Dead Like Me (Girl killed by Toilet seat...)

[Dave]

Zap2it has an artical on 'Dead Like Me' star Mandy Patinkin. The full story is at http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,274|82142|1|,00.html

Mandy Patinkin's latest character is dead, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy life.
On the new Showtime series "Dead Like Me," which premiered June 27 and airs Fridays, Patinkin plays Rube, the boss of a team of undead grim reapers, whose job is to "pop" the souls of the soon-to-be-deceased. In the case of this particular group, it's those people who are about to die by violent means.

"He's the father figure," Patinkin says. "He's the boss. He's the nemesis. The thing I love about Rube, the bottom line is, he has fun. His job in life and in death -- well, I don't know what his job in life was, but I would guess that he was having a bit of a struggle having fun in life. He does not intend to make that same mistake in death."

Patinkin hasn't done a great deal of series television. His longest stint was playing the mercurial Dr. Jeffrey Geiger in "Chicago Hope."

Asked why he thought of Patinkin for "Dead Like Me," series creator Bryan Fuller says, "Um, because he's Mandy Patinkin. He oozes talent from every pore in his body, not just singing and acting, but just as a creative person. Sitting in his trailer, we'd be breaking stories. Every time I had a conversation with him, I walked away inspired."

In the mythology of "Dead Like Me," certain people, when they die, are offered the job of grim reapers. They get a rapidly healing physical body (which has a different face when seen by the living) and the chance to stay in the world until they collect a requisite number of souls. Then, the job passes to the last dead person on their list.

"We don't really shepherd people," Patinkin explains. "The way the mechanism works, there are different departments in the undead. We are the undead who are in charge of violent death. Other people are in charge of natural causes and other kinds of death.

"We do not make the accidents happen. The entities that make the accidents happen are called 'gravelings.' I do receive a list of names and places every week of whose souls will be collected. My job is to hand out little yellow Post-Its to my team of workers. I'm essentially the foreman.

"If a car is going to hit you, before you suffer that violent death and get mutilated, we try to pop your soul so that your soul is spared that event and, also, the physical nature of your being is preserved. So when you move on, you're in good shape.

"Then, once we've popped your soul, it's a very minimal amount of time before you're taken to the pretty lights, essentially, where you just go on."

The newest addition to Rube's team is George (Ellen Muth), who died at 18 after being struck by flaming space debris. She was pretty unhappy in life, and learning that death doesn't offer relief from living is not sitting very well with her.

George keeps trying to wiggle out of her new responsibilities, and it's up to Rube to keep her on the path and show her the joys of the afterlife. "The idea of playing someone who really knew how to enjoy life to its fullest and have fun was incredibly appealing to me," Patinkin says.

"Then, I try to impart that to the young generation in a way that isn't heavy-handed, but in the same way that a father tries to tell their kid something, but knows the kid won't ever give them the acknowledgment that they received the information. But the father then hopes that it will land somewhere outside of his vision.

"I don't know much about Rube at this point. We learn as we go along. In a television show, it unpeels slowly, the onion. What I did find out is he loves to have a good time, that he tries to tell other people who are a little down in the dumps to smell the roses and have some fun. He tries to tell them not to take death so seriously, that it's just a job, and see the funny in everything. "He loves silent movies. He loves to eat; he loves to cook; he loves living in the undead world."

Shooting only 13 episodes after the pilot, "Dead Like Me" also has allowed Patinkin, a Broadway singer and recording artist, to continue his busy concert career this past spring.

For now, he is relishing the message of "Dead Like Me." "You have a finite amount of time here, don't waste it. Even if it's a cloudy day or you're living in darkness, fight like hell to find the light."

 

[tarebear]

I think Mandy Patinkin is super talented. He is by far the best actor on the show. Although Jasmine Guy is doing a pretty fine job. And what a departure from Whitley.

 

[Tabitha]

This show is excellent!

Really, after so much great stuff ending or being cancelled in the last while, I was beginning to think that my television was going to become a really expensive ornament. I have seen a bunch of the eps, but I hope the show does make it across to the UK, because we have really been missing some decent SciFi on our television screens for a while now.

Like Odyssey 5, this show has a bit of an adult slant, with people talking a lot more realistically than on most tv shows. It wasn't that long ago that I was doing dogsbody office work in eerily similar surroundings in Vancouver (a lot of the city outdoors locations are very near where I used to work) and the absurdity of a grim reaper having a 9to5 temp job is a bit of a pearl.
Excellent writing, never as saccharine as you expect, outstanding acting from most.

Regarding Rebecca Gayheart

Spoiler

Her send-off episode was great! I loved her death scene, and her replacement just sucks. I know she was axed from Firefly (she originally had Morena Baccarin's Inara role) after causing a fatal traffic accident, but surely this can't be the reason for her leaving Dead Like Me?

 

[Krystal]

Yeah, the show is great. I totally enjoy it.

Spoiler

Yeah the scene of Rebecca's departure was great. What a shame that she go when George was beginning to make a close friendship with her character.

Krystal

 

[philoSCIFI]

Wow. I really really wish that I could have watched the show on tv in its original run. I've only recently gotten really into the show. I started watching the DVD's and finished watching both seasons in about 4 and a half days. What a great show! I love it so much that I'm actually thinking about buying both seasons on DVD. It's definitely worth it IMO.

The characters are awesome, and the show has a phenomenal cast! I love Mandy Patinkin as Rube. He's hillarious! He's got the best sayings. And what's with his love of food? I also love Jasmine Guy as Roxy. Like someone said previously... what a departure from Whitley! Roxy is great though - tough as nails yet just as sensitive as the next. And Mason! OMG!!! Callum Blue is perfect in this role! As much as we'd like to think the focus of the show is on Georgia, Dead Like Me is definitely an ensamble. I'll always consider this show as an ensamble as opposed to focusing on just one main character.

Anyway, if anyone is still hanging around in the Dead Like Me forums...

w00t!!! GO DEAD LIKE ME FANS!!!

It's a shame the show was cancelled. LONG LIVE DEAD LIKE ME! :rolly2:

 

[philoSCIFI]

Hmm... seems dead in here. If anyone finds this and knows of any dead like me forums that are still alive, please please feel free to post a link. I'd really like to discuss this show but it seems like old news. Times like these I really wish I had gotten into the show earlier on.

 

[The Ace]

Have to admit, I'm just getting into the repeats of season 1 on Sci-fi here in UK. Looks promising, though.

 

[the_faery_queen]

it's great. i watched it on sky before, now im watching it repeated on sci fi. wish it hadn't been cancelled.

 

[cljohnston108]

Never watched this show, but I was just reading the Wikipedia entry and, being a Space Buff, I can't help but balk at the basic premise: The main character, living in Seattle in 2003, is killed by a falling toilet seat from the de-orbiting Mir space station.

Seems nobody cared to do a lick of homework.

March 23, 2001 — 06:45 UTC

MIR Space Station Reentry Page
MIR Space Station Reentry Page