# Deadbeat (2014)

> A broke, clueless New Yorker who can see ghosts reluctantly helps frivolous spirits finish their unfinished business with the help of his drug-dealing best friend.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/55387

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 36
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy, science fiction
- Created by: Brett Konner, Cody Heller
- Network: Hulu
- Cast: Tyler Labine, Kal Penn, Cat Deeley, Brandon T. Jackson, Lucy DeVito, Zachary Levi, Danny DeVito, Fred Armisen
- TMDB rating: 7.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3147316/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: irreverent, breezy, sardonic, deadpan, cheerful

## What critics say

Audiences find the show a charming, irreverent supernatural comedy whose lead performance and loose, goofy spirit win over viewers, with the final season rated highest.

## Synopsis

Deadbeat (2014-2016) is an American supernatural comedy series created by Brett Konner and Cody Heller for Hulu. Tyler Labine plays Kevin Pacalioglu, a broke, clueless New Yorker who can see the dead and turns that gift into a hustle. Faced with a constant stream of stubborn spirits, Kevin chooses whatever approach requires the least effort to help frivolous ghosts finish their unfinished business. His best friend and drug dealer Roofie, played by Brandon T. Jackson, supplies both schemes and complications, while Kal Penn appears as Clyde and Cat Deeley as Camomile White among the supporting cast. Each episode is built around a new spectral client with a silly, stubborn grievance, so the engine is the ongoing tension between Kevin's laziness and the occasional pull of genuine responsibility. The show runs across three seasons and thirty-six episodes of roughly twenty-five minutes each, with a loose serialized thread running beneath its case-of-the-week structure. Its tone is irreverent, breezy and sardonic, with a slacker energy that mixes profanity, drug humor and cheerful absurdity. Set in present-day New York City, the series has the scrappy texture of a cable comedy about outsiders. Fans of Ghosts, Dead Like Me and Eastbound and Down will find resonance in its blend of supernatural premise and deadpan hustler humor.

## Shows like Deadbeat

- [May I Help You? (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/131058)
- [Maggie (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/105333)
- [Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/62596)
- [Not Dead Yet (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/126211)
- [Wonderfalls (2004)](https://ember.film/tv/1874)
- [Dead Like Me (2003)](https://ember.film/tv/2439)
- [Boo, Bitch (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/109235)
- [The Other Side (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/148455)
- [Ghosts (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/104479)
- [Reaper (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/4848)

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