Deb had it all. A wonderful boyfriend, a great best friend, a beautiful body, what more could she ask for? She probably should have asked for driving skills. While on the way to an audition for The Price is Right, due to her pathetic driving ability she dies in a car accident and is sent to Heaven. Once there, her gatekeeper Fred (Ben Feldman) leads her to his desk and explains that he doesn't know quite what to do with her. She's never in her life done a single good or a single bad act. As he says, she's just shallow. About that time, Deb decides that she doesn't want to be dead, so she reaches over and presses the Return button for herself, thinking that it will send her back to her old perfect life. Her body isn't available though. Instead, she is sent into the nearest available body, that of Jane Bingum.
At first, Deb thinks that she can just hop back to her old life, even though Fred tells her that she can't. See, Fred was punished for Deb's actions and has been sent back to Earth as her Guardian Angel. But she's determined. She starts at her old house, but once there, seeing her boyfriend crying over her, she realizes that she needs to leave. So she goes to the next place she can think of, her best friend Stacy (April Bowlby). At first Stacy doesn't believe her, but when Jane tells Stacy things that only Deb could have known, Stacy accepts her. Well, she partially accepts her. Stacy isn't very happy with Jane's appearance. She feels so bad for Deb. She even tells her "fat things shouldn't happen to skinny people." But as time goes on, Stacy will learn along with Deb that life as Jane isn't all bad. I love the fact that Stacy sticks with Jane no matter what.
The one really huge benefit to being Jane is the newfound intelligence. Apparently intelligence stays with the body, not the soul. So even though she only has Deb's memory, she has Jane's brains, which is a very odd combination. Jane is a lawyer, and a very good one at that. Jane is quite brilliant with a very high IQ. Brooke Elliot does an amazing job acting like the ditzy Deb and yet the smart Jane at the same time. She mixes the ditzy attitude with the brilliant speech like it's perfectly normal. I'm quite sure that Jane's co-workers really aren't quite sure what to make of the new person. Luckily, Jane has the best assistant ever, Teri Lee (Margaret Cho). Teri has apparently always been in charge of keeping Jane going, so now she's filling in all the blanks in Jane's memory. I really love Margaret's character. She's sarcastic and doesn't take crap off of anyone, but she's loyal to Jane to the end. This is a very good thing since not everyone at the law firm is nice. Jane finds out real quick that she can't trust Kim (Kate Levering). But then she's always got Grayson (Jackson Hurst). Grayson was a huge shock to the new Jane because he was Deb's ex-boyfriend. He's still mourning Deb's death, but is using work to try and get past it. This makes life really hard for Jane with Deb inside her. She wants to still be with Grayson, but she can't tell him who she really is!
Not only is Drop Dead Diva a wonderful show, but they have quite a few guest appearances by actresses like Delta Burke, Kathy Najimy, Rosie O'Donnell, and even Paula Abdul. Each of them has a wonderful part to play and brought a lot to the show! The DVD also contains quite a few special features for you. Rosie's Rap was short, but quite humorous. I liked the Cho & Tell with Margaret Cho quite a bit. She's just so funny! There's also deleted scenes, a behind-the scenes look, and more. I'm so glad that I ignored my initial impression and decided to give Drop Dead Diva a chance because it's my new favorite show. I'm really looking forward to the next season starting up next week. I highly recommend you give it a chance as well. Go buy Drop Dead Diva: The Complete First Season today! You'll love it!
