"I'm concerned you don't know what you're asking for." -- Dead Like Me Season 1

Please pardon the references and comparisons to Wonderfalls that may pop up throughout this review. Both shows were created/co-created by the same guy, so it's hard not to.

Dead Like Me - The Complete First Season is a very, very good show that falls just behind Wonderfalls in greatness (see? First sentence of the review and I'm already dragging it in). Although certainly not as unknown as Wonderfalls, it's still not exactly, say, O.C.

This is the story of Georgia "George" Lass, an 18-year-old college drop-out killed during her first 35-minute Lunch "hour" at her first temp job by a zero-G toilet seat from the Mir space station during its death plunge into the atmosphere. She switches from Dead to Undead after her funeral and is drafted as a grim reaper by Rube (another grim reaper). We spend the rest of the season watching her and the family she left behind adjust to this new arrangement.

This show is, in short, brilliant. It's billed as a black comedy with a heavy dose of drama, but this is vastly incorrect. Dead Like Me is primarily a drama about loss with just enough humor to, like a shot of vodka, take the edge off. It's ultimately positive, but the questions it deals with can be really quite bleak. After all, the characters are in a constant state of loss: George losses her life, her family, her chances at a real future, and a postmortem friend early in the season, her family lost her, her parents are losing their marriage, etc. And since she's a reaper, we are privy to multiple violent deaths every episode. It's a subtle recipe, but nevertheless works, and we get extremely poignant and well-done drama about the most depressing of subjects without feeling like ending it all. Very nice.

The cinematography here is great; I recognize a lot of camera effects and angles from Wonderfalls. Acting, also excellent; we buy everyone. All the actors really nailed their characters, from their subtle nuances of speech to their facial expressions and gesticulations to their lines. The music was also good, but it seemed like they reused a lot of it. The special effects and stunts all seem believable and plot-centric; they add rather than detract.

Interestingly enough, I like the episodes made after Bryan Fuller left to do Wonderfalls much more than the episodes he worked on, at least at first. I've since gone back and re-watched the first couple episodes and they were more interesting the second time around than they were the first, but my favorites continue to be the later ones.

I have two main problems with the series: A) There are some answered questions about reapers in my mind (For example, it seems like they are supernaturally less noticeable than normal people sometimes, but it's never really spelled out, which is frustrating to me), and B) As far as I can tell, there is a ten-or-so-month gap between the second to last and the last episodes. It shoots from two months after her death to the one-year anniversary. Wow. I want to know what we missed? Other than those nit-picks, nothing. And I highly suggest you show around; it retails for $60, but Amazon sells it for $45 and I picked it up at Fry's for $35.

Acting: 4.5/5 parking meters (Awesomely awesome).
Humor: 3.75/5 miniature waffles (The comedy is the perfect cord for the show, but objectively speaking, it's not really that funny; there are few laugh-out-loud moments).
Story: 4.5/5 Polaroid cameras (The story is all-around excellent. Bizarre enough that it doesn't seem too close to home, but real enough to make us fidget a little).
Drama: 5/5 Post Its (If you're alive, or at least know someone who is, this show will speak to you. The drama is heavy-hitting and light in turns and has a superb way of making you think, contemplate).
Sound: 3.5/5 disgruntled bears (Very nice music, but not particularly great, and repetitive at times).
Visuals: 4.5/5 bed springs (Enrapturing).
Special Features (DVD): 3/5 toilet seats (I am disappointed in the special features. Some of the deleted scenes are good, but the featurettes are way too short and there is almost nothing at all in the way of episode commentary).

Overall (not necessarily determined by the above categories): 4.5/5 Franken-Fruities (One of the best shows ever, and certainly one of the best shows on TV today. Either Showtime is insane for not brining it back for a third season or they decided to retire it gracefully; after George gets into the swing of things, I can't imagine the show will be any good).