Wondering what your favorite grim reaper has been up to lately? You won’t have to wonder much longer: The canceled-too-soon Showtime series Dead Like Me is getting a new life (groan, sorry) on DVD. Or at least a new couple of hours: A made-for-DVD movie is in the works.
Dead Like Me starred Ellen Muth (The Truth About Jane) as a young woman named George Lass (and yes, I think her name was probably intended to make you think of Jan Brady’s imaginary boyfriend, George Glass). George met an early demise when a toilet seat hurtled down from space and smashed right into her. And then, just to make matters weirder, a grim reaper named Rube (Mandy Patinkin) came along and recruited her to be a harvester of souls.
What you can’t tell from that description, though, is that Dead Like Me was really charming and funny. George was still a teenager, albeit a deceased one, and she had a lot to learn about, um, life. And the unfolding of each reaper’s backstory was more fascinating than any flashback on Lost. There was even a cubicle farm subplot that rivaled some of the best moments on The Office. This show had everything, including Jasmine Guy in a uniform. (A meter maid uniform, but a uniform nonetheless.)
Jasmine also looks good in cufflinks.
Throw in bizarre deaths à la Harold and Maude, the occasional murder mystery and – above all – exceptional writing week after week, and you get the idea. Oh, and did I mention the show was created by Bryan Fuller, who also brought us Wonderfalls and currently writes for Heroes? That guy knows quirkiness. And he’s the reason I’m looking forward to Pushing Daisies this fall.
