"Reaper", the pilot of which aired earlier this week, was directed by Kevin Smith, of all people. If you haven’t seen it yet, you really, really should. The most apt comparison would be to call it a TV show channeling the spirit of Idle Hands.
It doesn’t have any of the gore or killer hand-ness of Idle Hands, but it has the same infectious fun of teenagers and occult wackiness. See, Sam (Bret Harrison), our slacker protag, had his soul sold to the devil by his parents before he was even a glint in their eyes. On his 21st Birthday, the Devil (played effortlessly by Ray Wise) finally comes to redeem his IOU and have Sam become one of his bounty hunters. Apparently people break out of Hell all the time and the Devil has an obvious need to bring ‘em back.
It’s a funny show with great characters and great actors to bring them to life. It is not exclusively horror, as may be implied by me posting about it, but it does have a darker seam running through all its comedy. Irregardless of the genre, just know it is one of the more successful, more original shows of the season and has loads of potential. Which means that the CW is probably going to cancel it.
So watch it Tuesdays at 9 on the CW while you still can.
I have the perfect way to determine whether or not I should trust your opinion about this particular television show:
Did you like Dead Like Me?
I did not. Bought both seasons during a Deep Discount Buy 1 get 1 free deal, never made it past episode two.
Right answer?
Yep.
Hated the way that show wrote the “rules” of being dead/a reaper/whatever as it went along.
I’ll be adding Reaper to the TiVo shortly. Thanks for the heads up, Peter. :)
I was sold when i saw Leeland Palmer, i mean Ray Wise was in it, let alone as the Devil.
Well I can’t guarantee Reaper won’t redefine its own logic as it goes on, but the pilot is at least hilarious and enthusiastic. Dead Like Me just had plain boring characters who annoyed far more often than they interested.
And yes, Leeland Palmer in a suit playing the Devil. My favorite line in the whole episode is when Ray Wise half squirms, “Oh, gag, what a tool!” Ray Wise calling anyone a tool is funny, add on that he is the devil and I was sold from that point on.
Finally got around to seeing the second episode (the one with the lightning and the RC car). I like.
Did they ever say what his parents sold his soul FOR?
Yeah, his Dad had a terrible illness of some sort and the parents were offered instant health for the soul of their yet-to-be first born. In turn they planned on never having children and went to a doctor to insure that, but the doc was under the influence of the devil as well, and lied to them about their infertility.
My favorite episode thus is the pilot, but they’ve all been really fun so far. Can’t say the same for that abysmal Bionic Woman, though. Man, that show just keeps getting worse and worse with every new minute.
OK, thanks. It’s understandable that the kid might want to play along in that scenario. It’s not like Dad sold him out for a muscle car or Zeppelin tickets.
I wanted to tune into Bionic Woman for the sole fact that Starbuck from Battlestar was in it. But she didn’t appear during the three minutes that I watched so I went back to living my life.