Reaper

Sam Oliver's turning 21, which would usually mean it's time to party down. But before he can put that I.D. to use, he's chased by a pack of dogs and seems to manifest superpowers. Oh, and the Devil (Ray Wise) appears to Sam and tells him that his parents sold his soul before he was born. And now, on his 21st birthday, it's time for the Devil to collect. Armed with a satanic Dustbuster (seriously), Sam and his chubby wisecracking sidekick Sock (Tyler Labine, Jack Black's attorneys want to speak with you) must do the Devil's work -- in this case, sending escaped demonic souls back to hell.

The Pitch:	Remember that show "Brimstone", where Peter Horton had to chase down souls that escaped from hell? Well, this is pretty much the same thing, only instead of Peter Horton, it's some young adult screw-up.
When It’s On	Tuesdays at 9 ET/PT, CW
When It Starts	Tue 9/25
What It’s Up Against	Dancing with the Stars results (ABC), The Unit (CBS), House (Fox)
Starring...	Bret Harrison, Ray Wise
Cliche-o-Meter	Geeks Sci-Fi Men's Room
Fandom Factor	Warm
Do Not Adjust Your Set:	No, that's not Jack Black playing the role of Bret Harrison's sidekick; it's just Jack Black's lower-cost Canadian equivalent.
Why It Will Be First To Go:	CW President Dawn Ostroff sells her soul to the devil for success in the world of television programming. The devil decides not to play for such meager stakes.
Why It Won't:	It's actually a pretty good show, and certainly better than watching Mark Cuban try and dance the rhumba.
Odds of Failure:	4-1
Show's official web site

(A TeeVee/TV Barn top 10 notable show.)

Full Review

Sometimes an idea comes along that is so fresh, so innovative, so distinctive that two identical-looking TV programs are made about it more or less at the same time. Tellywood's special version of creative kismet/larceny has struck again with "Chuck" and "Reaper," two hourlong dramadies about slacker nerds who toil at big-box stores and one day are given superpowers that launches them, however reluctantly, on lives of public service ... without quitting their day jobs. The fact that both shows are arriving on the fall schedule in excellent condition -- Jason has given the edge to one and I to the other, but we agree they are among the network's elite new shows this season -- more than makes up for their suspiciously similar premises.

The only major points of differentiation between CW's "Reaper" and "Chuck" are that Chuck's superpowers are delivered technologically, albeit through a mind-melding e-mail poltergeist that makes the "Pokemon"-induced wigout among Japanese children a few years ago seem like small potatoes; whereas Sam, "Reaper's" amiable nerd-hero, gets his powers the old-fashioned way: from Satan.

As we join Sam, who's played by Bret Harrison, it's the morning of his 21st birthday, and within a couple of hours he realizes his world has changed. It's not the whole drink-booze-legally thing -- a later scene at a local dive suggests he's had those privileges for some time -- but it's the oddities that go beyond a mere coming of age. Like being able to move objects with his mind, or his suddenly developed sixth sense for arson, demonic dogs, and other products of the underworld. Sam doesn't realize it right away, but his life is no longer his own, a fact that will be brought to his attention later in the day by Ray Wise, an impeccably-dressed, glad-handing gent who could be mistaken for a senior advertising executive, perhaps at one of the agencies that buys time on the CW network ... except that he's the devil incarnate, and as of today, he owns Sam's soul.

I won't spoil the circumstance by which this revelation is made, or what exactly will be demanded of our young hero. So much of the pleasure in watching "Reaper" comes from the unexpected. The characters start out fairly predictably, but become less so as the hour gallops along. Besides Sam, who reacts to the sudden appearance of Beelzebub in Brooks Brothers pretty much the same way John Denver did when George Burns showed up in the produce section in "Oh God!", Sam's sidekick Sock, played by WHO, is going to evoke the same four-word reaction from moviegoers everywhere: Hey, it's Jack Black. This virtual impersonation of Black's school-of-uncool bothered Jason, but I couldn't have cared less, because Sock is so perfectly matched to Sam, and the role so enthusiastically embraced, and besides, what's Jack Black doing this fall? Series television? I think not. Anyway, the loud audience response to Sock at my recent "Watch the Pilots with Aaron" event convinced me that imitation is not only the sincerest form of television, it's often the best, too.

To be fair, "Reaper" isn't that new an idea, but a fresh repackaging of several ideas. Think 1998's "Brimstone," a bluish drama starring Peter Horton as a soul-reaper, combined with the joie de vivre of "Buffy" and the uncomfortable relationship with a higher being that has marked the genre for the entire Age of Irony and you're pretty close to "Reaper." It's an appealing mishmash that, I'm afraid, will be overlooked because it's on the sixth-place network (behind Spanish-language Univision). With the promise shown by the pilot episode (written by two women, an encouraging trend in the business), here's hoping that a lot of viewers are touched by a devil. -- AARON BARNHART

Previous Show

Fall 2007 Preview

Next Show