One hell of a good time

Move over 7th Heaven- the devil has come to the CW!

Reaper, a one hour dramedy directed by Kevin Smith, the king of twisted humor (Dogma), centers on the life of 21 year-old Sam (Bret Harrison from FOX's Grounded for Life and The Loop), a young slacker void of amibition just trying to gather enough courage to ask out his coworker, Andi (Missy Peregrym, star of Stick It and the short-lived but long-loved Life as We Know it) and collect his paycheck. Formulaic, right? Wrong. Sam's daily routine takes a slightly different turn when he discovers that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born in return for his father's life. With the punishment for going AWOL on the devil being the death of him or his mother, Sam has no choice but to obey the dark prince's order- become a reaper (or, as the devil puts it, a "bounty hunter") of souls escaped from hell. Aided by "Sock" (Last seen on the cancelled Invasion), Sam's fellow slacker at the hardware store where they work, Sam begins his life of servitude tracking down an arsonist who has returned from perdition to re-destroy the buildings he originally burnt down in the 1950's. Sam and Sock apprehend the escaped soul with the help of the ironically named "Dirt Devil" soul vacuum, thus beginning what will hopefully be a long series of wins for the duo.

The show combines elements of twisted humor, drama and action into an hour long dark comedy that could only have been brought to us by director Smith. While the show is anything but original (Ghostbusters and Dead Like Me, anyone?), this new twist on a tried and true idea has staying power, especially on a fledgling network previously dominated by Tyra Banks. The truth is, we are all like Sam- eagerly anticipating that day where something amazing will happen, and we will finally have the courage to tell off our bosses and profess our everlasting love to people who are just friends. Each week, Sam becomes more and more self-confident, and more aware that working with the devil has its perks- not only can he move things with his mind and use household appliances to capture bad guys, but he also finally wins the salesperson prize- a giant ham- and the self-confidence that comes with it.

My complaints about the show are few and far between- The character of Sock (Sam's ally) seems to have been written for Jack Black, only the writers could not afford Jack Black. the character ends up being ignored by Sam throughout many parts of the show, until the end when Sock redeems himself and helps save Sam(ala Jack Black in Orange County).

The show is not something that would be filed under "Religious Viewing". However, with the airwaves overpopulated with shows like Lost and Grey's Anatomy that force viewers to come back weekly or be forever confused, Reaperis the kind of show that can be watched whenever- kind of like Monk, the show is a guaranteed good time that ties itself up at the end of every episode.

With a dark sense of humor and the potential for hundreds of interesting characters and encounters, Reaper is the kind of show that will be blogged about for a long time.

And who knows? Maybe one episode the devil will finally ask Sam to get rid of E.R.?