Showtime to Air Documentary Series on the Terminally Ill, From the Makers of ‘Top Chef’

Showtime will delve into the lives of the terminally ill with its new nonfiction series “Time of Death,” currently in post-production for a fall debut. A heavy topic, for sure, and per network president David Nevins’ description, “This Showtime documentary series is an examination of people in the last days and weeks of their life and how they and their families make the transition from life to death. This is not an easy show, but it is a subject I’ve always wanted to be able to explore in detail. And I know it will make for a powerful and compelling viewing experience.”

“Time of Death” will weave together the stories of, among others, a single mother of three with Stage IV breast cancer; a grandmother with inoperable pancreatic cancer who is also a psychotherapist who specializes in the field of death and dying; a veteran with a rare cancer facing the end with his parents beside him; and a young woman with Stage IV melanoma.

The series comes, of all places, from executive producers Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz of the Magical Elves production team, who are better known for “Top Chef” and “Project Runway,” though they’ve also produced Showtime’s “The Real L Word,” “Project Greenlight” and concert doc “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.”

Showtime has another project in the works with them, a series exploring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender life in Middle America, so the company seems to be making a move toward some more serious, doc-style fare, and presumably won’t be requiring these subjects to participate in various challenges (though isn’t that quite the dystopic sci-fi premise?).

Showtime’s nonfiction programming has run the gamut from “Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States” to the “why would anyone sign releases for this?” “Gigolos.”