🚨There are spoilers ahead for Season 1🚨
1. First, creator Liz Feldman's own experiences — a sudden death, her fertility journey, and turning 40 — inspired the show.
2. In fact, Liz pitched the idea for Dead to Me only a week after turning 40, her cousin dying on her birthday, and learning two of her BFFs were pregnant, while she was struggling to conceive.
3. Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini didn't know each other before filming began — after they were both hired, they had lunch together and instantly became great friends.
4. The scene where Jen and Judy get high on the beach was one of the first scenes they filmed — in-between takes, Christina and Linda would stay under the blanket and get to know each other, just like Jen and Judy.
5. Christina and Linda grew extremely close while filming, so after they would film a scene, the crew would continue filming and just let the two of them improv.
6. Eight of the 10 episodes in Season 1 were directed by a woman — also the writers' room was comprised of six women.
7. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are executive producers on the show — there's even a subtle nod to Anchorman, which Will, Adam, and Christina worked on.
8. Dead to Me marks Christina's first leading role on a TV series in seven years (she last starred on Up All Night) — in fact, creator Liz Feldman had to convince her to come out of "semi-retirement."
9. When Christina first read the script, she thought that she was being offered the role of Judy.
10. Also, Christina was the first (and only) person considered for the role of Jen.
11. One of the things that drew Linda to Dead to Me was the fact that Jen and Judy were such different people, who happen to be friends.
12. The hardest scenes to film were the ones where Christina and Linda had to cry for a majority of the scene.
13. Jen having a mastectomy was based on Christina's real-life recovery from breast cancer — she suggested adding it in because it's rarely shown on TV and film.
14. Linda's own experience with grief also allowed her to improvise one of the most gut-punching moments in the series when Judy doesn't get to say goodbye to Abe.
15. In the scene where Jen finds Charlie's note to Ted in the balloon, Jen crying was unscripted — it was simply Christina's natural reaction and they kept it in the final cut.
16. One Day at a Time creator Gloria Calderón Kellett guest stars in the grief retreat episode as the woman who runs Judy's miscarriage support group.
17. The scene where Jen smashes the car was shot on only the second day of filming. They filmed the scene 15 times and, after every take, Christina would start hysterically crying.
19. And finally, James Marsden said that he knew what would happen to Steve before filming started, however he didn't know the exact details.
