I tried watching a DVD I picked up today [Hellboy] after work, but I was too tired and had to crash out for awhile. When I woke up, the TV was on [Movie Central] and I instantly recognized Mandy Patinkin's voice, who plays Rube on Dead Like Me. At first I thought it was a repeat of DLM, but then I realized it wasn't cause he was much younger [more hair] and he was talking to Kelly McGillis. It was a 1988 movie, The House on Caroll Street. But the funny thing is, he says the line "Be sure your reach doesn't exceed your grasp", which is exactly what he said to George on an episode of DLM I watched the other night! I wonder how many other lines from the cast's previous movies they've inserted into the show? Watching his scene in this movie, he's so intense, so direct and scarily intelligent, great actor, got to track down some more of his movies. :)

And I guess his character's name on DLM comes from Rube Goldberg, the guy who drew all these weird, convoluted inventions. The deaths on DLM happen in the same way where one thing leads to another, eventually ending in someone's grisly death. The character Delores Herbig probably comes from Ellen Muth's first movie role, Delores Claiborne. I'm sure there's more, it'll be fun digging this stuff up.