TV Review: Dead Like Me
Jun. 27th, 2003 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jducoeurJust a quick note on this one. We just checked out the new Showtime series, Dead Like Me, and it's fun. High concept: our hero (and narrator) is an 18 year old girl named Georgia (whose turns of phrase often bear an uncanny resemblance to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tpau's, somehow), who gets killed a few minutes into the story. She quickly discovers that she's been recruited as a Grim Reaper, one of the escorts of the dead. It reminds me a fair amount of Piers Anthony's On a Pale Horse, but it's frankly much cleverer.
The writing is both witty and extremely quirky. The cinematography is even more quirky, but only when it's actually trying to make a point, and knows to get out of the way for the ordinary scenes. The acting is a bit over-the-top, but it somehow suits -- the characters are all a little wild, which fits the strange scenario well. Mandy Patinkin is the big name in the cast, and does a fine job as the annoyingly gruff head Reaper, showing Georgia the ropes.
The story has some serious things to say, but the style is anything but serious -- it's generally very light-hearted in tone. I find myself looking forward to the second episode, which is more than I can say for most series. And yes, we're taping it, and can presumably be bribed to loan out the tapes as we complete them. (But this may be a recommended DVD buy if they can sustain the quality...)
tpau's, somehow), who gets killed a few minutes into the story. She quickly discovers that she's been recruited as a Grim Reaper, one of the escorts of the dead. It reminds me a fair amount of Piers Anthony's On a Pale Horse, but it's frankly much cleverer.The writing is both witty and extremely quirky. The cinematography is even more quirky, but only when it's actually trying to make a point, and knows to get out of the way for the ordinary scenes. The acting is a bit over-the-top, but it somehow suits -- the characters are all a little wild, which fits the strange scenario well. Mandy Patinkin is the big name in the cast, and does a fine job as the annoyingly gruff head Reaper, showing Georgia the ropes.
The story has some serious things to say, but the style is anything but serious -- it's generally very light-hearted in tone. I find myself looking forward to the second episode, which is more than I can say for most series. And yes, we're taping it, and can presumably be bribed to loan out the tapes as we complete them. (But this may be a recommended DVD buy if they can sustain the quality...)