No TV series has ever elevated sub-genre "black comedy" like "Dead Like Me," a seriously funny, often poignant examination of death and - therefore - life. Cable TV has given birth to many terrific dramatic series - "The Sopranos," "The Wire," "Deadwood," "Rome," etc. But there haven't been nearly as many hallowed comedies - proof that comedy is darn hard. "Dead Like Me" attempts to balance the scales.

George (Ellen Muth) is a typical slacker - she lives at home with her dysfunctional family, interested in nothing and nobody. She gets stuck in a dead-end job doing filing/data entry when she is killed on her first lunch break by a toilet seat falling from a Russian space station.

It only gets better from there.

George's soul is met by Rube (the incomparable Mandy Patinkin), who lays out the new rules: George is a Grim Reaper. Her job is to take souls from the newly-departed and escort them to their final destination, whatever that may be. In a lesser series, George would shrug and the stories would focus on the conflict between her slacker-ness and her new job. While there is some of that humor, the story quickly becomes much deeper as George comes to terms with the life she has led and the life she still has to lead.

Still has to lead? That's right. Grim Reapers are part of the everyday world - they need to work or steal to pay the bills. And so it is that George finds herself back in the corporate trenches, where she learns more about life after dying than she did before.

There are too many perfect moments and perfect casting choices here to mention, so I'll only allude to the highlights. The pilot episode hits stratospheric heights with George's first "job," to take the soul of an innocent little girl who is scheduled to die - George resists it, naturally, but the show takes this plot point in a delightfully sad, touching way. Let's just say the Portland's own Pink Martini's rendition of "Que Sera Sera" will never be put to better use.

And any actress who claims that there are no good roles for overweight women over 35 have completely ignored Christine Willes' brilliant performance as the zany, uptight Delores Herbig - one part Nurse Ratchet and three parts crazy Aunt Flo. All the actors do great work here, including Cynthia Stevenson as George's uptight, grieving mom Joy (perfect name!), Callum Blue as a British stoner-Grim Reaper, and Jasmine Guy, who leaves "A Diff'rent World" far, far behind.

Solid writing, impeccable comic timing, and more than its fair share of insight and wisdom make Season One of "Dead Like Me" one of the best TV seasons ever. Quite simply, a must-see.

This is a follow up to the Roger's comment below about the direct video movie: Dead Like Me: Life After Death.

Anyway, for anyone who hasn't seen the series it was a blast. Interesting characters and different plots. The reviews below cover this dark sitcom well.

Don't watch the show, it's not funny, it's not drama, it's not dark comedy. It's boring as hell. you have been warned.

Better watch Pushing Daisies, by the same creator.

There is no feeling like finding a truly great show. I'm oddly envious of those who have yet to experience great shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, and Six Feet Under because such greatness awaits them. In buying the first season of "Dead Like Me," I could have guessed it would be one of those wonderful shows, because I'd seen creator Bryan Fuller's work on one of my favorite shows, Wonderfalls. However, I couldn't have predicted how great the first episode would be. I swear on all television holy, the pilot of "Dead Like Me" is the single best pilot of any show I've ever seen. It's hilarious, perfectly scripted, wonderfully acted, and is one of the most heartbreaking and gut busting hours of television there is.

While the pilot really stand out from the rest of the series as the best episode, the rest of this collection ranges from good to great. I was a bit worried, because creator Bryan Fuller (the reason I bought this in the first place) left after the fifth episode, due to creative differences with MGM. Executive Producer John Masius takes on show-runner duties and does a very competent job in keeping the show consistent. He effortlessly maintained the quirky style that Fuller set up for them, probably due mostly to how nicely Fuller set it up in the first place. But I've gone on and on about the creative team for long enough. Let's get down to some Muth.

Ellen Muth, who plays the lead character Georgia Lass, is simply brilliant. She has such a--ironically enough--life to her, giving such a fantastic and layered performance. I'd go as far as to say she's the best thing this side of Kristen Bell. The rest of the cast, particularly Mandy Patinkin as Rube and Laura Harris as Daisy Adair, give great performances as well.

Each episode will make you laugh, and almost as many will make you cry. The ride isn't always perfectly smooth--"Nighthawks" would have been great if the meat of it had been fleshed out instead of loading it with flashback clips--but it's such an enjoyable show that you're more likely to forget its flaws than dwell on them. Long live the Reapers!

9/10

dead Like Me is a great entertaining show with a sort of sick and twisted sense of humor. It's like no other show I've ever seen and I find myslef wishing there were many more seasons of this show on dvd.