Reaper

REAPER

The trailer for this show looked ridiculously stupid. I was put-off. Uninterested. Eye-rolly. Well, until I logged onto my computer for my daily read of Whedonesque, the most reliable Whedon site on the net. It had a link to a site that was pegging "Reaper" (a show about a kid whose parents have sold his soul to the devil) as the new 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' I was a little more than skeptical. Hell, I even chuckled. But that was really all it took, a comparison to Buffy, for me to give the show a try.

I'm glad I did. The first episode, which premiered last night on the CW at 9, was really entertaining. It has a lot of off-color humor, pop-culture references galore, awesome demons (that fire demon guy was way badass), and even one or two 'deep' moments. For a first episode, I think that's pretty damn good. All the actors--except, perhaps, the man who plays Sam's father--are competent enough, and some of them are even good. The exchanges between Sam and his best friend "Sock" are hilarious--I mean, the humor really is the backbone of the show, so far. The way Sam's introduction to his new supernatural life is handled is a little too "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" for my tastes, but I do have hope that that aspect of the show will get better.

Overall, is it the new Buffy? Not by a long shot. But is it good? Yeah. Different, but good.