Back from the Dead

One of my favourite little known shows of the last 10 years was the 2003-2004 Showtime series Dead Like Me. It starred Mandy Patinkin and Ellen Muth. The series was about this group of dead people who were grim reapers. They had nothing to do with actually killing people. Circumstances killed people, they were simply there to remove their souls and help them get to "the other side".

The group, led by Patinkin, met each morning at Der Waffle Haus. They are each assigned a person that they have to "reap" that day. The show isn't meant to be all that metaphysical, it's more about real people assigned these horrific tasks and how they get by each day. They were all real people who died. They have taken on new appearances as a reaper and can't be recognized as the people they once were.

Top 5 Mandy Patinkin Roles (for Emo)
1. Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride)
2. Rube Sofer (Dead Like Me)
3. Det. Samuel "George" Francisco (Alien Nation)
4. Jason Gideon (Criminal Minds)
5. Dr. Murray Kaplan (The Doctor)

Anyway, the only reason I bring up this show is the news that the show will be brought back as a made-for-DVD movie in the coming months. That's the good news. The bad news is that Patinkin may be too busy with his current show Criminal Minds to be involved in the production. The other bad news is that the director will be Stephen Herek. Who you say? Well, his best movies were Mr. Holland's Opus and Rock Star (both fairly flawed films) but his resume also includes crap like The Mighty Ducks, Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter Is Dead and Holy Man.