Forgotten Television: 2007 Reaper

Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison) wakes up on his 21^st birthday and strange things begin to happen to him.  Sam and his best friend Bert “Sock” Wysocki (Tyler Labine) are slackers who work at a home improvement store called the Work Bench along with Ben Gonzalez (Rick Gonzalez) and Sam’s crush, Andi (Missy Peregrym).  Sam is chased by a pack of dogs and seems to all of the sudden have telekinetic abilities, after a brief encounter with a man in the back seat of his car claiming to be the devil, Sam’s father informs him that before he was born, his soul was sold to the devil to save Sam’s father from a deadly disease.  The devil (Ray Wise) reappears and tells Sam that he needs him to be a bounty hunter recapturing souls that have escaped from hell. He captures souls using a vessel which changes from episode to episode and can be anything from a dirt devil vacuum to a lighter.  In addition, Sam is granted a unique power for helping him capture each soul, which varies from telekinesis to a tattoo that hints at a soul’s location. At first reluctant, Sam eventually agrees and even feels like this may have been his calling.

Reaper was an American comedy series that ran on the CW beginning on September 25, 2007.  It ran for two seasons with the final episode airing on May 26, 2009.  The series was produced by ABC Studios and The Mark Gordon Company, and after cancellations, ABC negotiated with the CW affiliates to get the syndication rights and continue the series, but talks fell through. Sci-Fi Channel also showed interest as it was rebranding itself as SyFy, but this also failed.  Eventually it was announced that both Bret Harrison and Tyler Labine would not be returning even if the series was picked up for syndication, and thus the series died (not sure where its soul went). Although in 2013, during a reunion special on Fearnet the cast said that they would be willing to do a season 3.  The show was well received, and the show has been compared to the successful series Chuck.

I honestly don’t remember ever watching this show, but I have been assured that I did, at least a few episodes.  In rewatching the pilot, none of it seemed familiar and it was like I was watching it for the first time.  Not sure if this is a case of really forgetting television, or if I had never seen an episode, but either way, I very much enjoyed the pilot.  This was a fun show with a great cast that gave me vibes of Warehouse 13 combined with Chuck. It was quirky and funny.  I like Tyler Labine, although he was a bit obnoxious in this, and he was meant to be.  He has a great energy, is likeable in an oddball sort of way.  Bret Harrison is attractive and witty with a great smile and a good heart, while also embodying the slacker lifestyle.  Bret and Tyler play well off each other being foils for each other’s characters. Missy Peregrym’s Andi has great chemistry with Bret and the two are a good match.  Ray Wise is perfectly cast as the Devil.  He is just smarmy and charismatic enough but with a truly evil undertone.  His Devil is both diabolical and likeable at the same time.  The storylines were good with some nice continuity that runs through out the series and the writing was fun and humorous but with a touch of realism that kept the series grounded.  The production value is what you would expect from a 2007 television series, with the special effects not quite being movie quality but still adequate. Overall, this is just a fun, well written, and well-acted series, I am disappointed I don’t remember it better.