reaper-related stories
Posted Sep 16th 2009 1:06PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free, Dollhouse, Joss Whedon
I'm kinda amazed that FOX's
Dollhouse is coming back for another season. This isn't a commentary on how good or bad the show was, but didn't it just have the smell of a show that wasn't going to come back for a second go around? The ratings dropped, critics and fans were mixed on the quality, and they even released a first season DVD set with an extra episode. It just seemed like it would be one of those culty sci-fi shows that FOX cancels early. But the second season premieres on September 25.
Ray Wise, who played the Devil on The CW's short-lived but loved-by-many
Reaper, is
joining the cast of the FOX sci-fi drama.
Continue reading Reaper guy joins Dollhouse
Posted Sep 4th 2009 12:05PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Reality-Free
Bret Harrison has been around television for awhile, starting on
Grounded for Life. But the role that earned him the most love around these parts was that of Sam Oliver on the gone-too-soon
Reaper. I was stoked that co-star Tyler Labine (Sock) so quickly found series work on FOX's forthcoming
Sons of Tucson, but I worried about the rest of the cast. It was a true ensemble success.
For his new project, he got a lot more hands on. Not only is he slated to star in it, but
Bret Harrison co-created this legal buddy comedy for CBS. The show is about a couple of district attorneys, one young and brash, the other in his middle years. And, of course, there's always a girl. Here's an idea. How about you get Ray Wise for the elder attorney and Missy Peregrym to play the girl who comes between the two. Would that be too much?
Continue reading Reaper's Bret Harrison is all over his new project, a comedy for CBS
Posted Aug 25th 2009 4:42PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Reality Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, Smallville, Reality-Free, Gossip Girl
The CW certainly seems to have embraced their new goal of pushing the entire network in a very "female" direction. They've scheduled their new fall preview special on Sunday, August 30 at 6:30 PM, smack between a special spotlighting the top ten moments from
The Tyra Banks Show and their red carpet coverage of the night's Daytime Emmy Awards.
That's nestled in a huge bed of estrogen from where I'm sitting. No wonder a show like
Reaper didn't make it if this is the new demographic The CW is seeking. The manliest shows on the network are
Supernatural and
Smallville, and both of those do well with the ladies, certainly better than Sock did. Other than that, it's
Gossip Girl,
90210,
The Vampire Diaries, America's Next Top Model -- how did this happen?
It's almost all teen dramas now, and it's definitely skewing female. They managed to abandon comedies and African-American featured shows in one fell swoop by canceling
Everybody Hates Chris and
The Game, and they dumped the hellishly fun
Reaper. All that's left is pretty people pouting. Is this what America wanted out of our fifth network?
Posted Jun 18th 2009 2:33PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Industry, Programming, Reality-Free, Dollhouse
Way back in April
we reported that Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, creators of The CW's
Reaper, had signed a deal with 20th Century Fox and would most likely be leaving
Reaper behind. Now that The CW has officially canceled
Reaper to make room for its
upcoming slate of bubblegum teen TV, Fazekas and Butters are
joining the writing staff of Joss Whedon's
Dollhouse. The
Reaper duo will begin their
Dollhouse stint in season two, which kicks off Friday, Sept. 18 on Fox.
I have mixed feelings about this news. I'm glad that
Dollhouse nabbed these two obviously talented and funny writers, but I'm still bummed about
Reaper's cancellation. And while this might mean that
Dollhouse will deliver more smart, nerdy comedy in season two, that Friday night death slot still has me worried.
Continue reading Reaper creators join Dollhouse writing staff
Posted Jun 16th 2009 11:35AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Reality-Free, TV Squad Ten
There is nothing inherently wrong with turning a TV series into a video game spinoff. It can fill in the gaps between seasons to quell the viewers' hunger, let audiences explore characters from new perspectives and even give the more hardcore couch potatoes some much needed exercise even if they only burned 1/100ths of a calorie solely through their thumbs.
The problem is video game developers pick TV shows that should never even become a travel sized board game. Developers have given the greenlight to games based on shows like
American Idol,
Desperate Housewives and even ...
Grey's Anatomy?!? I hope that last one was a first-person shooter.
There are far better shows that offer far more entertaining elements for a kick-ass video game. These are the shows that should be next in line for a pixelated re-treatment.
Continue reading TV Squad Ten: Shows that deserve to have their own video game
Posted Jun 8th 2009 6:07PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.I sometimes enjoy watching
Judge Judy, but it's one of those shows that I can't possibly imagine owning the DVDs. Once is enough for me. But if you're really into the show, there's a 2-Pack set being released this week.
But I have to get the
Get Smart DVDs at some point. That's the only show being released that I have any interest in.
- The Cleaner - Season 1
- Corner Gas - Season 6
- Danny Phantom - Season 3
- Father Knows Best - Season 3
- Get Smart - Season 3
Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week
Posted Jun 5th 2009 3:39PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Subtle Subtitles, Reality-Free
If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series and you provide the caption!
Last week we had a picture from the series finale of Reaper. The winner is
Hubbahubba, with this:
"Smile, kid. The CW execs can smell fear."This week we have a picture from the horrifying first week of
I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here.
Posted May 29th 2009 4:32PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Subtle Subtitles, Reality-Free
If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series and you provide the caption!
Last week we had a pic from the season finale of
American Idol, and the winner is
grimmie with this:
"And what is the bid for this KISS wannabee?"
This week's pic is from the
series finale of Reaper. Yes, it could be just a season finale if it gets picked up by someone else, but for now it's "series."
Posted May 28th 2009 4:29PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Reality-Free
So I'm sitting there all cozy yesterday watching the season (I won't say series!) finale of
Reaper. It's at a pivotal moment in the action. Sam is batting the devil for his soul. All he has to do is sink these quarters into this shot glass. My eyes are glued to his hands and then ... then ... well look at the picture! You can't see shit! Behind that cloud of whatever the hell that's supposed to be is Sam's hand holding the quarter. You can almost see the shot glass coming out of the blob.
Come on, I know we've had to learn to get used to on-screen promos for shows but where does it say you have to cover up fully a quarter of the screen with white glowing crap? Did you think I might not notice the words "Hitched or Ditched" down there? I'm sorry, but this is completely inexcusable. Why not just have a voice over interrupt screaming: "HEY! YOU NEED TO WATCH
HITCHED OR DITCHED! IT'S ON NEXT. IF YOU DON'T THIS WHITE BLOB IS GONNA COVER THE WHOLE SCREEN! MWAHAHAHAHA!"
Posted May 28th 2009 1:03PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Ratings, Reality-Free
Good news for all you
Reaper fans who are disappointed at the lack of renewal of your favorite Satanic show.
TV Guide reports a
surge in the number of people watching the final episode (2.22 million). I haven't kept up with the individual episode ratings, but I assume they were less. Sadly, it still got beat in viewership numbers by
According to Jim, which is why it is still difficult to think of The CW as a real network.
Seriously, the show is still in the market, and this lends a strong case to allowing the show to get picked up elsewhere. The ratings show there is still an interest (hopefully not brought about by a lack of interest in the competition). I could see
Reaper working on a cable channel such as SyFy or Comedy Central, although it may require an even greater drop in production cost if that's possible.
Posted May 27th 2009 12:22AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E13) Reaper has been
axed by The CW and until I hear that another network has picked this show up, I will consider this the series finale and not simply the season finale. Admittedly, it ended on a mixed note.
I'm glad the Devil actually has a weakness with regards to his vanity. When a character is all-powerful, they get boring rather quickly. Thankfully, Ray Wise has the talent to keep the character interesting despite his handicap of near-omnipotence. When you consider that, you have to wonder how Sam could have possibly thought he had an advantage during the first game of quarters.
The character of Mary Pat (whom I found amusing, but only because she reminded me of some people I know) was gone pretty quickly. At first I thought Steve was back because they couldn't get Tony for the finale until the broken hand occurred. Obviously, the creators planned a bigger role for Sam as a pawn of the war between Heaven and Hell. It's a pity that unless the show miraculously gets picked up, it will never get resolved.
The entire situation with Nina was a cute homage to the
Exorcist movies. At least Ben is happy at the end of the series.
Continue reading Reaper: The Devil & Sam Oliver (series finale)
Posted May 26th 2009 4:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, ABC has two new episodes of According To Jim., then the continuation of the miniseries Diamonds.
- The CW has the series finale of Reaper at 8, followed by the series premiere of Hitched or Ditched.
- TNT has the Magic/Cavaliers game at 8.
- At 8:30, Food Network has a new Good Eats, then a new Dear Food Network.
- At 9, FOX has the series premiere of Mental.
- PBS has a new Frontline at 9.
- Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch at 9, then a new Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment.
- At 10, FX has a new Rescue Me.
- History Channel has a new Life After People at 10.
- Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
- Travel Channel has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern at 10.
- Also at 10: Bravo has a new Real Housewives of New Jersey.
- At 10:30, TBS has the season finale of My Boys.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk shows.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: According To Jim, Reaper, ECW, Deadliest Catch
Posted May 20th 2009 1:31AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E12) While I enjoyed tonight's episode (mostly due to the extended Ray Wise sequences in the beginning), I have to ask: why did the Devil ask Sam to work at the office in the first place? Is it to set up Sam's eventual take-over of the Devil's duties? Was it just to screw with Sam's head? It's tough to tell. Judging by Ray Wise's body language, it might be a little of both.
One could tell that tonight's story was going to be a little different when they wrapped up the escaped soul capture in the opening segment. Wasn't that horn just the cutest little vessel? It didn't even have to touch the soul, just make a silly noise.
The Devil obviously wanted Sam to escape the trap in the beginning. Is it favoritism or something more sinister?
Continue reading Reaper: Business Casualty
Posted May 19th 2009 4:04PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Talk Show, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, ABC has the three-hour season finale of Dancing with the Stars.- CBS has the season finale of NCIS at 8, then the season finale of The Mentalist.
- FOX has a new American Idol at 8, followed by a preview of Glee.
- The CW has a new Reaper and the season finale of 90210.
- History Channel has Nostradamus: 2012 at 8, then a new Life After People.
- At 9, Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch.
- ESPN has the Lakers/Nuggets game at 9.
- At 10, NBC has a new Law and Order: SVU.
- There's a new Rescue Me on FX at 10.
- Travel Channel has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.
- Also at 10: IFC has a new The Whitest Kids U'Know.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk shows.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: NCIS, Glee, Reaper, Deadliest Catch
Posted May 19th 2009 3:18PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, Video, Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts, Reality-Free
I'll admit that it looks like Tyler Labine is doing his best Jack Black in this clip from the new FOX sitcom
Sons of Tucson, but you know what? It actually looks like a cute, funny show. The premise seems a little far-fetched (at least one stretched to season length and not just one episode or one movie), but I'm going to check this out.
So
what does this mean for Reaper?
Next Page >
The TV Squad Podcast: Linda Purl talks about The Office, we talk spoilers, and more
Ask TV Squad: Ghost Whisperer and more!
The TV Squad Podcast: Bill Scheft of The Late Show, Cake Boss, Mad Men and more
