The writers of the US television series Dead Like Me have often made use of existing culture, sometimes as a central element of the plot or of George's voiceover narration; and sometimes as a minor reference for the attentive viewer to pick up on. Also, as the reapers (save George) have been around for several decades, they often mention things from their lives or since they died. The references listed here need not be cultural – historical references or other noteworthy references are also listed.
Apart from sometimes giving away plot details, the descriptions may also spoil the fun of discovering the references for oneself.Season 1 (2003)Pilot
- In the opening story about toad and frog, George mentions Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign about toad. She later says, "makes you wonder how much better the world would have been if frog had stuck to hawking beer," a reference to the 1995 Budweiser Frogs ad campaign.
- George narrates, "Bad people are punished by society's laws, and good people are punished by Murphy's law." The woman who falls off the fence (according to the latter) is listed as June Cleaver-type.
- George references Father Christmas, The Easter Bunny and The Great Pumpkin from Peanuts.
- Delores asks George if she is familiar with the Microsoft Office suite. George says that she knows Lotus. Delores says they use Excel now, and that George should think about taking some tutorials.
- Joy is described as liking John Grisham novels, and is occasionally seen reading them throughout the series.
- When George suddenly realizes her death, a Wheel of Fortune-style screen is shown with "You're de_d" and George narrates, "I'd like to solve the puzzle," a play option on the game.
- After dying, George goes through four of the five psychological stages of death: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression.
- After becoming undead, George narrates, "I was born again, but not in a creepy, religious way."
- At the bank, George notes that trying to figure out the death is like Clue: "Graveling in the bank lobby with the banana peel."
- George buys a Frankenfruity doll from her mother's garage sale, a knockoff of the Frankenberry cereal. Her mother initially refuses to sell, and suggests trying to find one of her own on eBay.
- After receiving her first Post-it, George narrates, "To be or not to be, that's the question. ... It turns out I have the answer," paraphrasing Hamlet's soliloquy.
- On the train before her first reap, a graveling appears in the window and screeches at George, in a visual reference to Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, an episode of The Twilight Zone. Soon after, George narrates, "If only I could close my eyes and wish all this away. Wish it into the cornfield or whatever." In the Twilight Zone episode (originally a Jerome Bixby short story) "It's a Good Life", a six-year-old boy can make people vanish by wishing them into the cornfield.
- Kirstie likes LEGO bricks and toys.
- As George talks with Kirstie, Sesame Street, Magic Mountain, Disneyworld, Donald Duck, and SeaWorld are mentioned.
- When the woman is hit by the piano, her legs are sticking out; this is a reference to The Wizard of Oz.
Dead Girl Walking
- Betty says that five people had to die for her to get a pair of Blahnik shoes.
- George says she used to think soul food came from Korea, because Seoul is a city in Korea.
- Joy tells Clancy she went to three different Home Depots to buy replacement toilet seats for Reggie's school after she stole them.
- George wonders, "Maybe if Death could take a holiday..."
- Reggie uses a Ouija board in the bathroom to attempt to contact George.
- Seeing her family after her death, George narrates, "It was like an alternate universe where I didn't exist. There were no goatees or gold lamé sashes, just a hole where I used to be." This is a reference to the mirror Spock and uniforms in the Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror."
- As Mason and George discuss it, Mason is shown in flashback dying after trepanation.
- Rube lists the things he likes to George: "I like spaghetti. I like board games. I like grabbing a trifecta with that longshot on top. That ozone smell you get from air purifiers. And I like knowing the space between my ears is immeasurable. Mahler's First, Bernstein conducting."
[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for List of references in Dead Like Me ]
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