TV series
2023 · 2 seasons · 23 ep · Comedy
TMDB 7.0/10 (110 votes)
Nell Serrano is a broke and newly single self-described disaster. She works to restart the life and career she left behind some 10 years ago. When writing obituaries is the only job she can find, Nell starts getting life advice from an unlikely (and dead) source.
Created by Casey Johnson, David Windsor
Family reviews:Plugged In ↗Common Sense Media ↗Dove ↗Movieguide ↗
Casey JohnsonCreator
David WindsorCreator
Gina Rodriguezas Nell Serrano
Hannah Simoneas Sam
Lauren Ashas Lexi
Rick Glassmanas Edward
Josh Bandayas Dennis
Angela Elayne Gibbsas Cricket
Brad Garrettas Duncan RhodesCast & crew political lean — 1 of 9 researched: 0 left · 0 center · 0 right · 1 no public record. Based only on cited public statements, endorsements, and documented donations.
Not Dead Yet is an American television sitcom created by David Windsor and Casey Johnson for ABC. It is based on Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up by Alexandra Potter. The series premiered on February 8, 2023. In May 2023, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on February 7, 2024. In May 2024, the series was canceled after two seasons.
When Nell (Gina Rodriguez) comes back to work at her old job at SoCal Independent she finds out she's assigned to writing obituaries. Then, she finds out her best friend, Sam (Hannah Simone) is now also close friends with Nell's boss and enemy, Lexi (Lauren Ash). When Nell gets her first assignment, Monty (Martin Mull), she meets his widowed wife, Cricket (Angela E. Gibbs), who owns a bar. Nell and Cricket become close friends and Nell almost tells Cricket she sees ghosts. During Season 1, Nell and Edward (Rick Glassman), her roommate, become enemies to friends and help each other with relationships. At the end of Season 1, Nell's ex-fiancé, Phillip (Ed Weeks) comes to Pasadena, California. First, Nell is still very mad at him as well as Sam and Dennis (Joshua Banday), but they make up and start dating, until Nell tells Phillip she sees ghosts and he says they should move away and she should quit her job. Nell breaks up with Phillip for good. Dennis and his husband Ben start fostering twins at the end of Season 1.
At the beginning of Season 2, Lexi's father, Duncan (Brad Garrett), whom she always tries to impress, visits their office. Duncan asks Nell to help him write his obituary and help him be a better person, but Nell finds out it's just to make Lexi work harder and he has not changed. Sam and her husband Keith (Adhir Kalyan) start having marital issues and eventually get a divorce. Lexi and Edward start hooking up, but Edward doesn't tell Nell. They later start officially dating. Nell meets TJ (Jesse Garcia), a coworker, and they start dating. When Nell brings babies into the conversation and looks into freezing her eggs, TJ reveals he never has wanted to have kids and they decide to break up but remain friends. That same episode, Edward finds out Duncan is selling SoCal Independent and tells Lexi and Nell. Everyone goes into a panic. During all the chaos Duncan collapses and is taken to the hospital but also appears as Nell's ghost. Duncan has heart surgery and survives. Lexi decides to take matters into her own hands and buy out the company. Duncan and Lexi's relationship slowly restores as he understands that Lexi is grown up.
Gina Rodriguez as Nell Serrano, a journalist whose wedding plans with Phillip fell apart, resulting in her moving back to Los Angeles from London. Her full first name is Penelope. She's best friends with Sam.
Hannah Simone as Sam, Nell's best friend who is the style editor at the SoCal Independent. In Season 2, she has marital issues with her husband.
Lauren Ash as Lexi, Nell's boss and the editor-in-chief at the SoCal Independent
Rick Glassman as Edward, Nell's autistic roommate. He is frenemies with Nell.
Joshua Banday as Dennis, Nell's co-worker and an associate editor at the SoCal Independent. He assigns obituaries for Nell to write. Starting at the end of Season 1, he and his husband foster two children.
Angela E. Gibbs as Cricket, a widowed owner of a bar that specializes in wine. She is the widow of the first ghost Nell meets.
Brad Garrett as Duncan Rhodes (season 2), the publisher of the SoCal Independent and Lexi's father
Maile Flanagan as Tina, a gruff, somewhat antisocial co-worker at the SoCal Independent
Jimmy Bellinger as Mason, an intern at the SoCal Independent
Jesse Garcia as TJ (season 2), a sportswriter at the SoCal Independent and die-hard Cubs fan
Martin Mull as Monty, the first ghost Nell encounters and Cricket's late husband
Mo Collins as Jane Marvel
Brittany Snow as Piper, Nell's high school bully
Rory O'Malley as Ben, Dennis' husband
Don Lake as Rand
Julia Sweeney as Terri Lawrence, a parody of Shari Lewis
Tony Plana as Carlos Garza, a sportscaster whom Nell and her father admired when she was growing up
Paula Pell as Marlena, a former soap actress.
Ed Begley Jr. as Bill, a former music teacher who was Susie's husband
Telma Hopkins as Susie, a former music teacher who was Bill's wife
Rhea Perlman as Janice
Ed Weeks as Phillip, Nell's former fiancé
Adhir Kalyan as Keith, Sam's husband
Nico Santos as Teddy (season 2), a former realtor
Lidia Porto as Diana (season 2)
Tommy Martinez as Andres (season 2)
Annie O'Donnell as Estelle (season 2)
Wendie Malick as Mary Sue Manners (season 2)
Rob Corddry as Andrew Michaels (season 2), a former IRS Auditor who believes that he was murdered
Cedric Yarbrough as Paul (season 2), Andrew's neighbor and the main suspect in his murder investigation
Chelsea Handler as Sharon (season 2)
Marla Gibbs as Nana Sugar, Cricket's mother (season 2)
Matt Walsh as Frederick P. Moreau (season 2)
Jenifer Lewis as Donna (season 2)
Malcolm Barrett as Quentin (season 2)
On February 14, 2022, Not Dead Yet was given a pilot order by ABC. 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, Mary Viola and Corey Marsh. 20th Television and Wonderland Sound and Vision serve as production companies for the series. Dean Holland directed the pilot. On May 16, 2023, ABC renewed the series for a second season. On May 10, 2024, ABC canceled the series after two seasons.
On March 29, 2022, Gina Rodriguez was cast in the lead role. On April 5, 2022, Josh Banday, Jessica St. Clair, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Angela Gibbs, and Rick Glassman joined the cast as series regulars. On May 14, 2022, it was reported that Rodriguez, Banday, and Gibbs were the starring cast members to stay on as series regulars, due to creative tweaks. While it was initially reported that Glassman was set to continue on the series as recurring, he ended up being a series regular. In August 2022, Hannah Simone and Lauren Ash were cast as series regulars. On January 11, 2023, it was announced that Martin Mull, Ed Begley Jr., Mo Collins, Deborah S. Craig, Telma Hopkins, Don Lake, Rhea Perlman, Paula Pell, Tony Plana, Brittany Snow, and Julia Sweeney would appear in different episodes as ghosts.
On December 13, 2023, it reported that Brad Garrett was cast as a new series regular for the second season. On January 30, 2024, it was announced that Wendie Malick, Nico Santos, Rob Corddry, Tommy Martinez, Lidia Porto, Annie O'Donnell, Jesse Garcia, and Cedric Yarborough were set to guest star for the second season. Several days later, it was reported that Chelsea Handler and Marla Gibbs were cast to guest star. On April 10, 2024, it was announced that Jenifer Lewis, Malcolm Barrett, and Matt Walsh were set to guest star for the second season.
Not Dead Yet premiered on February 8, 2023, on ABC. The second season premiered on February 7, 2024.
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 50% approval rating with an average rating of 6.5/10, based on 16 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "While an always engaging Gina Rodriguez is enough to ensure that this supernatural comedy isn't dead on arrival, it'll need more spark to survive viewer disinterest." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 58 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
The series was one of 200 television series that received the ReFrame Stamp for the years 2022 to 2023. The stamp is awarded by the gender equity coalition ReFrame and industry database IMDbPro for film and television projects that are proven to have gender-balanced hiring, with stamps being awarded to projects that hire female-identifying people, especially women of color, in four out of eight key roles for their production.
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