Dead Like Me Gets Life After Death, More For The Fans, A Bit Blase For Them, Though!

The Good: Funny, Well-acted, Interesting character work
The Bad: Absence and recasting of notable characters, Repeats/neglects what was in the series
The Basics: In a razor-thin "recommend," Dead Like Me: Life After Death gives fans a better closing to the series than the abrupt end it previously had.


[NOTE: The opening to this is dated from when the review was originally written and I left it unaltered. Enjoy!]

Yesterday, a dream of mine for the past two years came through and Dead Like Me: Life After Death made its debut on DVD. For two years, I have awaited this DVD, though, honestly, I had been looking forward to seeing it on the big screen. Two years ago at a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ellen Muth, the star of Dead Like Me had a table and she was signing autographs. There, she unfurled a banner for Dead Like Me: The Movie and fans like me were all atwitter! Last year, Muth was back at the same convention and when I met her outside while she was on a cigarette break from her autograph signing, she revealed that the movie had been pushed to DVD-only release and I was somewhat bummed out.

Still, having been a fan of the two seasons of Dead Like Me (reviewed here!), I eagerly awaited the release of the movie even on DVD. Having now seen the 87 minute film, I can see why the studio opted for a DVD-only release and not the full cinematic release. Despite what the producers say in the lone featurette on the disc, Life After Death does not tell a story that is bigger than the series was. The idea of a canceled series using the big screen to continue its story is not a new one; a few years back, Joss Whedon's army of Browncoats came together and got Serenity (reviewed here!) made to finish off the story of their beloved, prematurely executed television show and there is even talk now of an Arrested Development movie. But Dead Like Me is an odd choice to try to make the leap and with Life After Death they might have dodged a box-office bullet (aimed with a kill-shot) by releasing it on DVD only.

Five years after her death, George (Georgia, actually) Lass continues her work as a Grim Reaper taking the souls of the soon-to-be dead when her world is turned upside down. Der Waffle Haus has burned down and Rube, her boss since her death, has moved on to his next plane of existence. After a brief period to take this in, George and her fellow Reapers, Mason, Roxy and Daisy are whisked away to meet their new boss, Cameron. Cameron does not care about reaping as much as he wants to make money on the stock market and he outfits his reapers with handheld computers with their assignments and sends them out into the world.

But soon, chaos descends when George's reap is both a soul not close enough to death to take and the secret boyfriend of her younger sister, Reggie. As Mason takes to robbing, Daisy has a disastrous theatrical debut and even Roxy explores the apparent lack of consequences by saving the life of the man she was supposed to reap, George keeps it together by trying to do her job. But when she encounters her sister and is forced to reveal who she is to her, the consequences quickly begin to mount. While George tries to prepare Reggie for the death of her boyfriend while juggling her Happy Time boss Delores wrestles with the impending death of her beloved cat Murray, Roxy and the others stage a coup on Cameron to set some order back to those working in the afterdeath.

Dead Like Me: Life After Death has a big problem as a straight-to-DVD release that it might not have had had it been a theatrical release film, which is that it does not cater enough to fans of the television series. So, for example, the emotional impact of Rube's disappearance is absent for those who were not in love with the television series. As well, because the film begins as a comic strip to set up the premise, that audience could probably deal with the fact that the comic strip version of Rube bears no resemblance at all to Mandy Patinkin (who played him in the series). But more than that, a film audience would appreciate the repetition. The first five minutes of the movie is essentially a recap of the television show Dead Like Me and offers no new information to the viewer.

As well, Life After Death reuses footage of the primary characters that was shot in the television series to illustrate how each one originally met their demise. This is all fairly boring and repetitive to the fans of the television series and one must figure that if one is watching this film, then they saw and recall the series. They might not remember one of the most troubling gaffs in the film, though, which comes when Reggie references George as Millie, who works at Happy Time to her mother, a meeting that actually occurred within the series and Joy's lack of memory of in the film is preposterous and troubling.

That said, the basic premise of the film is decent, if a problematic recasting of events from the television series. Rube's absence and Cameron's nonchalant attitude is what sets off the apathy in the reapers. But Roxy's defection to this and George's makes little sense because both had seen the effects of souls rotting in their bodies in the series. In fact, one of the first episodes of Dead Like Me dealt with George trying to neglect her duty as a Reaper and the consequences were pretty well-documented. In other words, it was not just Rube's word that kept his reapers in line, it was their experiences with the deaths that led them to understand that he was right.

Still, the film is funny and it is hard to see how it appeared on DVD with an "R" rating. The language is more prevalent than nudity or anything else, but perhaps that is enough. Come to think of it, the f-word is said more than twice, so that might have done it. Outside the reaper's gone wild storyline, the movie is strong on character, especially as George and Reggie come together. What Dead Like Me: Life After Death does especially well is progress the Reggie character and actually forward some of the living characters in interesting ways.

For example, Joy Lass, George's mother, is much more emotionally solid and is riding high on having published a successful self-help book on loss and death. Reggie has grown up and the five years put her in a position where she is not bratty, but realistically experimental and having seen her last as a kid, it is pretty creepy to see her having her first sexual experiences in the movie. Even Delores has a reasonable arc with Murray rapidly progressing toward death and it is the living human moments that are the tear-jerkers in this film.

On the acting front, the cast is mostly solid. Newcomers Henry Ian Cusick and Sarah Wynter join the cast as Cameron and the recast Daisy. Cusick, whose work I have loved since he became a regular on the third season of Lost (reviewed here!) illustrates that he is a powerfully good actor by portraying a character I absolutely hated. Yes, Cusick, who is one of the reasons I eagerly turn on Lost each week, made me want to turn off Life After Death! Wynter adequately steps into the unchallenging role of Daisy.

The remainder of the cast is given the task of simply recreating their earlier performances from the television series and Callum Blue, Cynthia Stevenson, Jasmine Guy, and Christine Willes each do this expertly. Guy, for example, appears as if she has walked back onto the set the next day after the television series had ended and she picks the role up effortlessly. Britt McKillip, who plays Reggie, is given perhaps the most difficult task. She must play a character that is recognizably Reggie but illustrate some growth from the past four years and she nails it. McKillip's performance is possibly the best in the movie, removing the pout, but keeping the slouch of Reggie and making her a vital and interesting character.

Of course, most of the movie rests upon Ellen Muth and she is great as the responsible George. Driving throughout the movie, she illustrates a great sense of comic timing and she keeps the pace of the film moving while clearly playing George as a dead girl who has been stagnating. This is a great touch and Muth does wonderfully, especially in her scenes with Willes and McKillip.

But the movie is a tough sell to fans, who will feel like too much of the film is recap or already done and not likely to be appreciated by those who are not fans. On DVD it has a featurette wherein the cast and crew gush about returning to the Dead Like Me franchise and a commentary track that pretty much does the same thing. In other words, we all deserved more.

Still, as a fan . . . it's nice to see those who did show up come back and try to salvage the series.

For other television series' made movies, please check out my reviews of:
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
The X-Files: I Want To Believe
Babylon 5: The Movies

5/10

For other television reviews, be sure to visit my Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Enough, But It Still Didn't Deserve To Die This Way: Dead Like Me Season Two!

The Good: Good acting, Engaging characters, Funny, Interesting stories
The Bad: Repetitive storyline, Cut short
The Basics: George and the Grim Reapers continue their adventures while they all experience more richness to life than most of the living.


For all who have have not read my review of season one of Dead Like Me, (that’s here!) let me start with the crash course; Georgia (George) Lass was 18 years old when she died on her lunch break. Instead of resting peacefully, however, she was initiated into the profession of Grim Reaper. Unlike the stereotype, Reapers are not cloaked, hooded beings, they're just like they were when they were alive. They don't cause death, they just release the souls of the living and guide them toward their final resting place.

The second season of Dead Like Me opens with George continuing her undead work of being a Reaper while letting go of the attachments of her former life, namely her family. George learns to find her own path as her parent's divorce and her mother starts dating. Her boss - in the Reaper world - Rube, begins to deal with unfinished business of his own, an act that should be fraught with consequences . . .

. . . except the series ended.

The second season of Dead Like Me is a trip away from what many might expect of the show. The first season was very much George's story. The second season departs frequently from George and focuses instead on those around her: Rube, Joy, Mason, Roxy, and Reggie. And the truth of the matter is, the second season is pretty much enough. Unfortunately, Dead Like Me's ratings plummeted in the second season and Showtime did not pick it up for a third season. Hence, the odd title to this review; there's just enough Dead Like Me between the first and second season, but it still didn't deserve to go down hard, like it did. It seems reasonable - given where the series ends - that a film could be made to tie up the loose ends, especially in the Rube storyline.

The show suffers from its original concept; people die in crazy ways every week and it's the undead - the reapers - who seem to live the most and experience the widest array of the human condition.

As someone with a social conscience, I actually have to say that one of the most disturbing aspects of the second season of Dead Like Me is the smoking scene at the end of one of the episodes. While on a job, the whole group works together to remove the souls of a batch of people who experience a tragedy. Their cover, for no well-defined reason, is that they are a group of smokers standing outside the building. The camera dwells long enough on it, and they speak enough about it, that it becomes bothersome. Like we, the viewers, are supposed to not see the transparency of the cigarette ad. It's disappointing and beneath this series.

What Dead Like Me has that is outstanding is its characters. Here is how the second season finds them:

George - Largely quits being a slacker, learns some responsibility and begins to reach out to those in her new life, like Rube and Dolores. She lets go of her past more and more and comes into her own,

Rube - Begins to take some time away from his mentoring and his mysterious mission seems to fly in the face of all he has told George about the rules of being a Reaper. His parental instinct begins to evolve,

Roxy - Bored with simply being a Reaper, hanging out with other Reapers, and working as a metermaid, Roxy empowers herself to become a police officer and she finds purpose and a strange joy,

Mason - Sadly, his sobriety does not last. Instead, Mason begins to isolate all those around him in ways that force him into situations that push him away from most of the group, but closer to Daisy,

Daisy - The egocentric Reaper becomes vastly more empathetic as she attempts to revive her acting career, falls prey to a maniacal director, and experiences horrors that she did not know while alive,

Reggie - Her obsession with death grows and she begins to experiment and grow as a child into a young adult, frequently pushing her mother away,

Joy - Reggie and George's mom seems to get the short end of every stick in her familial relationships this season, which causes her to look elsewhere. She becomes exceptionally empathetic and her budding romance with a landlord is one of the changes in the show that is very enjoyable to watch,

Clancy - While George's death caused cracks in his relationship with Joy, the affairs he's had now expand them to fissures. He finds himself on the outside,

and Dolores Herbig - "Millie's" boss at Happy Time, Dolores works hard to bring Millie (George's alter-ego) out and her appearances are much of the comedy of Dead Like Me.

The cast remains a strong ensemble and they work well together. Jasmine Guy is fabulous in each and every one of her scenes. She plays Roxy with strength, dignity and an intriguing quality of aloofness that draws the viewer to her. Mandy Patinkin is great as Rube. He has a gentle strength and wisdom to him that binds the show together. Patinkin is a good enough actor to let others work a scene while maintaining his distance; his presence is never intrusive or overbearing. That's great acting.

Ellen Muth continues to dazzle as George. She has a simplicity and beauty to her that is very genuine in her portrayal of George. She has a good sense of comic timing and her voice-overs for the show have the ability to explore a full range from quirky to insightful.

It is, however, Cynthia Stevens whose acting steals the show for the second season of Dead Like Me. Stevens evolves the unlikable character of Joy well beyond the writing. She has an expert control of her face and voice, softening almost imperceptibly as her character is challenged or damaged. And when she does smile, Stevens provides an inner glow that truly transforms her character. She's the consummate professional.

Who will like Dead Like Me? Those who enjoyed season one, certainly, though they must be prepared for a completely different direction. People who enjoy Six Feet Under (reviewed here!) and want something to watch that is similarly themed, but far less depressing are likely to get a kick out of the contrast of Dead Like Me. Dead Like Me is not, however, for those with a short tolerance for repetition or those who are made uncomfortable by death in general.

It's too bad Dead Like Me did not have a chance to explore the consequences of the events of the second season, but we are left with a four-disc set that is just enough to make us appreciate the series.

For other works Bryan Fuller is associated with, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Pushing Daisies - Season 1
Wonderfalls
“Empok Nor” - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
“The Darkness And The Light” - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

6.5/10

For other television reviews, be sure to visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing.

© 2012, 2007, 2005 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Flash Of Lightning May Just Be A Toilet Seat From Space . . . Dead Like Me Season 1!

The Good: Interesting characters, decent acting, intriguing premise, well-executed plots
The Bad: Severely limited potential, Character of Daisy
The Basics: Despite the limited nature of the series, the first season of Dead Like Me is funny, sad and ultimately entertaining over and over again.


There are a lot of shows that I think it would be fun to write for or act in. Dead Like Me is not one of them. Were I a member of the acting community, I would be terrified of taking a part on Dead Like Me. It's hard to imagine the appeal to wanting to be a regular on this show.

When Georgia ("George" from here on out) is killed by a toilet seat from the space station, she finds herself not dead, but rather undead. As a member of the undead, her soul is conscripted to walk around taking the souls of the dead from their deceased bodies to the entry point to the Great Beyond. George's soul is not allowed to rest and she finds herself in the company of Rube and his team of Reapers, while still plagued with day to day concerns like keeping a day job and finding a place to live.

The reason I would be wary of wanting to be on the show as a regular cast member is because the show is conceptually designed away from any character's longevity. One of the premises of Dead Like Me is that each Reaper is conscripted to fill the post when another Reaper reaches their quota of souls they have to take. The thing is, none of the Reapers knows their quota. Rube has been around for hundreds of years, while Mason and Roxy have each been around for less than fifty. Betty, around since the twenties, helps to illustrate my point rather early in the series. Because there is no knowledge of how many souls each Reaper must take to move on into the afterlife, there is nothing that prevents any character from disappearing at any moment. In short, this is not a job one can take and be assured that it'll last if the writers or producers have a bad day.

The basic premise of the show is contrary to job stability. On the other hand, the show has a simple "out" when it wants to end the series; George can graduate onto the Great Beyond. The problem is, if season 1 of Dead Like Me is any indication, that time might not be too far off. I say this because in the limited series that is presented in the boxed set (it aired on one of the pay cable channel where the average season is fifteen episodes and it holds true to that ratio), there is a clip show. If one is running out of ideas in the first fifteen episodes, that does not bode well for the series.

Moreover, because the particular Reapers on Dead Like Me are involved with taking the souls of those who die in mysterious accidents (toilet seats falling from space, pianos falling from cranes, slipping on banana peels and hitting their head), the possibilities for story telling become somewhat limited. After all, there are only so many times one can sit down to watch people die in crazy ways.

Thus, the show is forced to rely on the character struggles of George to progress and it seems like many of them, like learning the mechanics of being undead and realizing how precious her wasted life was, are learned in the first season. The strength of the show is that the characters are decent and likable. The characters in the first season of Dead Like Me are:

George - A slacker who dies abruptly and finds herself a Reaper. The show revolves around her as she learns to let go of the life she once had and move on into becoming a motivated worker as a Reaper. At the same time, she takes on an alternate persona; Millie, who works in an office job at Happy Time Temp Services,

Rube - The lead Reaper. He has a love of food and has been removing souls for the longest time. He keeps the balance in the group and makes sure everyone follows the rules. Despite the problems she causes him, it is clear Rube has parental affections for George and he wants her to succeed and be happy,

Betty - An egocentric, somewhat eccentric reaper who helps George get settled before she makes a profound leap into the unknown,

Roxy - A no-nonsense reaper who works as a metermaid and treats George with a lot of adult respect,

Mason - The good-looking, dope using reaper who is often clueless and befriends George while trying to score with anyone he can,

Daisy - Betty's annoying replacement who is egocentric and barely empathetic. In fact, her most profound moment is one that Mason has on her behalf. She muscles in on George's space and annoys the viewers,

Clancy and Reggie - George's father and sister, they are hit hard by George's death and work hard to move on afterward despite one being unfaithful to his wife and the other staging a string of pranks and becoming obsessed with death,

Joy Lass - (yes, the name is a pun) George's unlikable, overbearing mother who slowly begins to reveal her very human heart as she struggles to keep the family together after George's death,

and Dolores Herbig - "Millie's" boss at Happy Time, Dolores is, in short, a character. Enough said on her.

The characters are interesting and fun to watch, but given how much is explored with the older Reapers, there seems little territory after the first season unexplored. If George is the centerpiece of the show (and she is), there is little left for her to do but grow to the point where she may experience the same conflicts and emotions as her Reaper predecessors, which may fit the character, but will be dull for us viewers as we've already seen such development in the other Reapers.

What makes Dead Like Me worth watching outside of its humor and heart wrenching truths is the acting. This is a pretty stellar cast. It's wonderful to see Jasmine Guy playing such an intriguing character as Roxy and Christine Willes is brilliant as Dolores. Cynthia Stevens - if the commentary track she participates in is any indication - is a great actress as her character is so unlikable and unloving whereas the actress is very vibrant and interesting.

Mandy Patinkin is great as Rube. He makes Rube a real rock of character for George and the audience to rely on. His gestures and mannerisms make him more than a strange boss, but also a very parental character. Patinkin also takes on his character's roles as cook, parent and boss with good humor and brilliant physical acting when needed. Patinkin sells the audience on the credibility of all of the mechanics of the afterdeath.

Ellen Muth, however, is the breakout star of this show. Playing George, the talented Muth provides realism in her character's initial sarcasm and disinterest and humanity as George wakes up to all she missed out on in life. Muth does great physical work in the course of the first season transforming George from a slouching, bored teen into a well-postured young adult who has bright eyes and a clear voice. Muth does an excellent job playing off each of the actors and actresses and makes Dead Like Me fun to watch.

While Six Feet Under (reviewed here!) is dark and real, Dead Like Me is humorous and surreal playing with the conventions of death and reminding viewers of how precious life is. It's a lesson we can all stand to take a refresher course in and this is a very fun way to do it.

For other works with Cynthia Stevenson, please check out my reviews of:
I Love You, Beth Cooper
The L Word - Season 3

8/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2006 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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If You Haven't Been Into Dead Like Me Before Now, "The Complete Series" Is Worthwhile!

The Good: Interesting characters, Decent acting, Intriguing premise, Well-executed plots, Includes everything!
The Bad: Severely limited potential, Repetitive
The Basics: When George Lass is killed in a freak accident, she becomes a Grim Reaper and her adventures in the afterdeath are all compiled as Dead Like Me - The Complete Collection!


There are very few concept shows that truly grab me, series' where the premise is based upon a very simple gimmick. I will admit, however, there have been a few and when Dead Like Me made its debut on DVD initially, I was excited because the show was heartwarming, funny and often clever. Despite the repetitive nature of the plots, there was just enough with the gimmick - Grim Reapers working and "living" among us - to keep me interested and engaged. So when I became a fan of it on DVD, it amused me but I was largely unsurprised when it was canceled after its second season.

I was, however, disappointed. I waited two years for the series to get a proper sendoff with the brand new film Dead Like Me: Life After Death and while it was worth the wait, it was not all it could have been. Simultaneous with the release of Life After Death is a complete series boxed set that puts everything from the series together in one, neat, slightly slimmer package. And for those who have not yet gotten into Dead Like Me, this is a treat and THE way to collect the series.

This boxed set features the original pressings of:
Dead Like Me - Season 1
Dead Like Me - Season 2
Dead Like Me: Life After Death
While the packaging is different and saves some shelf space, there are no additional programming features in this set.

For those unfamiliar with Dead Like Me, it begins with the death of Georgia. When Georgia ("George" from here on out) is killed by a toilet seat from the space station, she finds herself not dead, but rather undead. As a member of the undead, her soul is conscripted to walk around taking the souls of the dead from their deceased bodies to the entry point to the Great Beyond. George's soul is not allowed to rest and she finds herself in the company of Rube and his team of Reapers, while still plagued with day to day concerns like keeping a day job and finding a place to live.

One of the premises of Dead Like Me is that each Reaper is conscripted to fill the post when another Reaper reaches their quota of souls they have to take. The thing is, none of the Reapers knows their quota. Rube has been around for hundreds of years, while Mason and Roxy have each been around for less than fifty. Betty, around since the twenties, helps to illustrate my point rather early in the series. Because there is no knowledge of how many souls each Reaper must take to move on into the afterlife, there is nothing that prevents any character from disappearing at any moment.

In the second season, George continues her undead work of being a Reaper while letting go of the attachments of her former life, namely her family. George learns to find her own path as her parent's divorce and her mother starts dating. Her boss - in the Reaper world - Rube, begins to deal with unfinished business of his own, an act that should be fraught with consequences . . .

. . . except the series ended.

The second season of Dead Like Me is a trip away from what many might expect of the show. The first season was very much George's story. The second season departs frequently from George and focuses instead on those around her: Rube, Joy, Mason, Roxy, and Reggie. And the truth of the matter is, the second season is pretty much enough. Unfortunately, Dead Like Me's ratings plummeted in the second season and Showtime did not pick it up for a third season.

Fortunately, the series did come back for a lone film, Life After Death, but it has some fundamental changes from the series. For Life After Death, the story picks up five years after George's death. She continues her work as a Grim Reaper taking the souls of the soon-to-be dead when her world is turned upside down. Der Waffle Haus has burned down and Rube, her boss since her death, has moved on to his next plane of existence. After a brief period to take this in, George and her fellow Reapers, Mason, Roxy and Daisy are whisked away to meet their new boss, Cameron. Cameron does not care about reaping as much as he wants to make money on the stock market and he outfits his reapers with handheld computers with their assignments and sends them out into the world.

But soon, chaos descends when George's reap is both a soul not close enough to death to take and the secret boyfriend of her younger sister, Reggie. As Mason takes to robbing, Daisy has a disastrous theatrical debut and even Roxy explores the apparent lack of consequences by saving the life of the man she was supposed to reap, George keeps it together by trying to do her job. But when she encounters her sister and is forced to reveal who she is to her, the consequences quickly begin to mount. While George tries to prepare Reggie for the death of her boyfriend while juggling her Happy Time boss Delores wrestles with the impending death of her beloved cat Murray, Roxy and the others stage a coup on Cameron to set some order back to those working in the afterdeath.

Unfortunately, Dead Like Me suffered because the particular Reapers on Dead Like Me are involved with taking the souls of those who die in mysterious accidents (toilet seats falling from space, pianos falling from cranes, slipping on banana peels and hitting their head), the possibilities for story telling become somewhat limited. After all, there are only so many times one can sit down to watch people die in crazy ways.

Thus, the show is forced to rely on the character struggles of George to progress and it seems like many of them, like learning the mechanics of being undead and realizing how precious her wasted life was, are learned in the first season. The strength of the show is that the characters are decent and likable. The primary characters in Dead Like Me are:

George - A slacker who dies abruptly and finds herself a Reaper. The show revolves around her as she learns to let go of the life she once had and move on into becoming a motivated worker as a Reaper. At the same time, she takes on an alternate persona; Millie, who works in an office job at Happy Time Temp Services,

Rube - The lead Reaper. He has a love of food and has been removing souls for the longest time. He keeps the balance in the group and makes sure everyone follows the rules. Despite the problems she causes him, it is clear Rube has parental affections for George and he wants her to succeed and be happy,

Betty - An egocentric, somewhat eccentric reaper who helps George get settled before she makes a profound leap into the unknown,

Roxy - A no-nonsense reaper who works as a metermaid and treats George with a lot of adult respect,

Mason - The good-looking, dope using reaper who is often clueless and befriends George while trying to score with anyone he can,

Daisy - Betty's annoying replacement who is egocentric and barely empathetic. In fact, her most profound moment is one that Mason has on her behalf. She muscles in on George's space and annoys the viewers,

Clancy and Reggie - George's father and sister, they are hit hard by George's death and work hard to move on afterward despite one being unfaithful to his wife and the other staging a string of pranks and becoming obsessed with death,

Joy Lass - (yes, the name is a pun) George's unlikable, overbearing mother who slowly begins to reveal her very human heart as she struggles to keep the family together after George's death,

and Delores Herbig - "Millie's" boss at Happy Time, Delores is, in short, a character. Enough said on her.

The characters are interesting and fun to watch, but given how much is explored with the older Reapers, there seems little territory after the first season unexplored. If George is the centerpiece of the show (and she is), there is little left for her to do but grow to the point where she may experience the same conflicts and emotions as her Reaper predecessors, which may fit the character, but will be dull for us viewers as we've already seen such development in the other Reapers.

What makes Dead Like Me worth watching outside of its humor and heart wrenching truths is the acting. This is a pretty stellar cast. It's wonderful to see Jasmine Guy playing such an intriguing character as Roxy and Christine Willes is brilliant as Delores. Cynthia Stevens - if the commentary track she participates in is any indication - is a great actress as her character is so unlikable and unloving whereas the actress is very vibrant and interesting.

Mandy Patinkin is great as Rube. He makes Rube a real rock of character for George and the audience to rely on. His gestures and mannerisms make him more than a strange boss, but also a very parental character. Patinkin also takes on his character's roles as cook, parent and boss with good humor and brilliant physical acting when needed. Patinkin sells the audience on the credibility of all of the mechanics of the afterdeath.

Jasmine Guy is fabulous in each and every one of her scenes. She plays Roxy with strength, dignity and an intriguing quality of aloofness that draws the viewer to her. As well, Cynthia Stevens steals the show in the second season of Dead Like Me. Stevens evolves the unlikable character of Joy well beyond the writing. She has an expert control of her face and voice, softening almost imperceptibly as her character is challenged or damaged. And when she does smile, Stevens provides an inner glow that truly transforms her character. She's the consummate professional.

Ellen Muth, however, is the breakout star of this show. Playing George, the talented Muth provides realism in her character's initial sarcasm and disinterest and humanity as George wakes up to all she missed out on in life. Muth does great physical work in the course of the first season transforming George from a slouching, bored teen into a well-postured young adult who has bright eyes and a clear voice. Muth does an excellent job playing off each of the actors and actresses and makes Dead Like Me fun to watch.

On DVD, Dead Like Me The Complete Collection has all of the original bonus features (and no new ones). There are a few interesting commentary tracks and one or two featurettes on the making of the series and film, but nothing earthshattering. Still, they are fun and add some value.

And sometimes, "fun" is enough and Dead Like Me is worth adding to anyone's collection and this is the best way to do it!

For other complete series', please check out my reviews of:
The X-Files - The Complete Collection
Six Feet Under - The Complete Series
Wonderfalls - The Complete Series

7.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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