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Plot[edit]

The series revolves around a vapid blonde aspiring model, Deborah "Deb" Dobkins (played by Brooke D'Orsay), who is killed in a car crash on the way to an audition for The Price Is Right. As her soul enters the gates of Heaven, she finds herself being judged by a gatekeeper named Fred (Ben Feldman). He is uncertain what to do with her soul in the afterlife. He declared her a "zero-zero", as she had performed zero good deeds and zero bad acts during her time on earth due to her shallowness.
Deb argues this and sees a note on Fred's computer warning angels from pressing the "return" key. Deb presses the return key on Fred's keyboard before he can stop her. Deb gets her wish, but is brought back to life in the body of a recently deceased lawyer named Jane Bingum (Brooke Elliott), who died protecting her boss, Jay Parker (Josh Stamberg).
Jane is the complete opposite of Deb; she is brilliant, hard-working, charitable, and overweight. Deb finds that Jane also works in the same law firm, Harrison-Parker, as Deb's boyfriend Grayson Kent (Jackson Hurst). She immediately tells her best friend Stacy (April Bowlby) of her predicament, and prepares herself to tell Grayson, but Fred appears and stops her. He tells Deb that as punishment for allowing her to press the return button, he is forced to become her guardian angel on Earth and he cannot allow her to tell anybody else that she is Deb in Jane's body.
The show is centered on the concept of Deb learning valuable lessons about personal acceptance and inner beauty as she finds out more about her inherited life. This includes now working around the former love of her life as he tries to grieve and move on from Deb's passing, and contending with her professional rival at the firm, Kim Kaswell (Kate Levering).
Cast[edit]

Main article: List of Drop Dead Diva characters
Main cast[edit]
Brooke Elliott as Jane Bingum (inhabited by Deb Dobkins), a brilliant, hardworking attorney with a flair for fashion.
Margaret Cho as Teri Lee, Jane's sassy assistant.
April Bowlby as Stacy Barrett, Jane's/Deb's longtime best friend and roommate, and the only human who knows that Jane is inhabited by Deb.
Kate Levering as Kim Kaswell, Jane's coworker and rival.
Jackson Hurst as Grayson Kent, Jane's closest colleague and Deb's former boyfriend.
Josh Stamberg as Jay Parker (Season 1-4), Jane's boss. Managing partner of Harrison and Parker.
Ben Feldman as Fred (Season 2-3, recurring Season 1 & 4),[3] Jane/Deb's original guardian angel.
Lex Medlin as Judge Owen French (Season 4-present, recurring previously),[4] Jane's fiancé.
Carter MacIntyre as Luke Daniels (Season 4, guest afterward),[5][6] Jane/Deb's second guardian angel.
Justin Deeley as Paul (Season 5-present), Jane's third guardian angel.[7]
Recurring cast[edit]
Brooke D'Orsay as the original Deb Dobkins (season 1-present)
Jaime Ray Newman as Vanessa Hemmings (season 2-3, 5-present)
Paula Abdul as herself, as Judge Paula Abdul (season 1-present)
Rosie O'Donnell as Judge Madeline Summers (season 1-present)
Sharon Lawrence as Bobbi Dobkins (season 1-present)
Faith Prince as Elaine Bingum (season 1-present)
Brandy Norwood as Elisa Shayne (season 3-present)
Kim Kardashian as Nikki LePree (season 4-present)
Natalie Hall as Brittney (inhabited by the real Jane Bingum) (season 5-present)
Guest stars[edit]
Many celebrities have made guest appearances on the show. Among them are: Quinton Aaron, Candice Accola, Clay Aiken, Louis Van Amstel, Jake T. Austin, Diedrich Bader, Lance Bass, Amanda Bearse, Delta Burke, Danielle Campbell, Bruce Davison, David Denman, Patty Duke, Jorja Fox, Vivica A. Fox, Tony Goldwyn, Elliott Gould, Nancy Grace, Kathy Griffin, Tim Gunn, Deidre Hall, Valerie Harper, Gregory Harrison, Natasha Henstridge, Howard Hesseman, Star Jones, Kim Kardashian, Rami Kashou, Ricki Lake, Sharon Lawrence, Mario Lopez, Chad Lowe, MacKenzie Mauzy, Abby Lee Miller, Seamus Dever, Liza Minnelli, Tyler Jacob Moore, Mark Moses, Kathy Najimy, Kelly Osbourne, Jake Pavelka, Teri Polo, Susan May Pratt, John Ratzenberger, Crystal Reed, LeAnn Rimes, Romy Rosemont, Tony Sears, Cybill Shepherd, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, James Snyder, Wanda Sykes, Jennifer Tilly, Gina Torres, Steve Valentine, Nia Vardalos, Dylan Walsh, Wendy Williams, Chuck Woolery, Mary Mouser, Nick Zano, Serena Williams, Maddie Ziegler, and Paula Abdul.
Production[edit]

This series, which is being shot in Peachtree City, Georgia, and Senoia, Georgia, even though its background setting is Los Angeles, California, was originally planned for Fox, but the studio passed after seeing the pilot. According to Berman, "It's a cross between Freaky Friday and Heaven Can Wait," calling it a "life-affirming dramedy". He adds that in Hollywood, "beauty has been defined as size 2 and under 25; hopefully we can help redefine the paradigm".[8]
Cancellation and revival[edit]
On January 15, 2013, Lifetime announced that despite the cliffhanger at the end of Season 4 (that had already aired September 2012), Season 4 was the final season of Drop Dead Diva. Lifetime's decision to cancel the expensive drama came after the cable network approached producer Sony Pictures Television for cost-cutting options to continue with the series. Despite the cancelation, ratings for the season four finale marked a season high, with 2.76 million viewers.[9] A month and a half after Lifetime cancelled the dramedy series, the cable network has inked a deal with producer Sony Pictures TV to bring the show back for a fifth season.[2] The decision to bring back the series suggests that the two sides had reached a new, more cost-effective agreement.[10]
Episodes[edit]

Main article: List of Drop Dead Diva episodes
Seasons Episodes Originally aired DVD release date
Season premiere Season finale Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
1 13 July 12, 2009 October 11, 2009 June 1, 2010[11] June 28, 2010[12] June 2, 2010[13]
2 13 June 6, 2010 August 29, 2010 May 3, 2011[14] N/A N/A
3 13 June 19, 2011 September 25, 2011 May 29, 2012[15] N/A N/A
4 13 June 3, 2012 September 9, 2012 June 18, 2013[16] N/A N/A
5 13[17] June 23, 2013 TBA N/A N/A N/A
Ratings[edit]

The show's premier episode scored a 1.6 overall and more than 2.8 million viewers tuning in.[18]
Drop Dead Diva scored its highest ratings ever among women 18-49 (2.0), a 25% increase over its season-to-date average, and women 25-54 (2.3), a 28% increase over its season-to-date average.
The show aired on the Nine Network in Australia but failed to achieve high ratings for the channel and was subsequently dropped in early September, then the following week began airing the series starting with the first episode again on Nine's digital GO! channel and now on TV1 (Foxtel pay TV) 19h30 Wednesdays. In October 2011, the show came back onto Nine's digital GEM channel, but episodes have been shown sporadically, sometimes on one week and not the next.
In the UK, the show airs on Living and premiered on April 1, 2010, at 20h to 206,000 viewers, being the 7th most watched broadcast of the week on Living. An additional 129,000 viewers watched the premiere on Living's 1 hour timeshift service.[19] The second series premiered on Tuesday 7 September at 21h.[20] The third series started airing in September 2011 on the revamped Sky Living.[21] With the DVD release of the second series, in Region 2 is to be released in November over a year after its airing.[21] After Sky Living dropped the show from their schedule, season 4 was made available to Netflix users in the UK and Ireland. [22]
Awards[edit]

Wins: GLAAD Media Award 2012 for Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBT character) for the episode "Prom" in which Jane defends a same sex couple who want to attend their high school prom together. (They were awarded this as a part of tie with the episode "Beards" from Hot in Cleveland).[23]
Nominations: Image Award 2012 for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series - Kevin Hooks - For episode "Mother's Day."
GLAAD Media Award 2011 for Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBT character) for the episode "Queen of Mean."
Prism Awards 2011 for Performance in a Comedy Series - Brooke Elliott.
Prism Awards 2011 for Performance in a Comedy Series - Faith Prince.
Image Award 2010 for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series - Michael Schultz - For episode "Second Chances."
NAMIC Vision Awards 2010 for Best Performance Comedy - Margaret Cho.
Satellite Awards 2009 for Best Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical - Brooke Elliott.
DVD releases[edit]

DVD Name Region 1 Release Date Region 2 Release Date Region 4 Release Date Ep # Discs Additional Information
Season 1 June 1, 2010[24] June 28, 2010[25] June 2, 2010[26] 13 3 Dreamisodes, Deleted Scenes, Rosie's Rap, Dropping in with Drop Dead Diva and Cho in Tell.
Season 2 May 3, 2011[27] TBA TBA 13 3 Drop Dead Dishing: The Cast and Crew on Season 2, A Look Ahead to Season 2, Is