Not Dead Yet Review: Not Good Yet

The new ABC Show Not Dead Yet is one of the most disappointing shows I've seen in a while and... I'm afraid this is just how some shows are now and I don't like it.

The show follows Gina Rodriguez- a woman who just came back to the US and I guess her home town after moving to London to be with a guy... who dumped her. So she works at the same newspaper she used to work at and they give her the Obituaries- which she's not happy with... but then she starts seeing the people she's writing obituaries about... and they're dead. So she gets this unique perspective on their stories and uses that to write "really detailed" obituaries.

Why this doesn't work

Gina Rodriguez's character Nell is literally the worst person ever. All she ever does is complain... and when she's not complaining she flat out insults people right to their face and treats people really really badly. Like her roommate- a Radom man she met online and doesn't know- who likes the apartment a particular way. I don't want to quote the show exactly because I'm unfamiliar with the correct terminology and I don't want to offend anyone- but basically she asks him if he has some sort of disorder and she just flat out says it... and he does in fact have it... and that's just the joke. And that's just how she treats everyone around her... and it's all just sort of played off as a joke.

The other characters are also not that great- which really makes me sad because I love the cast in general. Everyone's just kind of rude and they don't act human. No one in the show has any empathy for anyone and... they really need it for a show that's about helping ghosts reach the other side.

The episode last night was about a girl that Nell knew personally, but it was her high school bully, who grew up to be an influencer and died trying to get a good picture. At the funeral, Nell tries to gain insight and she realizes that the girl doesn't have friends- she has followers... and she makes a speech at the funeral about that... and it just didn't seem like it was about the girl that died to me. It just seemed like it was more about Nell who was just trying to get this thing done.

There's also a lot that they could be doing with this show that they really aren't or haven't been doing. For example I think Nell is back in town because of a breakup- but I don't know for sure and... there really isn't a reason for "the breakup" to even actually be part of the story. For example: in New Girl the breakup actually factors into the story line- for a few episodes at least... plus we see her trying to move on and it actually makes sense that they threw that in here. For this... it just seems like that was the only reason they could think of for this woman to be back at this newspaper... and it could have been anything else.

The jokes in this aren't really that good either. They do their best to try to deliver the jokes but for some... it's just Nell finding a breast pump and using it as an air horn... and not knowing it's a breast pump... which is just kind of weird. I would think most people whether they have kids or know people that have kids are somewhat familiar with what a breast pump is.

I think this is just a personal thing too but... I kind of don't like that it's just one ghost every week and they just get closure and leave Nell alone. I would like if one ghost couldn't cross over or something. All the episodes feel very much the same because it's just her solving another guest star's problem every episode... and then just moving on. They could also lean more into the Magical Realism elements or the spooky elements... but they don't really use it well enough. It's just about writing obituaries.

I'm even going to nitpick the title and the opening just a little. The title sequence has a bunch of things saying like "not married yet" and "not... yet" and then it says "Not Dead Yet." And I thought " ohh I like that." But I would like it a lot better if they actually showed Nell struggling with those things... it just doesn't really fit that well. I think they should have called it "The Deadbeat". Cause... that better explains Nell's life and it just fits better with the obituary context.

I do think this show could improve. I don't think it's overall THAT bad I just think the characters aren't likable and they could kind of tweak the writing around to make them a little more human and a little more layered. The jokes could be a little funnier. They can still stick with the weekly guest ghost format to... but have it a little more varied and a little bit different. I'm not going to say "do not watch this show it's awful" I just think... it's Not Good Yet.

Bye!

-Shannon