Drop Dead Diva" is better than it sounds. It would almost have to be.

But this new Lifetime series, which premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. on the cable network, is actually a whole lot better than it sounds. It's escapist fun.

Imagine for a moment that Elle from "Legally Blonde" died and was reincarnated as a Plain Jane. That's pretty much the premise of "Drop Dead Diva."

When the episode begins, we meet Deb (Brooke D'Orsay), a blonde, beautiful bubble-head model who is hoping to achieve her life's dream by becoming a model on "The Price Is Right."

And we meet Jane (Brooke Elliott), a plump, somewhat frumpy but brilliant lawyer who's not all that confident.

At the same moment that Jane is shot to death (she's an innocent bystander), Deb is killed in a car accident (she's guilty of dumb driving).

Deb doesn't take death lying down, however. She argues with gatekeeper angel Fred (Ben Feldman), who discovers that Deb has never done anything good in her life — nor has she done anything bad.

And, when she hits a button on Fred's computer, Deb suddenly finds herself reincarnated in the body of Jane.

Deb is not exactly grateful. After letting loose a blood-curdling scream, she turns to Fred and says, "You sent me to hell?"

For letting Deb return to Earth, Fred has been demoted to guardian angel. He takes a job as a clerk at the law firm where Deb/Jane works, and she wants him to instantly solve her problems by making her "skinny and hot."

"I'm a guardian angel, not wizard," Fred replies.

There's a lot of that kind of humor here. Like when Deb's friend, upon being convinced that Deb is now in Jane's body, exclaims, "That is so unfair. I mean, fat things should not happen to skinny people."

But there are also some tear-jerking moments about lost love and all of that, too. This is Lifetime, after all.

As with all the TV shows and movies in this vein, you've got to simply let go and accept the premise. It's not that hard — even when we learn that, while Deb is still Deb inside Jane's body, she has retained Jane's intelligence. Which comes in handy when she's handling Jane's legal cases.

And, while the legal cases in Sunday's premiere are about death and divorce, the end result is sort of uplifting.

TV newcomer Elliott — her biggest credits to date are in productions of "Taboo" and "Wicked" — manages to pull all of this off. Actually, she doesn't just manage the feat, she does it with great skill and aplomb. She's so winning in the role of Deb/Jane that it's hard not to be won over by "Drop Dead Diva."

The cast also includes Margaret Cho as Jane's friend, Terri; Jackson Hurst as Deb's boyfriend, Grayson; Kate Levering as the mean girl at the law firm, Kim; and April Bowlby as Deb's friend, Stacy.

Guest stars in upcoming episodes include Rosie O'Donnell, Tim Gunn, Sharon Lawrence, Kathy Najimy, Jorja Fox, Elliott Gould, Chuck Woolery and Diedrich Bader.

(Lifetime has ordered 13 episodes for the first season.)

Don't try to resist the charms of "Drop Dead Diva." Just sit back, relax and have a good time watching this surprisingly good show.

You won't regret it.

e-mail: pierce@desnews.com