Sassy Says Dead Like Me is underrated

Posted by Sassy in Sassy Says | 0 comments

Our deaths are pre determined. When it is our time, a grim reaper comes and takes our souls before we really die. After that, we get our afterlife. What happens though, when a grim reaper’s quota is filled, and your soul is the one that gives them their afterlife, leaving you a new reaper? This is the premise of an amazing show that ran two shortly lived seasons on Showtime from 2003-2004.

Dead Like Me is a show that I picked up when I was working my second job at Blockbuster back in 2005. A co-worker suggested it to me, and I took home the first disc. The minute I put it in my DVD player I fell in love.

The show opens on our narrator and main character, Georgia “George” Lass, a college drop out, and underachiever, who is going for an interview at Happy Time Temp Agency, to look for Temp work. On her lunch break, she is struck by a toilet seat that fallen out of space. Right before a stranger touches her, taking her soul. This was his last soul of his quota, and ends up getting his afterlife. Her new “boss” Rube (brilliantly portrayed by Mandy Patinkin) tells George she is now a Reaper. He takes her to Der Waffle Haus to meet the other Reapers in her division, which happens to be Accidents, Suicides, and Homicides. At Der Waffle Haus, The reapers usual meeting place, she meets Mason, Betty, and Roxy. George accompanies Mason on his reap for the day, and then she is sent to do her own reap. I’m not going to spoil anything, but that first reap George does is really, really powerful.

The rest of the season goes on to show what happens if you don’t reap the person, if you reap the wrong person, and also shows how George’s family deals with her death, and the story continues into Season 2.

The show is filled with dark comedic overtones, chock-full of wit, and sarcasm. It was created by Bryan Fuller who previously did a show called Wonderfalls, and after Dead Like Me did an amzing show called Pushing Daisies that ended up also only being two seasons and deemed too smart for television.

Dead Like Me was followed up with a movie to end all of the loose ends from the end of season 2. It gave a sense of closure, but did not make me stop wishing for more of this amazing show.

Dead Like Me is honestly a smart show, which died out before it could hit its prime. Thanks to the power of DVD we are all able to enjoy it now, and if you had ever been interested in this show before, I highly recommend watching it.

And that’s what Sassy Says!