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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Deadbeat: Season One DVD Review

Reviewed by Jami Ferguson

The supernatural comedy series "Deadbeat" arrives on DVD (plus Digital) August 26 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Starring Tyler Labine (TV's "Reaper") the show also features Brandon T. Jackson (Tropic Thunder), Lucy DeVito (TV's "Melissa & Joey) and Cat Deeley (the host of TV's "So You Think You Can Dance"). Kevin Pacalioglu (Labine) may have no money and no clue, but he can see dead people, so that's pretty cool. Faced with a constant stream of stubborn spirits, Pac goes to whatever lengths require the least amount of effort to help New York City's most frivolous ghosts finish their unfinished business.


Show (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)
“Deadbeat” is the story of Kevin Pacalioglu aka Pac (Tyler Labine), an overweight pot head who happens to be able to communicate with the spirits of the dead. In most episodes Pac helps a different spirit find peace, while trying to earn the money to pay his drug dealer Roofie (Brandon T. Jackson) while still keeping a roof over his head. Roofie puts up with a lot from Pac and frequently reminds him that he’s his drug dealer, not his friend. In reality, he’s a little of both.

Pac encounters many troubled but interesting spirits, and he wants to help them find peace. He is thrilled to learn that one spirit missed out on the chance to have sex with his girlfriend before dying, but is sad to learn she is now middle aged. Pac comes across a successful medium and author named Camomile White (Kat Deely). Camomile fakes her way through her readings but Pac can see the spirits and it’s clear that Camomile is a con artist. She is terrible to her assistant Sue (Lucy DeVito) and has it out for Pac, who repeatedly pursues her.

“Deadbeat” isn’t big on back-story. Season one doesn’t begin with an explanation of the origin of Pac’s gift. It just is, and the audience is expected to accept that – not that it’s a hard thing to do. Later a random ghostly creature appears, also with no explanations. Director Troy Miller wants you to just accept what is presented to you and go with it, and for the most part that works for the viewer.

“Deadbeat” was not a show I’d ever heard of, so I didn’t have any preconceived notions about what it would be. It’s definitely not a touchy-feely there’s more out there than this drama. In fact, it’s a full blown comedy. The show has a pretty twisted sense of humor. A lot of the ghosts and their problems are pretty silly, and I liked that about it. There's only ten episodes in the set so can quickly blow through season one before moving on to season two.
Video (2 out of 5 stars)
The entire season of Deadbeat is squished onto a single DVD. It’s bad enough that it’s on DVD, but it certainly would do a lot for the quality if they’d gone with a two DVD set. The colors are okay but fine detail is lacking in many noticeable spots.
Audio (3 out of 5 stars)
"Deadbeat’s" Dolby Digital 5.1 sound keeps up with the dialogue and occasional sound effects. Not expecting much from a DVD, I was pleasantly surprised to notice a distinction between channels.
Extras (1 1/2 out of 5 stars)
The DVD contains three brief featurettes, that won’t take up much of your time, and don’t get very detailed.
  • Medium For Hire: What is Deadbeat (1:50) – An overview of the show with cast interviews (primarily Tyler Labine).
  • The Characters of Deadbeat: Meet Pac and Roofie (2:09) – A look at the boys
  • The Characters of Deadbeat: Meet Camomile and Sue (2:40) – Featurette focused on the girls team.
Summary (2 1/2 out of 5 stars)
I haven’t seen “Reaper” and had never heard of “Deadbeat” or Tyler Labine. Even though I wasn’t going into it well informed, I did find the show amusing and entertaining. It certainly held my attention enough to make me willing to watch season two. With each episode lasting 22 minutes, it’s an easy season to get through. If you can still see the show on Hulu it would be worth catching there as the extras and the DVD quality aren’t much to brag about. It’s not everyday that you get supernatural mixed with comedy, so it’s certainly worth a try.
 
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http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N27MJS4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00N27MJS4&linkCode=as2&tag=higdefuni-20&linkId=SXVWE44S565O3GGV

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