Writer:	Barbara Hall
Director:	Peter Levin
Star:	Jason Ritter (Kevin Girardi),  Amber Tamblyn (Joan Girardi),  Mary Steenburgen (Helen Girardi),  Michael Welch (Luke Girardi),  Joe Mantegna (Will Girardi)
Recurring Role:	Becky Wahlstrom (Grace Polk),  Barbara Evans (Jeanne),  Elaine Hendrix (Ms. Lischak),  Christopher Marquette (Adam Rove),  Kris Lemche (Cute Boy God),  Patrick Fabian (Gavin Price),  April Grace (Lt. Det. Toni Williams),  Sydney Tamiia Poitier (Rebecca Askew),  Juliette Goglia (Little Girl God),  David Burke (Father Ken Mallory)
Guest Star:	Robert Catrini (Captain Robert Hoytt),  Kevin Symons (TV Announcer),  Justin Scot (Officer Eicher),  Andrew Kavovit (Officer Koczara),  Mia Cottet (Flight Attendant God),  David Dorfman (Rocky Tardio),  Stefan Umstead (Raymond Hartzel),  Heidi Sulzman (Nancy Koczara),  Rob Brownstein (Marcus Nichols),  Jesse Burch (Dave),  Keith Coogan (Brad Crewson),  Richard Gilliland (Mayor Albert Dumbar),  Corinne Bohrer (Sylvia Tardio)

This episode originally aired only two days after the death of "B"-movie actress Dorothy Fay, Jason Ritter's grandmother. (edit) Amber Tamblyn and David Dorfman (Rocky) previously appeared together in The Ring (2002). (edit) The script for this episode was given to Jason Ritter the day his father, John Ritter, died. (edit) Coincidentally or not, Joan and Rocky are discussing how people die near their birthdays - Jason Ritter's father John Ritter died only six days before his birthday. (edit) Music featured in the episode included:
"Lemon" by Katy Rose
"Don't" by David Loring
"Blessed To Be a Witness" by Ben Harper (edit)

Joan: You have a lot to answer for, buddy! Nobody asks to be born. (long pause) So we all get to die, and everybody we love dies...
Cute Boy God: (i)(quietly) Yeah.
Joan: So that's good for you...?
Cute Boy God: Joan, there's nothing I can say about that that would make sense to you.
Joan: A lot of what happens here really sucks! So much for your "perfect system". Can you see me being really mad at you right now?
Cute Boy God: (i)(whispers) Yes.
Joan: Why does it have to be so hard?
Cute Boy God: What, specifically?
Joan: Being alive? Let's start there.
Cute Boy God: You wish you weren't alive?
Joan: (tearfully) No. I... I don't know! I wish it didn't... hurt so much.
Cute Boy God: It hurts because you feel it, Joan. Because you are alive. You love people, that generates a lot of power, a lot of energy. The same kind of energy that binds atoms together. We've all seen what happens when you try to pry them apart.
Joan: So, if I.. don't get attached to people, then I... won't hurt so much?
Cute Boy God: (smiling) No, it's in your nature to get attached to people. I put that into the recipe. It's when you guys try to ignore that, when you try to go it alone, that's when it gets ugly. It's Hell.
Joan: It's "Hell"... like, The Hell?
(the bus slows and stops)
Cute Boy God: Oh, look. Your house. (Joan looks out into the darkness, sees that it is there) Go on, Joan. People are waiting for you. (edit) Cute Boy God: Remember me?
Joan: Why all the familiar looks? Doing your Greatest Hits, starting to get a little pleased with yourself?
Cute Boy God: You see me the way you want to see me, Joan. (pause) Like right now, you're mad at me. Maybe you feel safer to be mad at me when I look like this. (edit) Helen: I felt alone, ummm, and I talked to a priest. I didn't want to bother you.
Will: That was the deal we made a long time ago... you get to bother me. You don't have to do anything alone. (edit) Father Ken Mallory: Helen, I think what you're touching on here, is that you should be talking to your husband, and you miss being able to do that.
Helen: (sighing) You don't understand what kind of job he has, and it's especially bad right now, I can't make it worse for him.
Father Ken Mallory: I've married a lot of people, and I remember the words. You're depriving him of the privilege of living up to them. (edit) Helen: (about picking a movie) Nothing sad, I don't want to cry.
Joan: Oh, please. You cried during Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. (edit)

Jason and Rebecca are talking with a reporter at the newspaper. On each camera angle the short loops of Rebecca's necklace change position. (edit)

Father Ken Mallory: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross spelled them out intelligently in her book, On Death And Dying.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was a Swiss-born psychiatrist and the author of the seminal book On Death and Dying, where she detailed how people deal with tragedy (specifically death, but extendable to any serious loss) in five stages: Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. A person may skip through one or more of them, but grief generally flows through those stages as people psychologically process the event. When someone gets stuck on, or refuses to go through a stage, it often creates larger issues that can lead to a meltdown. (edit)

Title
The title comes from the rather famous poem by John Donne entitled "Death Be Not Proud," in which that he sets forth the idea that when a person dies it is really Death that is dying because that person then awakes to eternal life. (edit)

Flight Attendent God: Buh bye.
From an Saturday Night Live skit about obnoxious flight attendents that brush off passenger's complaints with a "Buh Bye" (edit)

Father Ken Mallory: Future not to be.
A reference to the philosopher/author Soren Kierkegaard. (edit)

Joan: Mom, you cried when you saw Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is a comedy movie, one which helped established the career of Keanu Reeves, and also stars George Carlin. It's the story of how two teenaged airheads with grandiose dreams, whose existence does, in fact, help save the world later on, get involved with a time traveler in order to set themselves on the course that will, later, save the world. (edit)

All Death Be Not Whatever Allusions »