This may be too many hypotheticals for one to arrive at a remotely realistic assumption, but are the stars aligning to bring back my all-time favorite prematurely canceled show? Back in April news broke that MGM was resurrecting Dead Like Me for a direct-to-DVD film. Word on cast, story and continuity, however, was non-existent. Then the darling, and apparently not that busy, Ellen Muth posted a juicy update on her MySpace blog: if this new film is successful, it could bring back the series.
I recall that same talk going around for Firefly before Serenity came out, but a paltry $25 million domestic gross put the über-kibosh on that. Let’s put a hold on the wishful thinking and take a moment to be thankful that we at least know the show’s star is returning and the premise hasn’t been entirely retooled. The film will take place two years after the end of the second season, and a “new concept” will emerge.
No idea what that would entail, but I’m more concerned with the lack of Mandy Patinkin. He may be the world’s creepiest singer, but he was also my favorite part of the show. Mysterious, heart-broken but ever-fatherly, he was the most detached of DLM’s lost souls. He’d been a melancholic 20-something for centuries and had no sign of figuring it out anytime soon, so I don’t see how they’d explain him being beamed to upper management. Well, that was last week. Now he appears to be on the outs with his wildly popular show I’d never watch, Criminal Minds.
Might this opening in his schedule allow him to be a part of the film? I sure hope so. No word on the other cast members, but it’s not looking good for Laura Harris. Callum Blue is on The Tudors (which will see a second season), but he’s not on it enough to prevent him from doing anything else. All Jasmine Guy really has to do to keep her busy is promote the release of A Different World DVDs, so I’m sure she’s on board. As for Georgia’s still-living family, I wonder if they even want to include them in the new story. Really, there’s conflicting news about everyone’s involvement, but I’m not about to cite IMDB message boards, so let’s just hold out for the official word. Though I would like to bring up one question that nobody seems to be asking: what about Kiffany?