Dead Like Me

It's for adults. Parents will probably not like the bad language, however it's not bad for adults, in other words it's appropriate to the dialogue. Although there are not good role models the lead reaper (Rube) tends to be a moral compass for them and mentor. Also somebody mentioned that the characters make bad choices, often there are consequences to their choices and repurcussions that they find unpleasant to catstrophic.

I love this show, I've seen every episode and the movie, but I'm not going to even consider letting my children watch this until they are at least 17, because lets face it, when they reach that age they'll be able to get into rated R movies anyway, so I don't think it makes much difference then.

The language is very strong in this show and some time the sceans of death can be pretty graphic. This show is for 13 and older.

Although I enjoy watching this show, it is not appropriate for children or even teen viewers. I think the most offensive part is the language with FREQUENT use of the F-word. People die in every episode and some deaths are more graphic than others. The main reaper, George, deals with people who meet their end via outside forces such as train wrecks (a child in that instance), explosions, vehicles, being hit in the head etc. In addition to the deaths, there are definitely some spooky moments with regard to the gravelings (the creatures whose job it is to cause the deaths) although in season 2 they seem more comical than scary. The reapers all are faced with decisions on whether or not to exploit the grieving families or the newly dead by stealing possessions, communicating final messages for money, etc. One reaper makes frequent references to her sexual escapades while she was alive. George's living family struggles with her death and both parents and her younger sister display negative behaviors. Finally, what I would caution parents about is the question of the existence of God or discussion of religion with regard to the afterlife. I think that this is made out to be of minor importance to the show with only some reference to one of the reapers being an atheist and another "thinking about" becoming Catholic. To me, the less the show gets into this line of discussion the better. There is definitely a chain of command and the reapers have a boss, who has a boss and so on. Following this logic one would think you would eventually get to God. But the pilot episode says something about a god- "with a small g" -and gives a silly story about death being entrusted to a toad and goes from there. There are rules that must be followed by the reapers and the people they reap but who makes those rules remains a mystery (I will say that I have not finished season 2 or the movie yet so perhaps I am mistaken about that). Also, the manner in which the reaped souls cross over is usually reflective of what they valued in life (the little girl runs toward an amusement park and a yoga teacher toward a woman in a lotus flower etc.). My point with regard to this is that the show is a funny and fictional look at life after death and I think that adults can ignore the religious contradictions but I wouldn't want to subject my children to them. I just want to enjoy the show without religious commentary or the degradation of one religion or another. What I enjoy about the show is the characters and their struggles. They grieve over their own deaths and must learn to leave their lives behind. It hits you head on with some pretty difficult emotions like fear and regret but does it in an entertaining and often funny way.