Dead Like Me

While the cable TV dramedy Dead Like Me may resemble a bizarro version of Touched by an Angel, series creator Bryan Fuller insisted that his inspiration was Piers Anthony's novel On a Pale Horse, in which a mere mortal is forced by circumstance to replace "Mr. Death." Ellen Muth stars as Georgia "George" Lass, an 18-year-old perennial loser whose inability to stay in school or hold down a job is matched by the disdain in which she is held by her family. Given George's miserable track record, it is hardly surprising that she is killed in a stupid freak accident, crushed to death by a fragment of the Mir space station's toilet. Upon realizing that she is dead, George finds herself in the company of three other decedents: vapid actress Daisy (Laura Harris), self-styled lothario Mason (Callum Blue), and streetwise Roxy (Jasmine Guy). Assembled by the abrasive Rube (Mandy Patinkin), George and her new companions have been assigned to a post-mortem "Reaper" team, dedicated to helping other departed souls make the transition between life and death. The team's job was complicated by the fact that all of the Reapers retained the memories and emotions of their "living" days, and all of them had left behind unresolved issues that would have to be resolved in the afterlife. Dead Like Me debuted June 27, 2003, on Showtime.