Lifetime announced today that the upcoming sixth season of its legal dramedy Drop Dead Diva will be the series' final season. The 13-episode season will premiere on the cable network with a two-hour premiere event on Sunday, March 23 at 9/8c.
Drop Dead Diva tells the story of an aspiring model killed in a car crash and brought back to life in a new body with a new career as a lawyer. The series was created by Josh Berman. Brooke Elliott, Margaret Cho, April Bowlby, Kate Levering, Jackson Hurst, Lex Medlin and Justin Deeley star on the upcoming final season.
The roster of guest stars for the sixth season includes Rick Springfield, S. Epatha Merkerson, John Ratzenberger, Corbin Bleu, Colin Egglesfield, Virginia Williams and Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts.
Produced by Sony Pictures Television, Drop Dead Diva was initially canceled after efforts to cut costs in its fifth season stalled. The series was reincarnated three months later when the studio and Lifetime came to terms on a new, cost-effective financial model for the series to continue. It then went on to receive a 13-episode renewal for a sixth season.
For Lifetime, the decision to end Drop Dead Diva comes a handful of months after the cable network opted to cancel dramas The Client List and long-running Army Wives - the latter of which will air a two-hour retrospective special, entitled Army Wives: A Final Salute, on Sunday, March 16 at 9/8c.
The network has already starting to bulk up on new original programming - having recently given series orders to new dramas Un-Real starring Shiri Appleby and The Lottery starring Marley Shelton. They join the upcoming second seasons of Devious Maids, bowing on April 20, and Witches of East End, due back in the fall.
