Review: Reaper

Reaper, with its cock-eyed premise that a slacker's soul had been sold to the devil, had the potential to be broad, silly, and slight. But the show's creators pushed the tone as far toward the dark as they could while still keeping an essentially sitcom formula, adding enough heft to the show that Reaper works unexpectedly well.

Interestingly enough, the addition of Reaper to the schedule means that The CW now has two shows about guys tracking down evil beings who have escaped from hell (the other being Supernatural). Now consider that a good chunk of Smallville's season 6 was devoted to tracking down evil beings that escaped from the Kryptonian Phantom Zone and you have to wonder: Just what is it about The CW and the gates of hell? Are the network suits there just fascinated by the dark side of the supernatural? Maybe they're just homesick. (Kidding, kidding.)