Sony Pictures | 2009 | 567 mins. | Not Rated
Created by Josh Berman, who has written for CSI and Bones, Drop Dead Diva is surprisingly good. I’ll admit, I missed the first season when it aired on Lifetime, and when I received the series on DVD I was none to impressed when the overweight lead character was seen staring longingly at a donut (isn’t that the oldest joke on Earth?). And yet the show represents a television rarity; a showcase for an actress who isn’t stick thin. Better still, series star Brooke Elliott is funny and sassy.
Elliott plays Jane Bingum a workaholic lawyer who is fatally shot at the office when she gets in between her boss, Parker (Josh Stamberg), and the angry husband of a woman Parker had been dating. At nearly the same time, the empty-headed Deb Dodson (Brooke D’Orsay, who appears in the pilot and in flashbacks in five other episodes) is killed while driving distractedly. When she goes to heaven, which is run like a gigantic mall with a check-in at the top of an escalator, she learns from an angel named Fred (Ben Feldman) that she has been declared a zero. She didn’t do anything bad, but she didn’t do anything good, either. But before he can pronounce judgment, Deb jumps the gun and pushes a “return” button on Fred’s computer keyboard.
Before you know it, she wakes up in the body of Jane, who’s lying motionless as a team works to try to save her life. Fred ends up on earth as well, demoted to guardian angel (hers) because of the keyboard error. Deb is stuck with Jane’s size 16 body forever, but she also gets Jane’s enviable brain. So Deb’s soul is combined with Jane’s brain and body, but she has Deb’s memories. Add in a toned-down Margaret Cho as Teri, Jane’s assistant, an ambitious and catty attorney named Kim (Kate Levering) in the same firm, and a load of cases as quirky as we saw on Ally McBeal (Jane even has these visions of people, like guys wearing rabbit ears, the way that Ally did), and you get a show that’s decidedly different from Lifetime’s usual offerings.
While Brooke Elliott is a real find, the otherworldly elements aren’t particularly well defined. Though Fred has been demoted to the role of Jane Bingum/Deb Dobkins’ guardian angel, his function isn’t particularly clear. He works in the mailroom of Jane’s firm, but it’s all pretty sketchy. Even so, the show manages to create laughs within its set formula. Every week, Jane learns something about herself and Deb. In a larger context, the show carries the message that plus-size d women are beautiful.
Thirteen episodes are included on three single-sided discs and housed in two slim plastic keep cases, tucked inside a cardboard slipcase. Episodes and cast credits are printed on the inside covers, so you have to remove the disc to see them. I have provided a brief synopsis of each episode, and notable guest stars.
1) “Pilot.” Jane Bingum, a plus-sized lawyer, gets shot by a man aiming for her boss at her law firm. Deb Dobson is a slim model and living the good life when she is killed in a car crash. Deb goes to Heaven but is accidentally sent back to Earth just as Jane dies in the hospital. Deb’s soul ends up in Jane’s plus size body and now Deb (with Jane’s knowledge of law) must play the role of the lawyer. To make matters more difficult, Deb’s grieving boyfriend, Grayson Kent, is now working at the same law firm. Deb’s Guardian Angel, named Fred, watches over her as only he and Deb’s friend, Stacy, know who Jane really is on the inside.
2) “The ‘F’ Word.” It’s Deb’s first big case as Jane is to represent a waitress who was fired because she gained weight. Meanwhile, a nasty divorce gets nastier when a man demands the return of property he gave to his wife: a kidney.
3) “Do Over.” Jane ends up in jail for contempt of court after her emotions get the best of her in a retrial whose history she has absolutely no recollection of, even though she tried the case. Meanwhile, Kim and Grayson sue a psychiatrist on behalf of a woman claiming that in treating her husband for multiple personalities he left the wrong personality as the surviving one. Rosie O’Donnell and Chuck Woolery guest star.
4) “The Chinese Wall.” Jane discovers that the only reason her parents stayed together was because of her, and now her ex-boyfriend Grayson is handling the case on behalf of her father. Of course, Jane has to represent her mother. Meanwhile, Jane and Kim defend a dog-owner who believes a pet cloning company did not give the dog owner a prize winning dog; matching the dog from which it was supposedly cloned. Diedrich Bader and Sharon Lawrence guest star.
5) “Lost & Found.” While Jane represents a man wrongfully imprisoned and freed 10 years later, Kim and Grayson get involved with a case in which a man created a website for cheaters.
6) “Second Chances.” Jane defends a woman who is retried for a crime she was accused of committing 20 years ago; meanwhile, Grayson gets caught up with an elderly client who’s clearly not playing with a full deck.
7) “Magic Bullet.” Deb-as-Jane gets involved with a case that targets the Jillian Ford Diet Plan, not knowing that Jane actually did a commercial plugging the product. Oops. Meanwhile, Kim is sued for sexual harassment and Grayson tries to help. Kathy Najimy guest stars.
8) “Crazy.” Jane defends a CEO from a board who wants his ouster after a near-death experience leaves him a little more “appreciative” of life and less the corporate killer he once was. Meanwhile, Kim and Grayson get involved in a tawdry case involving a cheating maid of honor and groom.
9) “The Dress.” Jane takes on a boutique for refusing to sell plus-sized clothing. Paula Abdul guest stars.
10) “Make Me a Match.” Judge Stone becomes the victim of matchmaking fraud, Fred returns, and Kim and Grayson deal with squabbling sister psychics. Delta Burke, Liza Minnelli, and Rosie O’Donnell guest star.
11) “What If?” Jane represents a woman who believes she was switched at birth. Meanwhile, Parker has to argue in court for the first time in a long time. Nia Vardalos guest stars.
12) “Dead Model Walking.” Jane is star-struck when she gets to save Deb’s favorite fashion model from a run-in with the law, but soon discovers her idol is in more trouble than she thought. Meanwhile, Grayson and Kim take on a pro-bono case where a woman refuses to sell her house to developers because it holds too many memories of her deceased husband. Shirley Knight guest stars.
13) “Grayson’s Anatomy.” As it turns out, Grayson has been dreaming about Deb though for a while he was ready to start a relationship with Kim. Paula Abdul guest stars.
Drop Dead Diva is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, and it looks fairly average for a current TV show. Colors are bright, as you’d expect, and the bright reds don’t cause any problems. Skin tones are natural looking, and edge delineation and detail are fairly good for a DVD.
The audio is a Dolby Digital 5.1, and a fairly robust 5.1 at that. There’s a good amount of ambient sound channeled through the rear speakers at times, and a fairly wide spread across the front speakers. Dialogue sounds clear and natural, and there’s no distortion. Subtitles are in English SDH and French.
There are no special features.
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