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Reaper Is Turning in a Direction I'm Not So Sure Of

Yes, yes, I dangled a participle right there in the headline. So, sue me, it's a blog, not my final exams.

What's up with Sam's dad on Reaper burning pages from the contract? And how can he read the damn thing when it's all in Latin?

And what's with Sam never getting a chance to get with Andi? I don't mean "get with" in the coital sense -- they don't even seem to spend a whole lot of time together on camera for us to get to know their relationship better. I have absolutely no idea if they have chemistry. Also, I don't like Missy Peregrym's hair, it's kind of mullet-y, dontcha think? Why doesn't Sam look for a girl a little more girly?

Actually, they originally cast someone who's more girly, but that actress, Thirteen's Nikki Reed, was very aggresively female (very hot body, etc.) and I think they recast the role because of that (not sure, no in at The CW). Still, did they have to choose a mullet for her replacement?

Mostly I tune in because I am convinced that Bret Harrison is gonna be a TV star eventually and I thought Ray Wise would have more opportunity to crack wise (sorry, couldn't resist). But Satan is just being mean, not sly or clever or funny, and that's a big disappointment.

Still, they've got me on the hook for next week because Patton Oswalt (right) is guesting as a villian and I think that should be a good time.

But they don't have me for much longer after that unless they step it up.

So, Let's Rewind Back to Tuesday Night's Reaper

I just wasn't up to writing (or thinking) yesterday.

I liked it, I think I expected more, and it didn't quite reach a level where I thought it would, but it was good and I will check it out again.

What kind of threw me was the big confrontation with the bodybuilder fireman from hell that I thought would be larger and more action-y than it actually was. I think I was looking for something like the scene from Dogma, the Kevin Smith movie, you know, the scene in front of the church at the end.

I know, it's TV and they don't have quite that much money to work with.

Otherwise, I do think it was a good idea to sub Missy Peregrym (right) in the love interest role. I think Nikki Reed probably was just too hot to play the nice girl who's working in the building supply store with these two guys. Missy comes off as more of a girl-next-door, which is what they needed.

My question is always "Why didn't they think of that sooner?" I could have told you that Nikki Reed wasn't right for this. Not that she's not a fine performer, she scared me to death in Thirteen, I walked out of that movie thanking anyone who would listen that I didn't have a teenage daughter.

Harrison and Labine are great, and I hope they get into some more twisted adventures together. The store will be a constant source of new gear for them as well, which should be a hoot.

And who can say enough about casting Ray Wise as the devil. It just works.

More TV Time for Knights' Donal Logue

How many times do I have to say it, Donal Logue is a TV comedy star waiting to happen. The Knights of Prosperity was a great show that didn't find an audience after ABC botched the release of it. Grounded for Life, still airing on ABC Family, btw, was an unsung hero of The WB (and launched Brett Harrison, now premiering in Reaper for The CW).

The Tao of Steve is a great little indie starring Logue as well.

The new show, from red hot TV commodity producer-director Barry Sonnenfeld is called Hackett.

Nellie Andreeva at the Reporter:

Rachel Boston and Morgan Murphy also are cast in the single-camera project from Sony Pictures TV and 25C Prods., which centers on a bad-boy literary luminary (Logue) who escapes his disgraced career teaching at Yale only to find himself among the ultra-PC ranks of teachers at an Ohio public high school.

Boston will play the school's principal. Murphy will play a teacher.

This is one I will definitely be following. check back in a couple months for more on this, and check back every five minutes because I like to watch the hit count meter rise.

CW's Reaper, a First Look With Video

Ah, Reaper, the pilot I really wanted to see at Comic-Con but it started much too early for me.

Bret Harrison (The Loop, Grounded for Life) stars as a guy who on his 21st birthday finds out that his parents have sold his soul to the devil. What a bummer for your 21st, huh?

Anyhow, the devil (Ray Wise from Twin Peaks, pitch perfect here) comes to young Sam (Harrison) and lays down the law, he is now a bounty hunter for satan.

This is only about five minutes of video here, but everyone looks like they're in fine form and you can certainly feel the Kevin Smith vibe here (he directed the pilot).

Watch this clip and if you're like me, you'll be checking it out when it premieres on September 25:

And if you wanna know more about how Kevin got involved in the pilot, click here for a clip from that Comic-Con panel that I never got to.

CW's Reaper Snatches Missy Peregrym from Heroes for Female Lead

Peregrym played the shape shifting Candice Wilmer who was babysitting Micah Sanders before the end of Heroes' first season. She replaces Nikki Reed from the pilot, who you might remember as the young co-writer and co-star of the Catherine Hardwick film Thirteen (a movie that scared the living daylights outta me, I walked out of the theatre thanking my maker that I would never have to raise a 13-year-old girl in Southern California).

This show is about a guy who finds out that as he approaches his 21st birthday, his parents have sold his soul to the devil, delivery date scheduled for said birthday.

Nice parents, huh?

Brett Harrison plays the lead. He was the guy who starred in The Loop, the Fox sitcom that they are quickly burning off this Summer on Sunday nights. I watched the 7:30 episode last night and it wasn't an entirely terrible show. I particularly liked the relationship between Sam (yes, the last and current characters this guy is playing is Sam) and Phillip Baker Hall's character. It's rare that you see a lot of bonding on screen between generations anymore unless it's parents and children, and this relationship with the big boss seemed to be an interesting one.