Drop Dead Diva
Tags: paranormal

Plot synopsis:
The series revolves around vapid aspiring model, Deborah "Deb" Dobkins (played by Brooke D'Orsay), who is killed in a car crash on the way to an audition for The Price Is Right. As her soul enters the gates of Heaven, she finds herself being judged by a gatekeeper named Fred (Ben Feldman). As a result of her shallowness, Fred declares her a "zero-zero," since she has performed zero good deeds and zero bad deeds during her time on Earth. While he's distracted, Deb presses the "return" key before Fred can stop her and is brought back to life in the body of a recently deceased lawyer named Jane Bingum (Brooke Elliott), who died protecting her boss, Jay Parker (Josh Stamberg).
Jane is the complete opposite of Deb; she is brilliant, hard-working, charitable, and plus size. Deb finds that Jane also works in the same law firm, Harrison-Parker, as Deb's fiancé Grayson Kent (Jackson Hurst). After immediately telling her best friend, Stacy Barrett (April Bowlby), of her predicament, Deb prepares herself to tell Grayson the truth about her new body. However, Fred’s assignment as Deb’s guardian angel serves as punishment for letting her leave heaven. His purpose on Earth is to prevent Deb from telling Grayson the truth and insisting that no one else can know that it is really Deb in Jane's body.
Deb struggles to learn more about her inherited life, learning lessons about self-esteem and personal acceptance. Eventually, the real Jane Bingum (played by Natalie Hall) reappears in another person's body after having pressed the return key, leading Deb to finally reveal the truth to Grayson, now one of Jane's closest friends. Grayson, after grieving and moving on from Deb's passing, becomes conflicted, but finally accepts Deb in her new body, saying that he wants her to be her and no one else.
In addition to working with Grayson at the law firm, Deb (as Jane) also contends with her professional rival, Kim Kaswell (Kate Levering), who briefly dates Grayson after Deb's passing.

Review: "Drop Dead Diva" is a new series on Lifetime.
She ends up with Jayne's body, Jayne's brains, and her own memory.I love the premise - it's been used in movies before, but usually seriously.
I love how Elliot incorporates Deb's bubbly personality beneath the person of Jayne.Very well cast, with Margaret Cho as Jayne's assistant and Kate Levering, a talented Broadway actress, as Deb's friend Kim.Great fun, and I'm so happy that Lifetime has been branching out from its women in jeopardy theme..
I caught the pilot of this show today without very high expectations, but it was actually really great and really amusing, with a fun soundtrack and interesting setting.
Brooke Elliott is great as Deb in Jayne's body, the switch she portrayed between the characters was subtle but apparent, and she is very likable.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of what this show has to offer, and I hope it continues to deliver and develop into a great series..
I simply love this new TV show and wish it would last for more than just a season or two like some other great shows I loved and that were off.
One can not only get a nice law story per episode, but also gets a share of really great performance here as well as really lovable characters.
I loved and love a lot of TV shows (most of them already ended), but since my late teens I for the first time am really thrilled with the main character of the TV show, as well as I can well put myself in almost every position she's in (except, huh, for having your soul trapped in a wrong body).
It's like in many TV shows and movies we only get these 'super white big smile nice body' actors and actresses which all look great and at the same time almost the same and just as unreal as Santa to any grown-up, but this time we are getting this new character which is awesome, beautiful, and at the same time just like me, you or someone next to you.
Kudos to the creator and writers for creating a character that is like a real person.
This is no "one note" character like the many that usually populate series TV shows.
Drop Dead Diva is both high drama and wry comedy by virtue of its excellent writers.
Between the excellent cast that seems to mesh so well together, the clever, poignant and fast-paced fun scripts, and constantly interesting subject matter, this show is ready to become Classic TV.Jane is so cute, and such an excellent actress, Stacy is just adorably ditzy, and such a great co-star/supporting actress.
She just seems so genuine, like anyone would want her as a friend, and so true to Jane.All of the acting is superb, and how they jive with each other seems completely unscripted, and real.Every episode catches me, so I mourn when it's over.
Even though I'm not among the typical target group of this show I like "Drop Dead Diva" season one.
From my perspective this show did a lot right, starting with a more than just likable, talented cast and nicely written often touching stories."DDD" is a show trying to prove that there's always more than meets the eye.
But when you learn to know her better, I'd say it's hard not to like her(especially during the second half of season one, when she's becoming emotionally more stable).
Another aspect bothering me: "Drop Dead Diva" starts with this angel/heaven/return button plot.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed many of them very very much but if it goes on like that it might risk to become like other lawyer TV-shows or remind of films like "Legally Blonde".In short: "Drop Dead Diva" is lovely, positive and life-affirming.
The premise is Freaky Friday meets LA Law, but add in a guardian angel, smart chicks, models, and fresh story lines..
For one thing, it is quite similar to the movies of "Legally Blonde", with the story being about the once dumb blonde turning into a lawyer and ends up doing a good job, and learns new things about life.Minus the part where the protagonist dies and enters the new body, it just feels like the same.
At least for now.Another thing, is no doubt the noticeable division between two types of women, with "unattractive but smart and caring" and "Attractive but vain and self centered" - or to stretch it out into another category, the blonde is dumb but the brunette is intelligent.
It is the first pilot after all, so hopefully it will develop some more and broaden the horizons, and certain characters get more character development.At least with shows like "Ugly Betty" (Which I love) every character equally goes through development, despite their assigned roles.
He tells me all the time how amazing this show is and that he can't wait to watch another episode.
Great cast and good character development.
Still...likin it, luvin it.I particularly enjoy watching a character who is funny and light hearted, as well as smart and accomplished.
Deb is a shallow model with lawyer boyfriend Grayson Kent (Jackson Hurst).
Fred is sent to earth to watch over Deb/Jane.
In the third season, Deb/Jane falls for lawyer Owen French (Lex Medlin).
In addition to dealing with the new body, Deb/Jane is soon joined by Grayson at the law firm.This show starts off well with the nice mix of characters and the body image conflict.
I just don't think I would have been able to cope.Aside from the main plot line the themes/idea in each episode are interesting and a lot of the time outrageous.
The characters are awesome, everyone unique in their own way, the cast is spot on, the plot, world building, i loved it, that is all i've got to say.
Oooh and i also think that Jane dresses better than any model out there, there are many top fashion advices in this show also which it makes better than watching some serious fashion show, just saying.
The storyline is a treat for people who have some cusiousity about the possibilities of the afterlife, and what does it mean for our soul to be in a different body, and the questions of true love versus pure physical attraction.
I know that the real attorney was in the judges body when he woke up...I still think about what was going to happen in the next season.
Of course it doesn't make sense that Fred the guardian angel tells Debs that "memories are stored in the soul" in order to explain why she has no knowledge of Jane's life, yet at the same time she is able to recall all of Jane's expert legal knowledge.
The legal stories dealt with in each episode are very light and not intended to be a serious representation of how the law works.
Drop Dead Diva is NOT trying to be Damages or The Good Wife!
However, the legal cases depicted are still quite interesting and serve the main premise of the show well, being used most often to reinforce the main message of the show, or reveal important aspects of Debs character as she inhabits Jane's body.
I look forward to learning more about what Jane was actually like, other than the fact she was/is overweight.
Brooke Elliot aka Jane Bingum in the series does an excellent job playing Deb a 20 something year old former Model.
Fred the guardian Angel now replaced by Luke does a great and convincing job and will be missed, though Luke is pretty good eye candy for the ladies and quite fun and carefree.
Brooke Elliott is impeccable as Jane/Deb. Funny, light hearted, with a pinch of sarcasm.
Love him, he's the kind of guy that makes you say things like 'he's my brother from another mother'and seriously, who could have played Teri as good as Margaret Cho does?
Honestly they have done a great job finding the perfect cast, and so far I love all the characters, I even like Kate Levering as the bigheaded Kim (which by the way is really well played!).
Watching the show is the perfect way to end a long day of work.
After all we have enough DRAMA living our own lives.Good Luck for this new season, I'm thrilled to see what you come up with!
In this world with 100-plus channels to fill with some percentage of original content, there are many many series which I will never see and never even hear of.A few years ago, I came late to the party on "Dead Like Me" as well, missing its original run on cable, and seeing parts of it later on a SCI-FI marathon.
I voraciously dug into my HULU account and did a full binge until I'd seen both seasons.After watching both seasons through twice, and even seeing the mediocre come-back feature twice, I was sadly convinced I'd never find a show that uniquely appealing ever again.It was NETFLIX which slid this show, Drop Dead Diva, into the 'Recommended' slider after I streamed the DLM movie last month, so I tried the pilot and was STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.
And Cheese Whiz in a can.I'm going to applaud the many unique features of Drop Dead Diva, but I want to say up front that I'm intensely elated to find a 2nd show which gives a new take on the odd metaphysical - cultural - personal storytelling about death, and life, and how to live, which was so much a part of DLM's two seasons.And this show is different and as admirably excellent.
The regular cast and guest stars are outstanding, and while i've read the two complaints posted by legal experts in here, the 'voice' of the writing is right on target.
The point was clear to me; obviously NOT about Jane maintaining fatness, but about DEB releasing the model's food phobias.UNLIKE Dead Like Me, this show has finished three seasons and will embark on Season Four this Sunday.
The biggest fans of the show were treated to another three seasons of the Jane/Deb saga, but many like me had some problems with the plot choices made after the season four premiere episode.
I was sad to see the final episode tonight (in the UK) but was happy that the writers and producers wrapped up the story instead of leaving it half told as many shows often do.
In "Drop Dead Diva," a Lifetime series that begins on Sunday, an aspiring model and airhead named Deb (Brooke D'Orsay) dies in a car crash and is transported — through a bungled act of divine intervention — to the body of a recently deceased lawyer, Jane (Brooke Elliott), who is smart, fat and frumpy.
Basically she thinks like Elle in "Legally Blonde," only she looks like Camryn Manheim on "The Practice."And while the presumption that a woman can be either brainy or beautiful, or in this case, good or thin, but not both, is a bit primitive, the series has humor and charm beneath its facile message, in large part (no disrespect intended) to a subtle, winning performance by Ms. Elliott.It's gotten harder than ever to find an imperfect heroine in a series who is actually flawed.
Love the series, but there are problems with the "legal" writing.
If you are going to write about lawyers in a law office, someone should advise the director on legal facts aspects.
The 2nd legal error was when the other female attorney asked the psychiatrist about which "identity" wrote her checks in payment of services and signed a "consent" form, and when it turned out to be the plaintiff's named husband, the lawyer accused the doctor of committing "fraud".
Judges have been known to encourage settlement by saying "why don't you try to settle this case, because I don't think either side is going to like what could happen if I have to decide the issues." Interestingly, there are real world things that writers could have used about trucking and law that they simply missed because they have no expertise as an Attorney or as a Driver (trucker).
The characters are well written and likable (well except for Kim)and the guest appearances and lawsuits are interesting.The only part that seems unrealistic to me is the love and devotion Grayson had toward Deb. She seemed to be a typical shallow, not so bright model & wanna be actress where he is handsome, intelligent and a lawyer.
I don't see that a guy like him would be so much in love with Deb that he is devastated when she dies and compares every woman to her.
Maybe if the show had allowed us to get to know Deb before killing her in the first episode we might have seen some of the redeeming qualities that Grayson saw in her.Other than that this is the only show that I never, ever miss on TV..
I only have a few quips with itThe story focuses on a vain model Deb who dies and soul is transferred into a "fat," smart lawyer named Jane.
Deb gets all of Jane's smarts but keeps her own personality and memories.What bothers me is that this show emphasizes a skinny bitch learning how it feels to be fat But I must say, Jane is a hottie (facially speaking and body wise, I'm pretty sure she's a plus size model).
Some people like to watch fat, annoying women.
I LOVED IT until the 4th season: then they put Kim Kardashian and diminished the whole importance of legal staff...Kardashian made everything seem so fake...At the beginning of the second episode with Kardashian I stopped watching the show...They also made too many changes with cast, script...I couldn't get rid of the feeling if I'd been watching Beverly Hills or some MTV crap...
Its also interesting that every episode has its own legal stories!!
Its also interesting that every episode has its own legal stories!!
Its also interesting that every episode has its own legal stories!!
Its also interesting that every episode has its own legal stories!!
In addition full cast is talented too with every character being unique played by the actors..
In addition full cast is talented too with every character being unique played by the actors..
In addition full cast is talented too with every character being unique played by the actors..
In addition full cast is talented too with every character being unique played by the actors..
UNFORTUNATELY - Although I think the show is well produced, had a good plot, and has much potential - The show isn't worth the "heart-ripping" emotional drama they put you through.
It's like watching a drama movie and a loved one is dismembered yet they give ZERO satisfaction to the audience when they build you up to: hope, believe, root for the under-dog, have faith in the overcoming spirit of love - all things common in the threads of American TV and cinema.
It has the creative premise that a model died and wound up in the body of a slightly frumpy, brilliant lawyer.The only not-quite issue I have with it is that a lot of the actors have crazy faces(particularly Jane and Deb).
But I have to state that "Drop Dead Diva" was so very good!
We've seen many movies with this plot: two people die at the same time but one person's soul enters the other's body and has to live that life.
They need to bring back Jay Parker, hands down, and cut the "original Jane" character, and stop making Stacey make so insanely stupid decisions and being extremely dramatic, like suddenly going on needlessly urgent search for sperm donors to have a baby, sacrificing her relationship with Jane just to briefly hook up with Owen, then for no reason at all making a big deal and breaking up with Owen.
Owen's character used to be so in love with Jane, for him to suddenly pick up Stacey and act all natural make it seem unbelievable and audience lose respect of him.
If they are doing a sixth season and want to retain followers and attract new viewers, they NEED to do the following: 1) Their most urgent need right now is to bring Parker back and keep Kim around!
Still, the characters in this are much more tame, and still quite enjoyable to watch.Brooke Elliott is a true find in the lead role.
The story revolves around a model who died and came back to life in another body - a lawyer no less, and the cases she becomes involved in.The romantic interest is different, as the boyfriend (played by Jackson Hurst) just can't let go of his dead love.
So if he wasn't just infatuated with her looks, what did he love about Deb so deeply, if she really was a 0-0 as the Heavenly records showed?
Many men would look at Deb and pass her by to be with Jane.
Yes Jane is a full figured woman but she carries herself great, dresses well for her size and has a beautiful face.I love the show but the one area that should have been played down was that Deb got the losing end of the deal when she came back (also by being a dumb broad and pushing the button) as Jane.She has a great job and is respected in her field, she looks great (given the number of woman in North America are plus sized), she gets so see her mom and Grayson - alas from a far but its better than being dead.Finally, Deb was the dumb broad that was on her cel phone and I believe she was also doing her makeup or her nails and driving at the same time.
When my sister in law suggested Drop Dead Diva to me I wasn't expecting much.
She manages to combine Deb and Jane into one character and makes the model disguised as a lawyer works.
Her relationship with Grayson, Stacy, Teri, Jay, Fred, Kim, Owen is brilliant and keeps the plot fresh and new.