MovieChat Forums > Dead Like Me: Life After Death (2009) Discussion > anyone know if DLM will return to tv?

anyone know if DLM will return to tv?


Love the seris and enjoyed the film!

Anyone know if the movie was a success?

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i would like to know as well.
but i guess, the dvd sales weren't so great, so i assume, there will never be a return to TV.

very very sad ...

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Really? No i dont think so...I think they were okay. I thought they were doing good, and now they just NEED some sort of green-light on a DLM thing. I mean i'm assuming, because i know people were saying they sales were doing pretty good. But then again i really don't know. Man, i hope it comes back.


I'm so sorry that i've fallen, help me up, lets keep on running...Don't let me fall out of love...

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If DVD sales aren't great, then it is not a reflection on the series. It is a reflection on the movie, which was inferior to the series. In any decision to possibly bring the series back for at least another season, I really hope they don't use the movie to torpedo a series continuation.

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see, the problem is you are using logic and rational thinking. People making decisions like whether to make more of show X does not use logic and rational thinking, all they see is "brand name did not sell well therefore it never will" and they are completely ignorant of things like snydication where half the shows actually make far more than dvd sales.

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Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.

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It depends on the production company and the network. Some are smarter marketers than others. Only time will tell.

It is better to be kind than to be clever or good looking. -- Derek

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I hope the fans are getting behind it. I could have gotten a copy from my uncle, but I chose to buy it because I want to see it come back. If my one copy helps sales just that tiny bit, then I'm happy.

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Read the posts on this board; the fans are not behind it at all.

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Well read more into the posts. They are a fan of the series and they want it back. They may not have really liked the movie but they know they want the series back. And because i want it back, i loved the movie. Its just that simple.




I'm so sorry that i've fallen, help me up, lets keep on running...Don't let me fall out of love...

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I have said this before: some of the posts are so intensely personal against the actors and producers that it makes me ashamed to call myself a fan. I saw one recently on Sarah Wynter's page that was simply beyond belief (I hope the moderators here have deleted it).

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Well you don't have to make it personal just because they do...I mean, who cares if they do?



I'm so sorry that i've fallen, help me up, lets keep on running...Don't let me fall out of love...

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That the movie had flaws doesn't change the fact that DLM has a great many fans.

I'm sure the people who made the movie can get beyond the personal comments by fans and glean from what's written some much needed feedback.

I agree that it's unfortunate that some of the comments are so harsh and no doubt those people would not say those comments to Sarah's face.

Her performance in the movie didn't work out. I've seen some of her other projects and anyone else who takes the time can see it's not that she doesn't have talent. It's just that given that script and that character choices were made by her and others that just did not work out. Fans are the final judge from which there is no appeal, and it's clear that most judged the performance as coming up short.

Plenty of blame to go around

- whoever green lighted her substitution for Laura at MGM
- the director had some ideas about how her substitution might work that obviously didn't' work
- the writers for not recreating the Daisy the fans came to appreciate in the series

-and then there's Sarah. Her performance didn't click with most fans. She said in an interview that she deliberately did NOT try to mimic the Daisy performance that Laura gave us. Mistake? Maybe it would have been even worse if she (or any actress) tried to pretend the performance of Laura ( as in no substitute for the real thing).

Then in some meeting among MGM, the director, and the writers (?) they made a mistake in going with a substitute when perhaps they should have written Daisy out or put an entirely new character in her place.

In any case the DLM series has a hard core following and no doubt if and when MGM can revisit the franchise and put a little more thought and preparation into a any new project they can trigger a very positive reaction among the original fan base and maybe attract some new blood. The (frequent and consistent) harsh comments should be welcomed because they're a clear message they did something wrong even if they don't show how to fix it.

This movie had some flaws, but it also got the most important things right. The core characters are George and Reggie, and in the movie that worked very well setting the story up for several new possible directions.

DLM is an intriguing blend of the dark and comedic. We saw both in the movie. I personally think that scene in the hospital when George and Reggie show up together and meet Hart's parents was hilarious. It was just a peek at some new situation possibilities for these two characters.



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The DVD had awesome sales.

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It did? I am not saying it didn't...but "awesome" is pretty vague.

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"The DVD had awesome sales."

I haven't been able to find actual sales figures.

However, 'had' is misleading. The companies that sell TV series/movies on dvd factor in the expected sales over several years.

So it's not just how well the sales are just after release, but also how well the sales hold up over time - a long time.

Some shows don't generate much interest in dvd. Others settle in for low but consistent sales over years. As actual sales are realized, the projections become more accurate and adjustments are made to the expected sales factors.

One strong point for Dead Like Me is that it actually gets better with repeated rewatching which implies strong syndication (both here and abroad) and persistent dvd sales for years to come.

Also keep in mind in judging the Life After Death movie that from MGM's point of view it could be a very flawed production, but generate a huge boost in the sales of the TV series, DLM's two seasons, which it no doubt did, and be counted has a profitable, successful, production.

That factor will likely weigh heavy in any decision as to whether to invest in another direct to dvd movie project. Hopefully, they will take into account comments from fans and achieve fewer flaws - and hopefully even higher sales.

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"That factor will likely weigh heavy in any decision as to whether to invest in another direct to dvd movie project. Hopefully, they will take into account comments from fans and achieve fewer flaws - and hopefully even higher sales."

I would agree with this if most of the comments from "fans" were constructive. Sadly, most of them were bitter, whiny tirades about the changes...changes which, unfortunately, could not be avoided because of the passage of time in the real world.

I give you these constructive quotes from "fans" of the show:

"[Sarah Wynter]thanks for ruining one of my favorite series... your old haggard arse should have never took the role... did you not see the series? how did you think you could fill those shoes? sad... "

"[again re. Sarah Wynter] This idiot needs to pick a new line of work, like porn where acting is not a necessity!!!!!!!"

"I don't even want to eBay my copy because I don't want to inflict the horrible garbage upon another person. This is an insult to the series."

"This show was excellent. Why *beep* it up with this??"

"This movie touched me in inappropriate places. It was God awful in every way. The new Daisy was HORRID...The story was trash, pure garbage...And did Ellen Muth get a boob job? It looked like they were trying to hide it the whole movie, it was really strange and distracting...This movie sucked. They should have left it alone"

"I feel like I have been f23ked in very uncomfortable place...and I don't mean the back of a VW."

"[Sarah again]She looks like a strung out meth mouth trash bin... guess they didn't have the money to get the original back... it pretty much ruined a full feature of a show i loved... that girl is HAGGARD!"


Real intelligent, mature, constructive comments. Yeah, if the producers just follow them they'll end up with "fewer flaws."

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Nice collection of quotes.

I hope Sarah isn't reading.

For the MGM suit responsible I think the above (and you picked a nice sample, but there are many more) reduce down to a note on a to-do list for the next DLM project:

1) Daisy issue: to keep or not to keep the character? Don't use Sarah again in any case.

And that's it.

Also I suspect from reading these forums the last few months, that people are disproportionately motivated by things they don't like or find offensive to post. The things that go well tend to generate less comment and certainly nothing heated.

The important point is that Ellen Muth did George well. The character was written in a believable way given the years that had passed. Britt more than carried her much older and more grown Reggie character. And the two advanced the story in a way that sets things up for another project (although what direction that might take is wide open).

The Daisy character had a very small role given this had to be a self contained story within a movie length production. How Sarah did that is a side issue. The way the character was written, the major screw-ups of the director (and whoever gave him such a long leash) who let her play the character the way she did, and finally, Sarah's decision to play Daisy the way she did - all share blame.

But again it's only commented on because the way the character turned out on the screen was so bad it called attention to itself disproportionately to its importance.

All the suit at MGM is going to note is 'don't use her again'. For sure, in any subsequent production there will be more thought given to how those supporting characters are written and performed - focus on Daisy, but on all of them.

As an avid fan of the series, I watched all the episodes again just before seeing the movie. I suspect that the suit at MGM had more of a 9 - 5 mentality, and if s/he watched it probably wasn't with as much attention to detail as what I managed.

I also suspect that the director wasn't all that great a fan either not really understanding the characters and story- he gives the impression tho that he is very impressed with his own talent and his own vision of what direction he thinks DLM should go -- as opposed to recapturing the original DLM vision (Fuller and then Godchaux/Masius) we saw in the series.

This is a case that for the director to succeed he has to submerge his own opinions and try to replicate the look and feel of the original. The last thing he should do is try to change the familiar look and feel of the DLM universe.

This is not to say that the characters and their story don't have to move in possibly radical new directions - they do. But they have to move within the familiar DLM universe.

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Danioton, overall, yours was an intelligent, well written critique. I disagree with most of it (I think Sarah Wynter did a fine---albeit different---job; and your attempt to read the mind of a "suit," was at best shooting in the dark), but that is no matter; it was constructive. Too bad that is so unusual here.

I stand by what I said: most posters here make me ashamed to be a Dead Like Me fan. Spin it however you like, but childish hate mail is still childish hate mail.

One point of order, though: most of the Sarah Wynter tirades came right off her IMDB page; I hardly think it more likely that she would read them here, quoted, than on her own page. Nice try on that one.

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Yeah, my statement is vague because my knowledge on the subject is pretty vague. Lol. I just remember that the DLM was atop the Amazon Top DVD Sales for a good while. That alone is very good for a movie that received absolutely no publicity.

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I went to Sarah's page and I agree that much of the negative goes beyond anything 'constructive'.

Still I don't believe all the 'childish hate mail' stuff will be factored into the decision whether to go forward with something new, other than using Sarah was a mistake.

I made a point of seeing other things she did and I know it's not that she's lacking talent. I believe most of the blame goes above her - MGM and the director - for picking her (she doesn't fit the role IMO), and then once they did choose her not giving her grooves to fit into.

The director said he let her go do her thing. She says she deliberately decided to not play the part like Laura. Where was some oversight from MGM while these really bad choices were being made?


To go forward with another DLM project the creative/exec people need to come to a decision whether to continue with the Daisy character.

If yes, forget Laura. They need to do a casting call for a Laura look alike that can act like Daisy. Someone who resembles Laura and can affect the Daisy character's mannerisms and speech style. There must be a couple a hundred young aspiring actresses in West LA who could do it and from whom they could choose.

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Well, I hope you are right about how they will make decisions about continuing on...however, I work in the business and I can tell you I am NOT optimistic. I'd love to be wrong, though.

As far as Daisy...what can I say? I liked Sarah Wynter's portrayal. Yes, I liked Laura Harris very much and am sorry she couldn't be in the movie...but I do believe if Sarah had the part first, people would be saying how awful Laura was; it's change they really seem to hate. Don't forget, Laura Harris also generated a TON of rude, hateful comments when she replaced Rebecca Gayheart.

Honestly, if you really pay attention to the movie, Daisy is not stupid at all...she is, in fact, the first one to realize Cameron is evil (apart from George).

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There's plenty of room on the planet for differing opinions on Sarah in LAD.

I came to DLM long after it was canceled by Showtime so I missed those comments regarding the Daisy character stepping in to replace Betty. Betty's last episode seems to have been restructured to accommodate her leaving perhaps to give her a nice send off. They had a long scene with Rube at the waterfall when she became a reaper, and of course ended with her jumping off the cliffs with the Irishman in front of George.

I agree Daisy is not stupid. She's just not book smart --- bedroom smart??? Her attempts to coach Mason in lying about killing Ray were hilarious, and then later when Roxy figured out what was going on Daisy's explanation to Mason 'She's smart' as how she caught on. In anything new I hope they develop Roxy's continual conundrum on balancing her role among the living as a cop and her reaper role.

Anyway, as far as getting any more DLM an important stepping stone was touched yesterday with the removal of Sloan by the private equity owners of MGM and his replacement by a work out specialist - Cooper.

This is probably just a temporary move -- MGM is simply too far in the hole debt wise to recover. It is very unlikely that the lenders will agree to taking a write-off on their debt AND leave the current owners in place. Removing the management is a positive step, but not enough. And Cooper is not a permanent solution. But he may speed up the transition to something more permanent.

And for MGM to be in a position to undertake any significant new projects they need a clean balance sheet and new funding. It's possible somebody will point to a new DLM project as a low cost quick boost to profits, but ..

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Regarding MGM and DLM..

A new Dead Like Me movie would be one of the less expensive movie ideas that the new management at MGM could pursue and that would be guaranteed to get a positive return. They sure can't do a mega-investment movie on short notice to prove their worth, so who knows, maybe something could happen.

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Cooper was put there with or at the direction of the lending group, and is nothing more than an interim figure on the way to a complete reorganization with the removal of the current owners and management. The lending group will take over as owners and then decide whether to recapitalize the company and then sell it / spin it off or whatever, or just proceed to liquidation - fire everyone and sell off the library and franchise rights etc.

Cooper's task of digging MGM out of the hole it is in is probably impossible - too deep a hole, but he's a necessary step towards a resolution.

Either a revitalized MGM or liquidation could lead to a new DLM project.

A new independent MGM would hopefully focus on smaller projects (like DLM). It doesn't have the financial resources to gamble on big mega-projects and needs the self discipline to focus on the small stuff.

If MGM (and its rights to DLM) is sold to a bigger corporate group then they might see their way to investing in a new DLM project.

If it's liquidated, then the buyer might also do the same.

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Well, Danioton, if you are correct, this might be a good time for the Dead Like Me fans to tone down their whining, slanderous, and venomous comments, and be a little more constructive (as you have been).

My take is that with MGM is such a bad state, it is far from likely they will take a chance on a product that is now so resoundingly hated by its "fans." But, as I keep saying, I hope I am wrong.

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As much as I love the TV series (and quite enjoyed the movie), I can't see it happening as too much time has passed.

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I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel.

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If it does return it will be as some sort of reboot. Most of the main characters in the original aren't suppose to age and all the real people who played the reapers would have trouble returning to those roles.

A reboot could be in the same setting with a complete recasting of the DLM we know, or start over with all new characters and setting in the same DLM universe.

For example, a police procedural with the lead character who is a reaper and a detective. The detective might either have reaped the victim or might well know the reaper who did and therefore probably who killed them, etc. The conflict and twist for the audience who've seen a lot of variations on police procedurals is that in this one the detective knows who did it and how it was done and may even be talking to the yet-to-cross-over soul, but has to solve the crime without crossing over the strict boundaries of non-interference imposed on reapers. The detective would know things and evidence that would lead to the killer as the reaper, but as the detective they would have to pretend otherwise as we saw Roxy show us this dilemma a few times in DLM. Recall how angry she got at Daisy for writing the killer's name on the hotel notepad.

The detective reaper could be part of a reaper group as in the Waffle Haus DLM family so there would be complications ensuing across episodes as in DLM among the reapers, but each episode would be built around one case, or maybe have a season involving a serial killer and multiple victims. Imagine a season involving a killer - a serial killer not as sympathetic as Dexter - and the reaper knows the killer and the killer knows the reaper.

MGM seems to be improving financially so somewhere down the way it may try to monetize its DLM property and we might see a reboot. You can follow their stock - MGMB is ticker - which seems to be closely held and infrequently traded but it does seem to be rising. The better they do the more likely we'll see something someday. But don't hold your breath.

MGM seems drawn to the bankruptcy flame like a moth. Sooner or later somebody can't help 'betting the farm'. And sooner or later if you keep betting the farm you lose it. Given their size and financial resources the only viable strategy is to keep the relative size of projects small so that the inevitable bad ones can't bring down the company and the few really good hits can take the company onward and upward.

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