Reaper

Produced by Kevin Smith (he directed the pilot too) this is one funny show. I will most definitely watch again.

Here's a trailer that must be old - a different actress plays the girl but everything else is the same. The humor is a bit twisted - so it was right up my alley.

Quote :

Bret Harrison (l., at right) and Tyler Labine work like demons for their boss (Ray Wise, below, at left, with Harrison) who has ties to the underworld.

Ray Wise is Devilishly good in 'Reaper'
Last season, the best, most instantly apparent marriage of actor and character arrived with the premiere of NBC's "30 Rock," as Alec Baldwin channeled a career's worth of charm and smarm to play TV executive Jack Donaghy.

On the new CW series "Reaper," that same type of career-casting lightning strikes again - the second Ray Wise is introduced as the purported villain of the piece, the Devil.

"Reaper," which CW calls a drama but which really is an hour-long comedy, is about a young man named Sam (Bret Harrison) who gets a shocking surprise on his 21st birthday: That's the age at which his parents had long ago agreed to surrender his soul to Satan. In an arrangement envied by Sam's best friend "Sock" (Tyler Labine, from "Invasion"), Sam is forced to stay above ground and work as a hellish bounty hunter, capturing escaped evil souls and returning them down below.
Almost a decade ago, a dour series named "Brimstone," starring John Glover as the Devil, explored the same have-pitchfork-will-travel territory, but didn't see the humor in it.

Here, Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, who worked on "The X-Files" together, certainly do - and were smart enough to enlist "Dogma" director Kevin Smith to film the pilot, and to help them find their perfect Devil.
Enter Wise.

Not only could you almost smell the sulfur on his "24" vice president Hal Gardner, his portrayal of Leland Palmer on "Twin Peaks," as well, ranks as one of the most naked, complicated portraits of evil ever on television.
The tortured, demonically possessed Leland violently killed his daughter and his niece (both played, by the way, by Sheryl Lee), the latter so disturbingly that it's doubtful it would pass network standards today.
So Wise as Devil, that's easy.

What's less expected, but undeniably obvious the second you see him, is how completely convincing Wise is as a charming Devil. Not snake-oil-salesman charming, like Ray Walston was in "Damn Yankees." Or aggressively sexy-charming, like Elizabeth Hurley was in the remake of "Bedazzled."

Wise is more like Satan by way of Bill Clinton. What you make of that will depend upon your own political orientation, but Wise's Satan is a man who knows how to wear a suit, work a room, flash a smile and turn on the charm when he wants to - and turn it off, too, when it suits him.
Wise is so good, and the scenes with him are so much fun, that you begin to see Sock's point of view.

Working for Satan, so long as he's this guy, seems less like a curse than a career opportunity.

If I sound too enthusiastic about a series that ends up, in the pilot, being a bit too obsessed with special effects, I apologize. The Devil made me do it. Or at least Ray Wise did.

Hey, I liked it too. I guess I'm a bit warped myself.

When he hits the dog with the car door - I knew I should be outraged but damn if it wasn't funny.

I can't think of a single problem with the pilot episode. It was so polished - the writing, the acting, and the special effects were ambitious for a tv show (the fireman? awesome!) but looked perfect.

The are running the pilot again tonight at 9 if anyone missed it and wants to catch it.

That is opposite The Office premiere so unless you have DVR you are screwed. Then again, the CW may be running it a LOT - the reviews were excellent.

OOOOOOo... it's Reaper time!!

I missed this and I did want to check it out.
I did catch Chuck though, and really really enjoyed that.
Had me hooked halfway through the pilot.

They sound kinda similar in some aspects, but go in different directions.

Chuck was a very pleasant surprise and Ill stay with that since it leads in Heroes.

Ill try at some point to catch up with Reaper from 1st episode on.

I still have #1 Bionic Woman to watch and the 2nd episode is on tonight.
I'm one a those anal viewers that like to see things in the intended order.

I haven't seen the second Reaper yet but it's taped. I did hear the end of it as I was crafting my 3rd grade homework but didn't catch enough to know if it compared to the 1st or not.

I missed the 2nd eppy of Back to You thinking I had set up a serial recording. It should record tonight, tho, and I might be able to catch it.

PatDaddy said the same thing about watching shows in order and he missed the 1st Reaper, too. You guys have got to catch up - maybe the CW will put it online. When I was looking up info on it I saw the did have some shows online.

Oh, you really should try to watch it. Funny stuff.

I tuned in tonight.
Episode,...whats this,...3?
Broke my cardinal rule of viewing.

I bet this would annoy Kevin Smith.

What is this show?
A comedy?
A drama?
A dromady?
A quirky dramalike slicity of teenage angst?

I dunno.

I didn't take it serious, I didn't get any laughs.

Two chuckles at lines by the wise ass friend.
(Ive liked that chubby guy in anything Ive ever seen him in)
And both lines were more suited for someone twice his age.


Not complaining, just nit picking.
Ill give it another view next week cuz I think the fact that this episode had swarms of killer bees was like 2 strikes off the bat.

Bees frighten me.

I haven't even seen the second one yet - but I heard part of the end of it. It didn't seem as good as the pilot episode.

This is a show that shouldn't take itself too seriously. In fact, I think it would work better as a 30 minute show than an hour drama.

I think it can go either way - a great quirky show or piece of crap. Maybe after such a great pilot episode there was no where to go but down.

I liked the second episode, but number 3 sacrificed itself for exposition. I'm hoping it'll be back on track with the next installment.

Explain what

Bam wrote:

[sacrificed itself for exposition.]

means.



Please.

It seemed that they were a little too busy trying to "explain" things - Andi going back to college, Sam and Andi's relationship - instead of just letting us find out from interaction as the episodes progress. It took away from the current week's story, imo.

I'd just like to add that insects make my skin crawl and that may have detracted from my enjoyment as well.

Bam wrote:

It seemed that they were a little too busy trying to "explain" things - Andi going back to college, Sam and Andi's relationship - instead of just letting us find out from interaction as the episodes progress. It took away from the current week's story, imo.

I'd just like to add that insects make my skin crawl and that may have detracted from my enjoyment as well.

Oh.
K, I getcya.

Im gonna have to see that pilot.
That might be the peak of the series.

Oh, I hope not. It has such potential.

Last night's show was much better. The vessel was very cool and the devil was downright devilish. The escaped soul was much more entertaining. I mean, c'mon, who doesn't like magic?

Oh, good. I'm a little behind on my recorded shows but I should get to this soon. I actually saw the 3rd one but still haven't seen the second. I guess I should watch that one first.

Well, I got a few more laughs from last night's episode, so in my book that makes it better.

I missed it.
That means its not on my brain tuner.
Thats not a good thing.

Anyplace online I can see these?
I mean in good quality, not those awful mpegs on Youtube.
I think NBC has spoiled me with its online abilities.

I'm behind a week but I just saw the Halloween one with Patton Oswalt and it was good. Either it's grown on me or they're getting their sea legs. I like Patton a lot, too, so that may have had an impact.

That is the only one I've missed and I doubt that I'll bother to download it. I'm just that lazy.