or James Van Praagh, seeing dead people is something he's been able to do since he was a child. The CBS four-hour miniseries Living with the Dead is inspired by the life and work of Praagh, a famed medium who has written two best-selling books about his experiences.
The story begins as James struggles to come to terms with his mother's stroke and a failing business. With his mother (Ladd) gravely ill in the hospital, James finds himself haunted by the dead. They seem to want something from him, but all he wants is for them to leave him alone. Memories of the past begin to overwhelm him as he remembers his early struggles with the visions that no one except his mother seemed to understand.
Into James' life walks a woman named Midge (Latifah), and she becomes his good friend. Midge realizes James is special, and she encourages him to visit a psychic (Moriarty), who opens the door for James to understand that the curse that he prayed to God to take away when he was a child is actually a gift that will allow him to help others.
As his visions become stronger, James finds himself helping the police solve crimes. When these visions lead him to believe several boys have been murdered, James turns to Detective Karen Condrin (Steenburgen) for help in locating the boys' bodies. But that's only the beginning for James, because the only witnesses are dead and there's a killer on the loose. As connections to the case stretch back to his own childhood, James realizes he may be the only one who can stop the killer before another boy dies.
Stellar cast in a miniseries worth watching
Dead people, formerly know by the politically incorrect term "ghosts," have been very popular since The Sixth Sense became an enormous hit. They even have their own syndicated talk show with SCI FI's John Edward. It would seem that the subject matter of seeing dead people has long since been covered. However, Living with the Dead is a compelling miniseries with a stellar cast that knows how to do it right.
Ted Danson leads an Oscar, Emmy and Grammy award-winning cast with his sensitive portrayal of Praagh. While it's Danson's show, the supporting players offer top-notch support, especially Steenburgen as the cop who finds herself believing in Praagh despite herself, and Palance as Praagh's father, Allan.
Much like The Sixth Sense, Dead is about coming to terms with the gifts we are given, and Danson's character quietly destructs as he is finally overwhelmed with the struggles that have plagued him through his life. When Praagh does open himself up to his visions, he finds himself frustrated, because too often the dead give him cryptic clues and he doesn't understand what they want from him.
Dead has quality production values and strong direction by Gyllenhall. However, none of it would work without writer Pielmeier's fine script, which does an excellent job of weaving the threads of the story together. It's television, so of course the sensational serial-killer-on-the-loose story does play a part, but never at the expense of the characters. That's refreshing.
