Variety reports that the series — about dead humans who escort the newly deceased to the afterlife — has not been picked up for a third season. A new series, based on the MGM film "Barbershop," has been added to the cable network's schedule as well as a half-hour series starring Tony Award winner Mary-Louise Parker. The latter is titled "Weeds" and features Parker as "a marijuana-dealing housewife." The "Dead Like Me" pilot debuted on Showtime June 27, 2003. In the premiere episode of the series, an 18-year-old girl was killed by falling space debris. Ellen Muth played the young woman who is then recruited to be a grim reaper. Others in the premiere episode of the series about life after life included Callum Blue, Jasmine Guy, Cynthia Stevenson and Patinkin, who played Rube, the leader of the grim reapers.

Mandy Patinkin won a Tony Award for his role as Che in the Broadway mounting of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita. His theatrical work includes roles in The Wild Party, Sunday in the Park with George, The Secret Garden and The Knife. An Emmy Award winner for his work on "Chicago Hope," his other screen credits include "Yentl," "Ragtime," "Dick Tracy," "Broken Glass," "Life with Mikey" and "The Princess Bride." Patinkin's latest solo recording, "Mandy Patinkin Sings Sondheim," is available on the Nonesuch label.