Reaper is a very good televison series. The show is well-acted, consistently amusing, and extremely well-written. Reaper debuted last year on The CW Network and quickly established itself as one of the best series on television. The show was highlighted by Ray Wise’s wonderful, scene-stealing turn as The Devil. Wise plays the Devil with just the right amount of gleeful smarmy and a touch of the menace necessary to the character, but mostly, he’s just hilarious. The whole cast is extremely good and the show actually improved after it returned post-writers strike. It was one of the rare shows to do so last season.
Reaper is about a slacker named Sam (affable Bret Harrison) who works at a Home Depot type store with his best friends Sock (hilarious Tyler Labine) and Ben. He also works with Andi (extremely adorable and likable Missy Peregrym) who is friend, and just maybe something more. Sam learns on his 21st birthday that his parents sold his soul to the Devil and now he must become a bounty hunter and send escaped souls back to Hell. Each week he receives a new vessel to trap the souls, then he takes them to the portal to Hell (The DMV) to return the escaped souls back to Hell. Later on in the season the series got even funnier when the guys moved into each other next to a gay couple (hysterical Michael Ian Black and Ken Marino) who have a secret of their own that connects them to Hell.
Reaper looks and sounds excellent. Shot in widescreen, the DVDs are crisp and clear. The 5 DVD set contains all 18 episodes that made up season one of the series. The extras are a tad weak. You get one audio commentary, a short gag reel, and some deleted scenes, but the series is the real star of the set. The brick packaging for the DVD set is cool, as his the holographic plastic cover over it.
Reaper is one of the best shows on TV. It’s funny, entertaining, and makes for a terrific hour of television each and every week. After a great pilot, the show took some time to develop a consistent rhythm, but soon into its run, it was clear the show was destined to become a classic. Reaper was renewed by The CW and season 2 should be airing very shortly. This DVD set is well worth your time and money.
Grade: A-
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Nov 9, 2008 -
Excellent! I love this show, and I’ve really been looking forward to the DVDs as a way of tiding myself over until the next season gets started. Glad to hear the set is worth the cash!
(And thanks for giving the show an awesome review while you were at it!)
Ccfmds
Nov 10, 2008 -
Thanks for the compliment, I’m glad you liked my review. Reaper is selling for around 30 bucks and for that price, its well worth it.
Cricket
Nov 10, 2008 -
I have to check out this show. Sounds funny and interesting. I’m lagging on tv shows.
Bill
Nov 19, 2008 -
Best show on TV in years. Can’t wait for the second season. Everyone give it a try. We need to keep it on he air!
John Spartan
Nov 20, 2008 -
My little brother and sister watches this. I would sometimes check it out to see why they’re interested in it, but from what I saw, the young cast kind of got on my nerves.
I guess I’ll have to give it a chance.