The CW will probably do much better this upcoming season then last season, and will Reaper help? Its going up against the NBC series,, Chuck, (Being on NBC, Chuck will likely take audiences away from this show, which is why I hope that at some point, these shows move out of each others timeslots). Its also going up against Dancing With The Stars, House, and The Unit... ouch. But its lead-in is the successful Beauty & The Geek and Reaper seems like a good comedic pairing with that series.

And here are some reviews and "impressions" of the pilot that I found around the web:

From http://www.nku.edu/~manningj1/PilotReviews.htm. These are some of opinions from test audiences:

Reaper
1) "I was expecting some kind of Supernatural knock off when they sat us down and told us about the show but it wasn't at all. It was funny and a little bit scary (the audience jumped a couple of times and one girl screamed) and I think this will get people talking. A couple of times I sat there and got really bored, but it was worth it to see the rest and so I will definitely watch again." 2) "If this doesn't make it I'm going to be so pissed. I loved it. Every bit of it was good. It was funny and had good adventure and the quality of it came off good. I think this will do good."

From www.sepinwall.blogspot.com

"Reaper"
Who's in it: Brett Harrison, Tyler Labine, Nikki Reed and Ray Wise
What it's about: Slacker who works for a big box hardware store discovers that his parents sold his soul to the Devil before he was born, and now he has to work as a bounty hunter recovering souls who have escaped from Hell.
Pluses: Harrison is just as much fun here as an underachiver as he was as an overachiever on "The Loop." Wise is having himself a ball as Ole Scratch and Tyler Labine makes a fine sidekick. The tone is just on the right side of tongue-in-cheek, with gags like Satan giving Harrison a souped-up Dirt Devil to nab the old souls, yet there are moments that feel genuinely scary and even, on occasion, touching. (Suffice it to say, the parents feel awful about what they did.) A worthy successor to the WB/CW's tradition of wisecracking supernatural action shows. So far, this and "Chuck" have been my two favorite pilots. And speaking of which...
Minuses: As Fienberg (who's working his way through the pilots himself over at Check the Fien Print) warned me, this show is almost identical to "Chuck," save that the hero is recruited by Satan instead of the U.S. government. (Hair-splitting for some, I know.) The tones are the same, both guys have day jobs at big box stores, dorky sidekicks, disapproving siblings, etc., etc. So, naturally, both have been placed in the same timeslot, which is no good for anyone.

And another one from http://fienprint.blogspot.com/2007/05/take-me-to-pilots-07-cw.html

Show: "Reaper" (The CW dramedy)
Pitch: You know those episodes of "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" where Homer or Peter briefly took over for the Grim Reaper? How 'bout a whole series like that, only with an attractive 20-something male lead. Alternatively: "The Loop" only with less Mimi Rogers and more Satan.
Quick Response: If you liked Bret Harrison on "The Loop," you'll like him here. The premise of a Gen Y slacker suddenly having to do The Devil's dirty work seems versatile and the pilot is a breezy hoot, well-directed by Kevin Smith (words you don't usually utter), who packs the screen with deadpan details. The casting of Ray Wise as Satan is a treat. The only way Tyler Labine's gregariously lazy sidekick could be more obviously Jack Black inspired would be to have the character be the frontman of the greatest rock duo in the world and he may be trying a bit too hard. I like the casting of Nikki Reed as the lead's dreamgirl, conveying both intelligence and off-kilter charm rather than the more obvious attributes of a typical CW bimbo (rumor has it that the network may be contemplating recasting the part with a typical CW bimbo... hope not). If The CW people are smart, they'll give some thought to where they can move "Reaper." This is a show that deserves the chance to succeed, but going up against "House" and the markedly similar "Chuck" on NBC, it'll have a tough go of it.
Desire to Watch Again: Strong.


Chuck and Reaper really need to move out of each other's timeslot, the CW should be much more worried then NBC, but I bet both shows would do better if they werent airing against each other. Not only that, both shows seemed to be rather enjoyed by critics for the same reasons (as of now at least). The CW may do better if they moved Beauty & The Geek and Reaper to Sundays while Life Is Wild could air on Tuesdays, paired with a crappy reality series like Crowned or Farmer Wants A Wife.

Question:
How Many Viewers Will Tune Into Reaper?

Choices:
Less than 2 million viewers
2-3 million viewers
More than 3 million viewers

 

This is just my opinion, but if you're going to do a poll, you need to break it down more than just "more than 3 million viewers". That is a pretty wide range and most dramas on The CW fit into that category.

That being said, I do think it will premiere with more than 3 million viewers. But in the long run I see this show struggling with the stiff competition.

TVfan300, agree with you.
I Think it will premiere with 3.5-4MV. and avarage season with 3.5 million viewers. I want see this series....

quote:

Originally posted by Seth Plate:
TVfan300, agree with you.
I Think it will premiere with 3.5-4MV. and avarage season with 3.5 million viewers. I want see this series....

If the season average is 3.5 million viewers, The CW should be pleased.

I Believe in the show!!!!!!! And now Missy Pregrym aka Andi! I can´t wait for show!

quote:

Originally posted by tvfan300:

quote:

Originally posted by Seth Plate:
TVfan300, agree with you.
I Think it will premiere with 3.5-4MV. and avarage season with 3.5 million viewers. I want see this series....

If the season average is 3.5 million viewers, The CW should be pleased.

I do like Brett Harrison in the Loop, so I will check it out when House is not on! May eventually pair with Supernatural, if this takes off.

Great pilot. The CW has had an amazing development slate and I think the show will be a hit for the network. And with Chuck out of the way and Beauty & The Geek as a lead-in, the show should have a real chance of being successful.

I actually liked this pilot better than Chuck. Ray Wise as the devil is reason enough to tune into this one.

I liked the pilot. Thought it was funnier than Chuck I didn't like the show quite as much. If this show can do at least 3 million it will get renewed, and I think it will probably do 3.6-4 million, somewhere around there. I might DVR this. I thought it was funny how in the reshot scenes Bret Harrison had a mustache. Hope they fix that.

Enjoyed this show. I wish it would have been a little bit "smarter". I think you can be humorous without losing some sense of realism here (like Buffy or Angel). That being said, this will definitely be the first CW show I believe that I will be DVRing all season (unless the writing goes downhill.)

I'd say this will be a Supernatural sized hit.

quote:

Originally posted by xwiseguyx:
Enjoyed this show. I wish it would have been a little bit "smarter". I think you can be humorous without losing some sense of realism here (like Buffy or Angel). That being said, this will definitely be the first CW show I believe that I will be DVRing all season (unless the writing goes downhill.)

Perhaps - but these two shows are nothing alike. This is a dramedy and the other is pure drama.

I like the pilot, however I am not sure the show can continue in the quality with new directors. And it's going against some tough competitions next year, so that would certainly be interesting to see how it goes. Didn't Grey's Anatomy receive bad reviews for the pilot?

I'm sort of wondering where this show will go. It could definitely be a series with just stand alone episodes or I guess they could make it serialized (or at least slightly like Smallville).

I'd say it's VERY likely the episodes will for the most part stand on their own ("villain of the week," etc.) with maybe a few serial aspects in the background.

All the nets seem to be going for this idea of spiced-up procedurals, probably to shrink erosion over time and find series that repeat better. Even the high-concept Pushing Daisies is aiming in this direction. The must-tune-in-every-week nature of so many series last year was almost always a bust.