Death TV.

I think I've mentioned that I really don't watch TV normally. I salute websites like hulu.com that understand that sometimes I can't, or don't want to, watch TV during normal prime-time. And because I watch TV online, often I can quickly catch up through a huge backlog of episodes, given a few days and sufficient interest in the show.

I remember seeing ads for Pushing Daisies when it first started, but I never buckled down and checked out an episode, so I missed out, until now. But, having run out of episodes I can get ahold of (and nearly out of episodes, period), I hopped over to another series by the creator--Dead Like Me.

Similar to Pushing Daisies, the show is all about death, and death is in every episode. But Dead Like Me is far from the cheesy, sunshiney world created for a show on ABC. The characters are closer to our world--dirtier sometimes, or more angry, or more screwed up. There are still odd, arcane rules about how things happen, or should happen. The main character, George, dies and becomes a "grim reaper," but just as important as seeing how that other half lives, we get to see how our half deals with George's loss, how her family copes and moves on, or not.

The pilot brought tears to my eyes--death is arbitrary and unfair, and the show acknowledges that. The people who collect souls don't know much more than the people dying, as it turns out. So far in the series, George, the new girl on the job (and rather disaffected in life) keeps asking "Why?"

Why me?

Why her?

Why not?

Why do some people get to keep living?

Why do I keep losing people?

Conversely, her "boss," a senior reaper, basically keeps answering "Because." And he has experience to back it up--but the answer is often "Because. Sorry, but deal with it."

I can't wait to keep watching. I love this cast, and I can't wait for the leader of the pack of reapers to be proven wrong by the new girl.

~j