Not Dead Yet (TV series)

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.

Season 1
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.

Season 2
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. But, 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 are still 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 is collapsed 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.

Main

 * Gina Rodriguez as Nell Serrano, a journalist whose wedding plans with Phillip fell apart, resulting in her moving back to Los Angeles from London. It is later revealed her first name is Penelope and "Nell" is her nickname. 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

Recurring

 * 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

Notable guest stars

 * 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 (season 2), a former IRS Auditor who believes that he was murdered
 * Cedric Yarborough 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)

Development
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.

Casting
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 are the starring cast members to stay on the series 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 are 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 are set to guest star for the second season.

Broadcast
Not Dead Yet premiered on February 8, 2023, on ABC. The second season premiered on February 7, 2024.

Critical response
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".