Season 1

Season 1

Beautiful airhead Deb dies. In a twist of fate, she returns to life – 16 sizes larger and infinitely brainier – in the body of brilliant plus-size attorney Jane. Now Deb must learn how to fit the beauty queen ways with her new, upsized life in this fun, funny and touching dramedy that looks at the plus side of life.

Drop Dead Diva tells the story of a beautiful-but-vapid model wannabe, Deb, who has a fatal car accident and suddenly finds herself in front of Heaven's gatekeeper, Fred, who declares her a self-centered "zero." Outraged and indignant, Deb attempts to persuade Fred to return her to her shallow existence but is accidentally relegated to the body of the recently deceased Jane Bingum (Brooke Elliott). A brilliant, thoughtful and plus-size attorney with a loyal assistant (Margaret Cho), Jane has always lived in the shadow of her more comely colleagues, whereas Deb has always relied on her external beauty. Now, by a twist of fate and a bolt of divine intervention, Deb must come to terms with inhabiting Jane’s plus-size frame and learn to reconcile her beauty queen ways with her brilliant new mind.

Drop Dead Diva’s seamless blend of heart and humour has scored well in the States, where it premiered with 2.8 million viewers, the highest-rated original drama series debut across key demographics on cable network Lifetime since 2007.  Marking a dramatic leap from the prior four-week time period average, the series delivered stellar results across its key demographics – a 148% gain among women 18 to 40 and a 158% increase among women 25-54! Creator of the series Josh Berman, despite having previously dabbled in ‘darker’ shows like CSI and Vanished, has evidently nailed the recipe for Drop Dead Diva in a delightfully refreshing manner.

Not to be missed is the dream list of guest stars, from Elliot Gould, Rosie O’Donnell, Paula Abdul, Kathy Najimy, Jorja Fox, to Tim Gunn who will appear as himself. Especially ironic is Jorja Fox of CSI fame who will leap over to the other side of the law as an ex-convict and Paula Abdul who will return as a judge in the wake of her American Idol exit, but this time with a gavel in hand.

For all the light-hearted frivolity that makes Drop Dead Diva such engaging escapist fare, there is an underlying message to convey. As Jane so aptly pointed out in a closing statement for her case, “Do you notice people have euphemisms for being overweight? Large, plus-sized, full-figured…but no one, not even me, especially not me, wants to say the word fat. ” For all the clichéd farce, Drop Dead Diva is grounded in reality and might have more heart to share than any other show on TV these days.

Is fat the new fabulous? Find out in Drop Dead Diva premiering first and exclusively on Sony Entertainment Television this December!

Cast

Jane Bingum
Jane Bingum
Brooke Elliott

Stage actress Brooke Elliott appeared on Broadway in the roles of “Majella” in The Pirate Queen and “Big Sue” in the Boy George musical, Taboo, produced by Rosie O’Donnell.  She toured nationally as an ensemble member of the critically acclaimed musicals Wicked and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Elliott’s film credits include roles in the Mel Gibson comedy What Women Want and the indie film Liar’s Club.  For television, Elliott guest-starred on Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

Born in Minnesota, Elliott has had extensive voice training for more than eighteen years.  She attended Western Michigan University where she earned a Bachelors of Fine Art in musical theater performance.  After college, Elliott moved to Illinois and became a member of the Chicago based theater company Babes with Blades, a diverse ensemble of artists working together to expand opportunities for women in the world of stage combat.

Teri Lee
Teri Lee
Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho has been performing stand-up since the age of 16, when she sneaked into a comedy club above her parents’ bookstore in San Francisco.  Soon after, she won a comedy contest, with the first prize being opening act gig on Jerry Seinfeld’s tour.  After hitting the college comedy circuit, she immediately became the most booked act in the market, performing more than 300 shows within two years. Cho garnered a nomination for Campus Comedian of the Year and subsequently won the 1994 American Comedy Award for Female Comedian.


In 1999, her groundbreaking, one-woman show, I’m The One That I Want, was a hit Off-Broadway and toured nationally to critical acclaim, eventually becoming a best-selling book and a self-produced feature film.  In 2001, she launched Notorious C.H.O., a smash-hit, 37-city national tour that culminated in a sold-out concert at the legendary Carnegie Hall. The live show was also released as a feature film and lauded by The New York Times as “brilliant.” Revolution marked Cho’s third sold-out national tour, and the CD of the show was nominated in 2003 for a Grammy® for Best Comedy Album of the Year.

In 2004, Cho launched her politically charged State of Emergency and was hailed by The New York Times as “murderously funny.” That show ultimately gave rise to Assassin, perhaps her most political and topical Cho’s first narrative feature, Bam Bam and Celeste, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in late 2005 and has also played at the AFI Fest, Frameline, Fusion and the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.

In the summer of 2007, Cho hit the road with 80’s legends Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and Erasure, along with indie faves The Dresden Dolls and The Cliks, to host the True Colors tour, benefiting the Human Rights Campaign.  In the fall of 2007, Cho took her new burlesque-style variety show, The Sensuous Woman, Off-Broadway, where it enjoyed two extensions and played for a successful eight-week run.

Cho has become an established writer and blogger.  Her second book, a collection of essays on all subjects political and pop, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight, was published by Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group (2005).
Cho’s many television credits include her groundbreaking ABC sitcom All-American Girl, a recent recurring role on Fox’s ‘Til Death, and, most recently, her semi-scripted comedy The Cho Show for VH1. She also appeared in the smash-hit film 17 Again opposite Zac Efron and was featured in the FunnyorDie.com sketch Prop 8: The Musical.

An advocate for equal rights, Cho has been honored by the ACLU of Southern California, GLAAD, American Women in Radio and Television, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, PFLAG and the National Organization for Women.

Grayson Kent
Grayson Kent
Jackson Hurst

Drop Dead Diva marks Texas native Jackson Hurst’s second outing with executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, with whom he worked on the Lifetime Original Movie Living Proof. The Red Carpet Event film was executive produced by Renee Zellweger and starred Harry Connick Jr., Angie Harmon, Swoosie Kurtz, Regina King and Amanda Bynes.   Hurst also appeared in Lifetime Movie Network’s Inspector Mom, opposite Danica McKellar.

Hurst can soon be seen alongside Brad Pitt and Sean Penn in the upcoming film The Tree of Life. Other film credits include Cleaner with Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris and Eva Mendes, The Mist starring Marcia Gay Harden and Have Dreams, Will Travel featuring Lara Flynn Boyle. He also appeared as “Hank” in the films Walking Tall: The Payback and its sequel, Walking Tall: Lone Justice.
The middle child of three boys, Hurst was raised in the town of Klein, Texas, and is a graduate of Baylor University.  He currently divides his time between Los Angeles and Houston.