Fall Preview: Reaper
Fall may be our favorite time of year. Yeah, yeah, there's cooler weather and changing leaves and new clothes and blah, blah, blah – for us, it's really all about the TV. Not only are our favorite shows finally coming back after the long, hot, rerun-plagued summer, but we've got four new CW shows to obsess over.
So we were thrilled that fall started early for us: We got our hands on the CW pilots early. In the next few weeks, we'll be sharing our opinions on the new fall shows. First up: Reaper.
We'll admit, we were a little skeptical about this show. Bret Harrison is not our favorite, and besides, The CW already has a phenomenal show about a demon-hunter named Sam, thank you – and Reaper doesn't include a Dean. How could it possibly compare?
Here's the thing: It's a totally different show. Saying it's the same as Supernatural is like saying Scrubs is the same as ER, or Monk is the same as Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Yes, it's the same genre, and it's annoying that they share the name Sam, but that's where the similarities end. Reaper has much more in common with NBC's new show Chuck than it does with Supernatural.
Once we got that out of the way, we could enjoy Reaper on its own merits. And enjoy it we did –- the pilot is funny, the setup works well, and we completely adore a couple of the characters. We can see why it made a bunch of best-of-the-new-season lists.
The basics: Sam (Bret Harrison) is a slacker who works in a Home Depot clone and is wasting his life. On his twenty-first birthday, he discovers that his parents sold his soul to the devil, and now he's on the hook for playing bounty hunter for Satan (Ray Wise). He's got spiffy powers and a demon-sucking Dirt Devil, but he's totally out of his depth.
What we loved: You gotta love any show that brings Ray Wise to the screen. He's been in everything (some of you might remember him from Twin Peaks back in the day) and he loves playing the devil. He brings such relish to the role and projects a perfect air of affable menace. We love him.
We also love Sock (Tyler Labine, from the ill-fated Invasion, among other shows), the goofy slacker sidekick. Maybe we're twelve, but the gag where he beans Sam with a heavy object every time Sam starts babbling about telekinesis never gets old. He just looks so serious and thoughtful when he's lobbing bottles of cleaning supplies at his friend. Plus, he gets the best lines. Love him, too.
What we're nervous about: The pilot was amazing, at least in part because it was directed by Kevin Smith. But we think that's the end of Kevin's involvement with the show. Will it be able to keep up with the standard he set?
And do we really need an unrequited love story where our hero feels he must protect his lady love from the awful work he does? It's Missy Peregrym from Heroes: She can take care of herself.
Finally, yes, it still bugs us that the main character is named Sam. Does the CW have a limited budget for names of something?
The verdict: This is the favorite new show for a substantial portion of the CW Source staff.
What do you think? Will Reaper be on your watch list, or are you giving it a pass? Does our take soothe any fears you might have about it splitting the Supernatural audience, or are you so peeved about the similarities that you'll never succumb? Give us your opinion in the comments!
Comments
I absolutely love this show. I think some of you might be reading too much into the show. It's for entertainment purposes. A lot of us like watching things that we know most likely will not happen in real life.
The use of the Dirt Devil was meant to be funny, which I thought it was.
Posted by: Nicole | September 19, 2008 9:33 AM
My guess. Reaper will probably do ok for the first few episodes, then slowly die because the main viwers will be young men who like fart jokes, but those are also the ones that are easily distrated and lose interest.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 20, 2007 11:27 AM
The biggest problem with Reaper is the name Sam. Not because it's unoriginal (which it is) or because it feels a little like a rip-off (which it does) but because I will never be able to watch the show for what it is. I will never be able to truly get into the show because I will always be pulled back into reality by the thought "An almost psychic named Sam who hunts things from Hell... Wow, that really reminds me of this other character from this other show that I'm really into". I am not good at watching TV for mindless entertainment... I need to get into the premise, the themes and the characters and, while I watch it, the show's reality has to be my reality. It just doesn't work when I'm pulled out of it every 10 seconds.
I've watched the Pilot of Reaper and I quite enjoyed some parts. I love the Devil. He is awesome. Ray Wise certainly is perfect for the job and I'm almost inclined to watch just for him, however, the rest of it just doesn't do enough for me. The show tries to be funny and most of the time the humor is just too big and lame for me. It doesn't even make me smile. I don't particularly care for any of the characters (yet) either, they all seem awfully caricatured, and the love story and the main plot don't hold anything extraordinary.
All in all the first episode had some good moments but if I were to watch it, it would be something I'd do just to numb my brain for 35 minutes (and to laugh the remaining 5 minutes containing the Devil) which seems like a waste.
I won't be watching.
Posted by: Joan | September 14, 2007 12:32 PM
In case there was any doubt, let me clearly state that I am a die-hard fan of Supernatural above all else! And when it comes to new shows, I'm willing to give just about anything a try and a chance to impress me. So I'll give Reaper a try too. As for SN not having its premiere on Sept. 27th I'm perfectly happy with that, because that is the night of GA's premiere... so not putting any blame on Reaper.
Considering the ridiculous amount of money spent on promoting Reaper (and Gossip Girl too), why not leave Reaper on Thurs at 9pm and see how well it does in the time slot of death? And put Supernatural back on Tues where it can finally have a chance to shine and get the attention it deserves.
But of all the men's names that exist, couldn't they have come up with something other than Sam?!? **rolls eyes**
Posted by: Mousitsa | September 11, 2007 10:55 PM
Sorry Sarah, IMO, the creators took the simple/stupid way out of the device chosen, instead of using their imaginations to create something new and original. They tried to make the device "funny" as opposed to unique.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 11, 2007 1:46 PM
Actually, the Dirt Devil is a particularly clever part of the pilot -- see, the devil gives you the sort of tools you can handle. Sam's a doofus, so he gets a Dirt Devil, not a shiny smitey thing or even a shotgun full of rocksalt. It works, trust me.
Posted by: Sarah | September 11, 2007 1:14 PM
Well, with the amount of money the CW has spent on promotion for Reaper, it HAD better be a big hit. If they spent HALF as much time, energy, money on promoting Supernatural, I would be ecstatic. Alas, the CW doesn't seem to realize what it's got with Supernatural, otherwise they wouldn't bury it in the time slot of death once again. Why not try Reaper in our time slot? See how that works out for them.
Posted by: Kim | September 11, 2007 1:07 PM
I can't believe the creators couldn't sketch out an original looking gadget to capture the spirits with. Instead they use a Dirt Devil...how lame is that?
Posted by: Anonymous | September 11, 2007 9:26 AM
What is it with these shows and recycling names? I mean before Jared Padalecki played Sam on Supernatural, he was Dean on Gilmore Girls. And now there is another Sam. Geez. There are like a million names.
As for the show, I doubt I will tune in. For one, I have enough shows to be obsessed about, I dont need another. I also agree with the other poster down there. I am not sure how long they keep the funny actually going. However, my not-watching has nothing to do with resentment about the name or plot (because I am a Supernatural fan).
Posted by: Jennifer | September 10, 2007 8:22 PM
gotta love that ray wise. so evil in a funny way
Posted by: jessi | September 10, 2007 5:39 PM
I'm not even the slightest bit interested in this one anymore. I might have given it a shot but that was before the CW decided to force it down our throats by airing it in Supernatural's time slot instead of airing Supernatural's season opener.
While this show may be "different" from Supernatural it sounds to me like they've gone and made a Spoof of Supernatural and I'm not the slightest bit interested in it.
Posted by: Shadow | September 10, 2007 2:47 PM
I'm going to give it a shot, and watch it a few times. Although I still wish they'd ditched the Sam name, and came up with another one.
I saw a preview for the pilot and it did look quite funny. However, i'm not sure how they'll keep that going. It may turn out to be one of those shows that's funny for the first couple episodes, then after while...not so much. But we'll see.
Posted by: Casey | September 10, 2007 1:57 PM