Hacker Cinema
Dead Like Me
2003 · TV series · 2 seasons
Created by Bryan Fuller
Science FictionFantasyDramaComedy
When her life comes to an abrupt end, George discovers that death is nothing like she thought it would be. Recruited to collect the souls of others as they die, she suddenly finds herself an unwilling participant in a line of work she never knew existed: Grim Reaping!
4 positive3 neutralfrom 7 commenters
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7 comments on Hacker News
Guess it wasn't a toilet seat. Life imitates art.
Dead Like Me, love that show: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348913/
This is related to the topic, but not this specific article. I used to have a really, really, really tough time with death. I spent far too much time thinking about it, trying to avoid it. There was a show on showtime called "Dead Like Me" (its available for free on prime). It had a profound effect on me, I don't obsess over death anymore and that is a gigantic relief. Hell, I only watched one season 10 years ago, but its stuck with me. I hope this helps anyone that has gone through something similar.
I remember that in the TV series “Dead Like Me” the main (dead) character’s mother vehemently abhors the word. It was the first time I had ever encountered aversion to it and I marked it down as deliberate “quirkiness-injection” by the scriptwriters.
When I later discovered that the aversion was widespread (much like my inexplicable hatred of parsley) did I realise it was an actual phenomenon. I always put it down to the connotation of female sexual arousal.
If they fail, they could always open a movie studio. I mean Netflix originals are some of the best shows and movies around... Dead like me, Stranger Things, Haunting of hill House, The OA, Sex Ed, etc just to name a few...
Dead Like Me was a great show, which was really getting into its stride (plot-wise) when it was cancelled.
Thus far I've resisted the temptation to view the movie they made - largely due to Mandy Patinkin's absence.
It's critically acclaimed because it's original. A critic (and I know this having worked as a reviewer) has likely seen every single show that came out every year. When you've seen generic sitcom A through F, you're going to love something that's original right through from premise to characters (the characters do fill out into the 2nd season, but Fuller has a problem that his main character is often a complete vacuum - like Dead Like Me the main character was simply a way too present observer; by the end I literally loved every character but the lead).
Better Off Ted suffered the same problem (different creator) with the main character being vacuous. His boss was great, his colleagues were great, his daughter was great, I even liked the narration because it was out-of-character from the main character.
I find with the major sitcoms people relate to the main character and solely the main character. I think the main reason Chuck Lorre has done so well with Two And A Half Men and The Big Bang Theory is that it's not just the main character that you can relate to, meaning you get the unbelievably avid fans from those "critically acclaimed" shows making huge noise and driving a near doubling in viewers of their shows (the big bang theory went almost 7-million viewers from the first till third season). You don't see this growth in your average series, it tends to start large and decline continuously (Hawaii Five-0 dropped 4-million viewers in the first 4 episodes).
I'm another person who cancelled cable and started watching things I normally wouldn't on Netflix. I'm rewatching the Doctor Who new series now and loving every minute of it. Wife and I watched Dead Like Me, Arrested Development, Pushing Daises, and lots of documentaries and movies.