Reaper

I came over to this show from The Loop - one of the best Fox shows of the Y2K era that was dumped on the public this summer and never to be seen again. That show starred Bret Harrison as Sam - the youngest exec at an airline.

Bret was the MAN on The Loop so of course I followed him over to Reaper where he plays another character named Sam but this one's a college dropout who works at a Home Depot clone. Sam turns 21 and suddenly he finds out that his parents has sold his soul to The Devil many, many years ago. The Devil (Ray Wise) comes to collect by making Sam become the 'devil's bounty hunter' by re-reaping souls that have escaped from Hell and now are killing people back on Earth. It's really a win-win...the devil gets his soul back and the town has less murders. Sam, however, thinks the situation ...well...SUCKS! The show is pure genius. It is set up like Smallville or Buffy where there's a 'monster of the week' to beat up but here it is always secondary to Sam just trying to live his life normally. He has two friends which are INCREDIBLE: Sock (Tyler Labine) who is the overweight, quick witted buddy that everyone prays they have in their life and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) who rounds out the trio and usually is the one who ends up getting hurt...quite hysterically. It's a show about GREAT FRIENDSHIP and this show has it...you really believe these guys are friends. The show is rounded out with super hottie Andi (Missy Peregrym) who likes Sam but isn't in 'the know' of what's up with him and is therefore blown off a lot and the BRILLIANT Ted (Donovan Stinson) who is the young arrogant jerkie boss who is more akin to be a young David Brent from the office - he wants to be cool...but he's the boss.

The show SHINES with Harrison and gives 'Devil' Ray Wise the biggest and best performance of his career. The man shines in every single scene he has on the show. You see him as he tries to help Sam and when he is angry that smile disappears in a moment and you truly believe that there is Satan behind Ray Wise's eyes.

A top notch cast, amazing scripts, great direction...I was sad to see The Loop get cancelled and now I wouldn't have it any other way. Reaper is brilliant and I only hope it lasts for many seasons to come.

Ryan McLelland Latino Review/Newsarama

I have seen the pilot and I must say Here Comes The DEVIL. In the first episode Sam Oliver learns that his parents sold his soul to the devil he must now serve as a bounty hunter, tracking down evil souls that have escaped and returning them to hell. Despite saying no he has no choice and uses the help of his goofball friend (Bert)"SOCK" Wysocki (who complains (sort of) that HE wasn't sold to the DEVIL). Its one of the best shows and has great amounts of laughs and after an hour of jokes that don't bore you down I must say Reaper is here to stay AND the CW has got a winner in this one. I think it might even pass House and The Unit and lots of ordinary humans (the ones that don't have a DEVIL for a boss) will check out the Show If they didn't already. CHECK IT OUT ITS A MUST SEE

...in a good role - best since Bob Roberts. the series is on ep 6ish in old blighty. Good mix of slacker humour, with enough mystery about the original Deal with the devil. Plenty of possibility for soul searching and moral issues - perhaps a bit predictable in places, but what isn't these days?

Cast is good, but main attraction is Mr Wise in a suitably slippery take on old nick. Not quite Dogma but shaping up fine.

worth

a

watch

Reaper was much much better than I thought it was going to be; consistently funny and not predictable in the way that most sitcoms are. It is a regular on my TiVo list now, I can only hope that the network doesn't kill it off for some lame reality show replacement. If you get a chance, watch it, it is the rare network show that is funny without resorting to being dumb. It's so strange to actually have something decent to watch on regular TV! Excellent casting, especially for the Devil.

Oh, and the person who was reminded of Shaun of the Dead - the unlikely loser hero with the fat maladjusted buddy is a comedy standby. Shaun of the Dead borrows from some of the best as well - Ghostbusters, Army of Darkness, etc....But the comparison to Shaun of the dead is really a compliment - watch Reaper folks, you won't regret it, and you will actually laugh for a change.

Still can't believe that this is on Network TV.....it's too good, someone must have made a mistake.

It was a fluke that I seen a preview for this show, I was watching the only show I tune into the CW for and they showed a preview for it. I was happy I tuned in! First off, Tyler Labine (Sock} is the main reason I decided to check out the first episode and I was really happy with what I seen. It is such a great change to see a new show on television that has nothing to do with "reality" or superheroes {even though I like one or two of them} It is refreshing to watch a show where the idea hasn't been done to death, I think the originality is one of the major things I like about this show. There isn't much flaw to the show other than the network, The CW. I really hope this show becomes a hit because I would hate to see it canceled. This is a real diamond among a sea of coal.