Dead Like Me

[Mr. Analytical]

As I'm on holiday, I bought the first series on DVD.  Anyone have any opinions?

It's essentially a fantasy comedy drama about this girl who is chosen to be a Grim Reaper and she has to come to terms with the demands of her job as a Reaper and the demands of the real world (i.e. job, family, relationships).

I think it's okay but not brilliant.  The writing's occasionally quite good and some of the characters are quite fun (most notably the Heroine's boss who appears to be perma-chirpy and happy but hides a history of cystopic pregnancies, coke habits, sex with homeless people and having her whole house full of webcams).

The problems are :

1) Magical person balancing real life issues has been done to death endlessly.

2) The whacky death thing places it too close to Six Feet Under and is generally undercooked.

3) They run out of ideas after about 5 episodes.  All the big ideas are used up and it descends into a rut after that.  There aren't even any plot arcs.

anyone else seen it?

[Alberon]

Yep, just got to the end of the second, and last, season on Sky. The most frustrating thing about the cancellation is that I think by the second half of season two the show really starts to motor.

The elaborate deaths are no longer the fixture they were, you get arc stories, and the humour really grows. It's one of those shows that will never have a wide audience, but those it has will really like it. I suppose I was lucky to get a second year out of it.

[neveragain]

I remember the first episode being excellent and actually quite oddly touching when she had to kill a child at the end (sorry, spoiler, whatever) but after that it just seemed to repeat itself.

[Jack Shaftoe]

One of those shows I'm very fond of, but not entirely sure why, as the things wrong with it (including weirdly unconvincing swearing) wildly outnumber things right with it, yet I still like it.

It always struck me as something that might hit its stride in series 2, so glad to hear that's close to being the case, even if it still got cancelled. Does the 'oh noes her families' strand fade away? Because it was really getting on my tits by the end.

[Dark Sky]

I watched all the first series and couldn't really figure out if I liked it or not.

I like the idea of it, and the look and tone and humour of it.  And it had the best title sequence of any programme in the history of the world, ever.  (Maybe.)

But...I dunno.  It was like none of the writers really knew what to do with it.  I think episode six or seven was a clips episode.  

The characters were good, but there was little which actually motivated them.  So although they were all interesting in their sit-around depression, the fact remained that you could only do so much of them all sitting around in that waffle house looking vaguely glum.

I heard the second series was absolutely terrible, though?  I never saw any of it...I don't think Sky even bothered buying it...  Anyone disagree with that opinion?

[Alberon]

I watched all the first series and couldn't really figure out if I liked it or not.

I like the idea of it, and the look and tone and humour of it.  And it had the best title sequence of any programme in the history of the world, ever.  (Maybe.)

But...I dunno.  It was like none of the writers really knew what to do with it.  I think episode six or seven was a clips episode.  

That's due to the series being very short of money. The producers hated doing it but they didn't have much choice.

The characters were good, but there was little which actually motivated them.  So although they were all interesting in their sit-around depression, the fact remained that you could only do so much of them all sitting around in that waffle house looking vaguely glum.

I heard the second series was absolutely terrible, though?  I never saw any of it...I don't think Sky even bothered buying it...  Anyone disagree with that opinion?

Sky got it, promoted it well, and only finished showing the second season in a good slot a few weeks back. The second season is superior to the first. They don't all sit around feeling sorry for themselves (even George cheers up). And the arc with Ray and the one with Rube and the letter really raise the game. The series is dead, but I hope (in vain probably) for a TV movie at some point.

[waste of chops]

Interview with series creator Bryan Fuller at http://www.mediavillage.com/jmentr/2005/06/06/jmer-06-06-05/ which sheds a little light on its demise.

[Mr. Analytical]

That's due to the series being very short of money. The producers hated doing it but they didn't have much choice.

That's not a budget problem, it's a writing problem.  After Fuller was forced out they had these cool characters and then refused to do anything with them, so they just sat around in the waffle house.

That interview makes a lot of sense as after the initial arc of Reggie going weird and George railing against the system, nothing comes in to replace them.  So George just sits in the Waffle house and George's family don't do anything interesting despite being given huge amounts of screen time.  So the show fell back on the increasingly clicheed idea of fantasy people having to balance their real lives.

The drama in Dead Like Me is on the human scale and that doesn't require big budgets just decent writing and series planning and Dead Like Me didn't have either of them.  It just had a hell of a lot of potential and it started stronger than most recent series.  In a way it's worth seeing just to experience how easy it is for inept producers to fuck a great idea.

[Dark Sky]

The second season is superior to the first.

That contradicts every single piece of information I've ever heard about the show from people I know to professional magazine reviews.

But I will cling onto it and use it as an excuse to one day watch the second season with renewed hope and excitement.

And if it turns out to be crap then I'll personally hunt you down and castrate you.

And I agree with Mr Analytical: they could have done a low budget episode without resorting to clips.  It's just such a shame.  The whole series could - and should have been brilliant.

[Alberon]

The second season is superior to the first.

That contradicts every single piece of information I've ever heard about the show from people I know to professional magazine reviews.

I can honestly say I've never heard that from anyone other than you. The one friend of mine who likes the show thinks the second season is better.

But I will cling onto it and use it as an excuse to one day watch the second season with renewed hope and excitement.

And if it turns out to be crap then I'll personally hunt you down and castrate you.

And I agree with Mr Analytical: they could have done a low budget episode without resorting to clips.  It's just such a shame.  The whole series could - and should have been brilliant.

The series is not effects heavy so a cash-crunch could have forced them to do a clips episode. Even a bottle show costs money, and Dead Like Me had to do the equivalent of those as well. In the second season they cut out nearly all the visions of the afterlife the souls have as they move on and the only major effects are the Gravelings and the occasion shots of ghosts being walked through.

Dead Like Me was not without its problems, but it got better. The last six episodes are the best of the lot.