''Not Dead Yet'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

created by David Windsor and Casey Johnson for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. The series premiered on February 8, 2023.

Premise

The show focuses on Nell Serrano, an accident-prone American newspaper reporter who left her last job five years ago to move to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

with a lover. She returns to the US when the relationship ends and tries to resume her journalism career as a newly single woman. Serrano is assigned to write obituaries by her new employer, and begins to encounter ghosts of the people whose obituaries she is writing, whom only she can see and hear. The ghosts begin to have conversations with Serrano, and offer her advice on how to rebuild her life while also helping her write their obituaries by telling her their stories. The ghosts then disappear after their obituaries are published.

Cast and characters

Main

Gina Rodriguez Gina Alexis Rodriguez-LoCicero (born July 30, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for her leading role as Jane Villanueva in The CW satirical romantic dramedy series ''Jane the Virgin'' (2014–2019), for which she received a Golden Glob ...

as Nell Serrano, a journalist whose wedding plans fell apart resulting in her moving back to Los Angeles from London *

Hannah Simone Hannah Simone (born 3 August 1980) is a British-Canadian actress, television host, and former VJ and fashion model. She is known for portraying Cece on the Fox sitcom ''New Girl''. Early life Simone was born in London to an Indian father and ...

as Sam, Nell's best friend *

Lauren Ash Lauren Elizabeth Ash (born February 4, 1983) is a Canadian actress and comedian based in Los Angeles, but originally from Belleville, Ontario. Ash is best known among television audiences for her role as Dina Fox on the sitcom '' Superstore''. ...

as Lexi, Nell's boss *

Rick Glassman Rick Glassman (born July 23, 1984) is an American actor and comedian. Glassman starred in the role of Burski on the NBC sitcom ''Undateable'' and wrote, directed and starred in the NBC-produced web series spin-off ''The Sixth Lead''. He played t ...

as Edward, Nell's autistic roommate * Joshua Banday as Dennis * Angela E. Gibbs as Cricket, a widowed owner of a bar that specializes in wine

Recurring

Maile Flanagan Maile Flanagan () is an American television, film, and voice actress known for her work in cartoons, anime and video games. Some of her prominent roles include Naruto Uzumaki in the English dub of ''Naruto'', Piggley Winks in ''Jakers! The Adven ...

as Tina * Jimmy Bellinger as Mason

Notable guest stars

Martin Mull Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on ''Mary Hartman, ...

as Monty, the first ghost Nell encounters and Cricket's late husband *

Mo Collins Maureen Ann Collins (born July 7, 1965) is an American actress and comedian who was a member of the ensemble on FOX's sketch comedy series '' Mad TV''. Collins became well known for several characters during her tenure on the show. She was ...

as Jane Marvel *

Brittany Snow Brittany Anne Snow (born March 9, 1986) is an American actress. She rose to prominence after appearing in the CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light'' (1998–2001), for which she won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress and was nominated for two ...

as Piper, Nell's high school bully *

Don Lake Donald Lake (born November 26, 1956) is a Canadian actor, writer, and television producer. He is frequently cast by director Christopher Guest, and is also a close friend and the collaborative partner of Bonnie Hunt. He had a role in ''The Bonn ...

as Rand *

Julia Sweeney Julia Anne Sweeney (born October 10, 1959) is an American actress, comedian, and author, who gained fame as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1994. She played Mrs. Keeper in the film ''Stuart Little'' and voiced Brittany in ' ...

as Terri Lawrence *

Tony Plana José Antonio Plana (born April 19, 1952) is a Cuban actor and director. He is known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC television show ''Ugly Betty'' and for voicing Manuel "Manny" Calavera in the video game ''Grim ...

as Carlos Garza, a sportscaster who Nell and her father admired when she was growing up

Episodes

Production

Development

On February 14, 2022, ''Not Dead Yet'' was given a pilot order by

. It is based on ''Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up'' by

Alexandra Potter Alexandra Potter (born 1970) is a British author of romantic comedies. Biography Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, Potter was educated at Liverpool University, where she received an honours degree in English Literature and Film Studies. ...

. On May 13, 2022, ''Not Dead Yet'' was picked up to series by ABC. The series is created by David Windsor and Casey Johnson who are expected to executive produce alongside Rodriguez,

McG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

, Mary Viola and Corey Marsh.

20th Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...

and

Wonderland Sound and Vision Wonderland Sound and Vision is an American production company founded by director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol in 2001. It independently develops, produces and finances its own slate of feature films, television and digital projects. The co ...

serve as production companies for the series.

Dean Holland Dean Holland is an American film editor, television director and producer best known for working on ''Entourage'' and the comedy shows ''The Office'' and ''Parks and Recreation''. In 2007, he was honored with the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding S ...

directed the pilot. The series premiered on February 8, 2023.

Casting

On March 29, 2022,

was cast in the lead role. On April 5, 2022, Josh Banday,

Jessica St. Clair Jessica St. Clair is an American actress and improvisational comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. With frequent collaborator Lennon Parham, she co-created and co-starred in NBC's ''Best Friends Forever'' and USA Network's '' Playi ...

Mary Elizabeth Ellis Mary Elizabeth Ellis (born May 11, 1979) is an American actress, best known for her recurring roles as The Waitress on the FX comedy ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present), Nick's ex-girlfriend Caroline in the Fox sitcom ''New G ...

, Angela Gibbs, and

joined the cast as series regulars. On May 14, 2022, it was reported that Rodriguez, Banday, and Gibbs are the starring cast members to stay on the series as series regulars due to creative tweaks. Glassman is set to continue on the series, but not as a series regular. In August 2022,

and

were cast as series regulars. On January 11, 2023, it was announced that

, Ed Begley Jr.,

, Deborah S. Craig,

Telma Hopkins Telma Louise Hopkins (born October 28, 1948) is an American actress and singer. Hopkins rose to prominence as a member of the 1970s pop music group Tony Orlando and Dawn, which had several number-one songs. She also performed on the CBS variety ...

Rhea Perlman Rhea Jo Perlman (born March 31, 1948) is an American actress. She played head-waitress Carla Tortelli in the sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993). Over the course of 11 seasons, Perlman was nominated for ten Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Act ...

Paula Pell Paula Pell (born April 15, 1963) is an American comedy writer, producer, and actress, best known for her work writing for the sketch series ''Saturday Night Live,'' being recognized with a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety ...

, and

would appear in different episodes as ghosts.

Reception

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported a 47% approval rating with an average rating of 6.3/10, based on 15 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "While an always engaging

is enough to ensure that this supernatural comedy isn't dead on arrival, it'll need more spark to survive viewer disinterest."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 58 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Ratings

The premiere episode of ''Not Dead Yet'' had about 7.6 million viewers and a 1.76 rating among the 18-49 demographic in the seven days after its premiere across linear and digital platforms. It is the most-watched comedy debut on ABC in nearly four years.

References

External links

* 2020s American comedy television series 2023 American television series debuts American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Wonderland Sound and Vision Television shows based on books Autism in television Television series about ghosts {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub