8. Dead Like Me
Like Pushing Daisies, this show was created by Bryan Fuller and Fuller intended Pushing Daisies as a spin-off to Dead Like Me. Also like Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me was not given the chance it deserved. Produced for the cable network Showtime, Dead Like Me ran for only two seasons from 2003 to 2004. The show tells the tale of Georgia Lass, struck down in the prime of her life-she had just dropped out of college-by a toilet seat hurtling from an orbiting space station directly onto her head. Immediately after her death, her life ironically begins when she becomes a Reaper. Her task, before passing to the afterlife is to act as a Grim Reaper, collecting the souls of the dead and sending them on their way to the afterlife. Existing somewhere between life and death, Georgia must hold a full time job while collecting the souls of the dead and much of the first season is spent on the difficulties of adjusting to death, a station as a grim reaper and adding the pressures of real life. What makes this work, though, is the performance of Ellen Muth in the role of Georgia. Her dry wit and deadpan reactions to her circumstances create the best kind of humor and is somehow relatable to the viewer. We also follow Georgia as she watches her family cope with her death and struggle with her desire to be there for them and the rules she must now abide by. Added to all this is a cast that includes Mandy Patinkin which made the show a surprise winner. The show was doomed early, though, when Bryan Fuller left over creative differences with the network saying that a lack of professionalism made it the worst experience of his life and that Showtime cancelled the show due to a loss of quality. Showtimes official stance, however, was that the shows ratings did not warrant a third season. Dead Like Me did get a direct to DVD movie in Dead Like Me: Life After Death which served to continue the story and tie up loose ends, but even this entry in the series leaves fans wanting more.