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Reaper: Cancelled
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This past month the ratings challenged CW show Reaper was cancelled, well "unofficially." The second season of the show, a mid-season pick up, pulled in approximately 2 million viewers per episode. The program revolved around Sam (Bret Harrison) who found out his parents had sold his soul to the Devil (Ray Wise) to help cure an illness his Father had. With this agreement, the Devil forced Sam to work for him as a bounty hunter, retrieving souls and sending them back to hell. .jpg)
Despite the bleak premise, Reaper was surprisingly funny and at times charming. Ray Wise excelled as the “Prince of Darkness,” coming off humorous yet chillingly scary. Harrison, again plays an average guy with a bit of bad luck, similar to his character Sam (original) on the FOX show, The Loop. The banter between these two characters made for an entertaining hour of television and at times it looked as if the Devil cared for Sam.
The souls return to the earthly realm intent on finishing the jobs they started, be it various crimes (arson) or sins (adultery). One soul, a former police officer, returns to murder the officials who sentenced him to death. He had been charged with multiple homicide. Another soul, a jealous ex lover, returns to find his love but she has already passed on. He then takes his wrath out on anyone he crosses paths with.
Sam was provided with vessels to catch these escaped souls. Hilariously, the vessels ranged from a toaster to a "Dirt Devil vacuum", only on occasion did he receive something more serious (a taser gun). These vessels were able to trap the soul within and Sam would drop the vessels off at the local DMV (a great hell on earth joke), where they would be transported back to hell.
Sam’s two sidekicks, Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) helped with the capturing of the souls and provided much of the comedy relief. This past season both characters received love interests, Sock dated his step sister (yes, they went there), while Ben dated a demon named Nina (Jenny Wade). The character of Andi was played by, Missy Peregrym, who dated Sam and was heading in the direction of being another reaper (she sold her soul for Sam). Unfortunately, that arc will never take place.
There was a chance the show could have been picked up in syndication by either TBS or the SyFy Network but ultimately didn’t happen. According to Labine, "It's not officially, officially dead, but as far as everyone is concerned, it's over." The show will live on as a comic book and both Labine and Harrison would be open to a movie, "Yeah, the R-rated version of Reaper.”
Labine can be next seen in the upcoming FOX show, “Sons of Tucson.” Harrison will be working on the movie “Mardi Gras,” and other projects, hopefully without a character named “Sam.” Ray Wise, who would have been an outstanding choice to play Lucifer on Supernatural (Mark Pellegrino cast), can be next seen in the movie, “Stuntmen.” Seasons 1 & 2 of Reaper are now available on DVD.
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