Drop Dead Diva

Drop Dead Diva
Drop Dead Diva Inter-title
Genre	Comedy-drama Fantasy Legal Drama
Created by	Josh Berman
Starring	Brooke Elliott Margaret Cho April Bowlby Kate Levering Jackson Hurst Josh Stamberg Ben Feldman Lex Medlin
Theme music composer	Scott Starrett
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	39 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Josh Berman Jason Geigerman Neil Meron David Petrarca Craig Zadan
Location(s)	Atlanta, Georgia
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	45–48 minutes
Production company(s)	Sony Pictures Television Storyline Entertainment
Broadcast
Original channel	Lifetime
Original run	July 12, 2009 – Present
External links
Website

Drop Dead Diva is an American legal comedy-drama/fantasy television series that debuted on Lifetime on July 12, 2009.^[1] The hour-long series, which was created by Josh Berman, is produced by Sony Pictures Television. The series stars Brooke Elliott as Jane, a plus size woman whose body is inhabited by the soul of a fashion model.

On September 22, 2011, Drop Dead Diva was renewed for a fourth season.^[2]

Plot

The series revolves around vapid blonde and aspiring model, Deborah (Deb) Dobkins (played by Brooke D'Orsay in the pilot and in flashbacks), who is killed in a car crash. As her soul enters the gates of Heaven, she finds herself declared a "zero-zero" (meaning she has performed zero good deeds and zero bad deeds during her time on earth; she is simply shallow) by the gatekeeper, Fred. After not liking what she hears, she presses for a return to her former body, hoping to get back to Earth. Deb gets her wish (by willfully pressing a computer key she should not have), only to be brought back to life in the body of a recently deceased, brilliant, hardworking, overweight lawyer named Jane Bingum.

Initially horrified, Deb – in her new human form – discovers the meaning of inner beauty as she finds the ability to juggle legal cases, aided by her assistant Teri, while attempting to reconnect incognito with her still-grieving boyfriend, Grayson Kent, who just started working at Jane's law firm. At the same time, Deb begins to rediscover her past while learning more about her inherited body's current life, and how Jane was treated when she was alive. In addition to Fred (who was demoted to guardian angel and has been assigned to watch over her at the law firm), only Deb's long-time mortal friend Stacy knows Jane's true identity.

Cast

Main article: List of Drop Dead Diva characters

Main cast

• Brooke Elliott as Jane Bingum (inhabited by Deb Dobkins)
• Margaret Cho as Teri Lee
• April Bowlby as Stacy Barrett
• Kate Levering as Kim Kasswell
• Jackson Hurst as Grayson Kent
• Josh Stamberg as Jay Parker
• Ben Feldman as Fred
• Lex Medlin as Judge Owen French (Season 4, recurring previously)^[3]

Recurring cast

• Brooke D'Orsay as the original Deb Dobkins
• Brandy Norwood as Elisa Shyne

Guest stars

Many celebrities have made guest appearances on the show. Among them are: Paula Abdul, Faith Prince, Diedrich Bader, Delta Burke, David Denman, Jorja Fox, Elliot Gould, Steve Valentine, Tim Gunn, Ricki Lake, Sharon Lawrence, Chad Lowe, Liza Minnelli, Mark Moses, Nancy Grace, Kathy Najimy, Cybill Shepherd, Rosie O'Donnell, Teri Polo, Nia Vardalos, Gregory Harrison, Gina Torres, Jamie Ray Newman, Chuck Woolery, Vivica A. Fox, Candice Accola, MacKenzie Mauzy, Nick Zano, LeAnn Rimes, Mario Lopez, Wendy Williams, Clay Aiken, Romy Rosemont, Jennifer Tilly, Howard Hesseman, Louis Van Amstel, Lance Bass, Wanda Sykes, Amanda Bearse, Rami Kashou, Tony Goldwyn, Kathy Griffin, Crystal Reed, Jake Pavelka, Quinton Aaron, Valerie Harper, Bruce Davison, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Deidre Hall.

Production

This series, which is being shot in Peachtree City, Georgia, and Senoia, Georgia, even though its background setting is Los Angeles, California, was originally planned for Fox, but the studio passed after seeing the pilot. According to Berman, "It's a cross between Freaky Friday and Heaven Can Wait," calling it a "life-affirming dramedy". He adds that in Hollywood, "beauty has been defined as size 2 and under 25; hopefully we can help redefine the paradigm".^[4]

Episodes

Main article: List of Drop Dead Diva episodes

Season	Episodes	Originally aired (U.S. dates)		DVD release date
		Season premiere	Season finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
1	13	July 12, 2009	October 11, 2009	June 1, 2010[5]	June 28, 2010[6]	June 2, 2010[7]
2	13	June 6, 2010	August 29, 2010	May 3, 2011[8]	November 7, 2011	N/A
3	13	June 19, 2011	September 25, 2011	TBA[9]	N/A	N/A
4[10]	13[10]	2012	2012	TBA	N/A	N/A

Broadcast

The show airs on Showcase in Canada, Living in the UK and Go! in Australia.^{[citation needed]} Every Sunday on Lifetime at 9 starting June 6, 2010, for its second season.^{[citation needed]} The series airs in The Netherlands on RTL 5 in spring 2011. The series airs in Poland on Polsat from fall 2010 (Saturdays around noon). Season 1 & 2 aired from Wednesday 9 February 2011 in New Zealand on TV 2. In Japan, the show airs on WOWOW and season 2 will start in Fall. In Mexico, the show airs on Sony Channel. In Brazil, the series airs on TV Globo on the late night in Sunday. In France, the show airs on M6 and TEVA.

Ratings

The show's premier episode scored a 1.6 overall and more than 2.8 million viewers tuning in.^[11]

"Drop Dead Diva" scored its highest ratings ever among women 18–49 (2.0), a 25% increase over its season-to-date average, and women 25–54 (2.3), a 28% increase over its season-to-date average.

The show aired on the Nine Network in Australia but failed to achieve high ratings for the channel and was subsequently dropped in early September, then the following week began airing the series starting with the first episode again on Nine's digital GO! channel and now on TV1 (Foxtel pay TV) 19h30 Wednesdays. In October 2011, the show came back onto Nine's digital GEM channel, but episodes have been shown sporadically, sometimes on one week and not the next.

In the UK, the show airs on Living and premiered on April 1, 2010, at 20h to 206,000 viewers, being the 7th most watched broadcast of the week on Living. An additional 129,000 viewers watched the premiere on Living's 1 hour timeshift service.^[12] The second series premiered on Tuesday 7 September at 21h.^[13] The third series started airing in September 2011 on the revamped Sky Living.^[14] With the DVD release of the second series, in Region 2 is to be released in November over a year after its airing.^[14]

DVD releases

DVD Name	Region 1 Release Date	Region 2 Release Date	Region 4 Release Date	Ep #	Discs	Additional Information
Season 1	June 1, 2010[15]	June 28, 2010[16]	June 2, 2010[17]	13	3	Dreamisodes, Deleted Scenes, Rosie's Rap, Dropping in with Drop Dead Diva and Cho in Tell.
Season 2	May 3, 2011[18]	TBA	TBA	13	3	Drop Dead Dishing: The Cast and Crew on Season 2, A Look Ahead to Season 2, Is This Her Future?, It Wasn't a Meeting, Tell the Judge You Saw a Ghost, There's a Little Diva in all of Us!, Just Hear Us Out, Begin Again Music Video and Thunder From Down Under.
Season 3	TBA[19]	TBA	TBA	13	3	TBA

Soundtrack

Main article: Drop Dead Diva (television soundtrack)

A soundtrack for Drop Dead Diva was released on June 1, 2010, by Madison Gate Records.^[20] It is titled Drop Dead Diva (Music from the Original Television Series). The tracklist includes music by Brooke Elliott, Margaret Cho, Ben Feldman, Scott Starrett, Confetti, Becca Jones, Platinum Pied Pipers, Lil' Wendy, Madi Diaz, Dri, Katie Herzig, Malbec and Joshua Morrison.

See also

• Body swap appearances in media

References

1. ^ Drop Dead Diva, The Futon Critic .
2. ^ "Lifetime renews Drop Dead Diva for a fourth season", TV by the numbers, Zap2it, http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/09/22/lifetime-renews-drop-dead-diva-for-a-for-a-fourth-season/104645/ .
3. ^ Drop Dead Diva, Lex Medlin season four, Hollywood reporter, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/drop-dead-diva-lex-medlin-season-four-243724 .
4. ^ "Lifetime's 'Drop Dead Diva' redefines beauty". USA Today. May 11, 2009. http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2009-05-07-drop-dead-diva_N.htm. 
5. ^ Drop Dead Diva Season 1 DVD Amazon US
6. ^ Drop Dead Diva Season 1 DVD Amazon UK
7. ^ http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/dvd/dvd-genres/drama-romance/drop-dead-diva-season-1-3-dvd-set/516203 DDD S01 R4
8. ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Drop-Dead-Diva-Season-2/15047
9. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0058YPNPK
10. ^ ^{a b} http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/09/22/lifetime-renews-drop-dead-diva-for-a-for-a-fourth-season/104645/
11. ^ "Cable Ratings: ‘Drop Dead Diva’ Debut Knocks Out 2.8 Million Viewers". Broadcasting Cable. July 13, 2009. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/315061-Cable_Ratings_Drop_Dead_Diva_Debut_Knocks_Out_2_8_Million_Viewers.php?nid=2228&source=title&rid=5458374. 
12. ^ , UK: Barb, August 26, 2010, http://www.barb.co.uk/ .
13. ^ "Radio Times: Drop Dead Diva". August 26, 2010. http://www.radiotimes.com/ListingsServlet?event=10&channelId=197&programmeId=126433275&jspLocation=/jsp/prog_details.jsp. 
14. ^ ^{a b} "Coming soon: Drop Dead Diva", Living, Sky, http://skyliving.sky.com/coming-soon/drop-dead-diva .
15. ^ Drop Dead Diva Season 1 DVD, US: Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002N5N4DA .
16. ^ Drop Dead Diva Season 1 DVD, UK: Amazon, http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003GAN4L8 .
17. ^ "Drop Dead Diva Season 1 3-disk set", DVD, AU: JB Hifi online, http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/dvd/dvd-genres/drama-romance/drop-dead-diva-season-1-3-dvd-set/516203 
18. ^ Drop Dead Diva season 2, TV shows on DVD, http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Drop-Dead-Diva-Season-2/15047 .
19. ^ Drop Dead Diva complete season, US: Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Drop-Dead-Diva-Complete-Season/dp/B0058YPNPK/ref=sr_1_6?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1314661831&sr=1-6 .
20. ^ Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003NSC6W6 .

External links

• Official website
• Drop Dead Diva (wiki), Wikia, http://dddiva.wikia.com/wiki/Drop_Dead_Diva_wiki .
• Drop Dead Diva at the Internet Movie Database
• Drop Dead Diva at TV.com