almost every episode, George would observe how the Lass family was grieving her death. The marriage of her parents, Clancy (Greg Kean) and Joy (Cynthia Stevenson), slowly unraveled; Reggie (Britt McKillip) obsessed over her dead sister in odd ways. Too late does George realize that she affected those around her. Drama was intense, but never clichéd. The show had tight narratives and creatively used similarities between subplots for dramatic and comedic effect.
When Dead Like Me ended, fans petitioned Showtime for another season. In response, MGM, which helped produce Dead Like Me’s original run, is releasing a direct-to-video continuation of the series called Life After Death. If this film sells well, we can expect more of them or a new season. All I can say is ouch! Aside from trite jokes involving money and mouths, that sort of deal makes me further doubtful that television will survive. For fans, it’s not great, but watchable, especially for George meeting Reggie at last. For anybody that I’ve hooked with my series recap, please buy Dead like Me: The Complete Collection, which includes Life After Death and both seasons. Dead Like Me was and still is one of the most daringly funny shows ever on TV
Life After Death opens five years after George Lass died. After witnessing their meeting place, Der Waffle Haus, burn to the ground, the reapers are soon whisked to a fancy restaurant. They meet Cameron Kane who introduces himself as the new head reaper. According to him, Rube got his promotion having reached his quota of collected souls. George remains skeptical but has even more problems. Her latest assignment is to claim the soul of a high school jock named Hudson Hart who has a secret relationship with her younger sister. Meanwhile, the other reapers fall under Kane’s spell and start misusing their reaper powers for personal gain.
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