In ABC’s new comedy Not Dead Yet, Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez returns in another high-concept role. This time around, she plays a writer nearing her forties whose boyfriend dumped her after she left the country for him. Now she’s back working the only job left at her old company: obituary writer. Oh, and she sees dead people.
Rodriguez and Jane the Virgin pulled off a miracle when the CW comedy debuted in 2014. The telenovela adaptation, in which a young woman becomes pregnant after a mix-up at her OBGYN’s office, could easily have come off silly or hollow. Thankfully, Rodriguez is a wellspring of charisma who, under the right circumstances, can exhibit a kind of humanity that seems to reach out from the screen from her eyes. So, why is Not Dead Yet—another high-concept comedy starring Rodriguez as a depressed obituary writer who starts seeing dead people—so damn lifeless?
Not Yet Dead does have a heartbeat, but for the first few episodes it’s nearly impossible to find. The proceedings, based on Alexandra Potter’s Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up, feel tonally confused at best and ridiculous at worst. As the existentially troubled Nell Stevens, Rodriguez—an emotional powerhouse of a performer—is reduced to gags like yelling at ghosts no one else can see at her desk and unsubtly putting her foot in her mouth at every opportunity.
New Girl alum Hannah Simone plays Nell’s BFF, Sam, but the two rarely interact; Sam spends most of her time relegated to the sidelines while Nell seeks the counsel of ghosts. As Nell’s tough, business-oriented boss, Superstore actress Lauren Ash is at times hilarious but more often baffling—not because of her delivery, but because some of her material is shockingly insipid. (She does not understand arguments in human English; conversations with her must be translated so that words like “web traffic” become “clicketty-clack.”) Nell’s roommate is on the autism spectrum, and unfortunately that’s pretty much all he gets to talk about—besides video games.
At first, it doesn’t seem as though any of these characters have room for growth—a tragedy, given that most of them are thoroughly uninteresting. The format seems clear from the end of the first episode, when Nell turns in her first obituary and immediately meets her next subject. (Beyond its accomplished principal cast, Not Dead Yet also features some impressive guest stars playing its ghosts—including Martin Mull, Brittany Snow, Rhea Perlman, Paula Pell, Tony Plana, Telma Hopkins, and more.) Like the phantoms who haunt Ebenezer Scrooge, each of the ghosts Nell writes about has a lesson to teach her. That said, this is a half-hour comedy, so neither the story arcs nor the lessons tend to be particularly nuanced.
Near the end of Episode 4, however, the series veers into new, far more appealing territory. A surprise turn of events suddenly cracks open a window, allowing some light and sincerity to shine in. As Nell comes back down to earth, her vulnerability is both apparent and, thanks to Rodriguez, palpable. Suddenly, the Kajillionaire star doesn’t feel wasted in this role; it feels tailor-made for her. What once felt like a drab show already at a dead end suddenly has a clear path forward—that is, if anyone’s still watching by the end of Episode 5.
ABC has only provided the first five episodes of the series for review. By the end, certain mysteries of the early episodes make a lot more sense, most importantly the rift between Nell and Sam. Some of the writing choices still feel a little too convenient—like Nell instantly befriending one of her ghosts’ still-living spouses, who for some reason takes an immediate and exceedingly caring interest in her life. Still, it’s better than jokes about people microwaving salads—a thing I’m somehow not making up.
Not Dead Yet creators David Windsor and Casey Johnson, who signed a three-year overall deal last year with ABC, previously co-executive produced This Is Us for three years and co-created The Real O’Neals and Don’t Trust The B—— In Apartment 23. Given those resumes, it’s not too hard to imagine the show morphing into its best self, given a full season to find its footing. Even then, however, the show will face its hurdles.
It’s visually forgettable, with production design that feels more phoned in than anything else—especially compared to a series like its ABC neighbor Abbott Elementary, which makes such good, subtle use of its costumes. Still, if just one more window cracks and just a little more light shines in, it might just be worth seeing what happens if we run toward it.
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