Cancelling 'Reaper' after 2 seasons is still one of the worst decisions ever made by a TV Network

Submitted by sundaynightheat99 t3_10ldus1 in television

Did anyone else watch this show? It starred Brett Harrison as a department store employee who finds out that his parents sold his soul to the Devil. When his 21st birthday arrives, the Devil (played by a wonderful Ray Wise) pays him a visit and orders him to reclaim souls that have escaped from Hell. It's a monster-of-the-week type of series, but it does have overarching storylines.

The series was created by Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, who met while working as part of the sales and merchandising team for The X-Files. Afterward, they began researching the Antichrist with the intention of pitching ideas to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Their ideas didn't make it onto Buffy, but they eventually formed into Reaper.

It also marked an early role for Tyler Labine, who played a character named Sock. He's the comic relief slacker who always had the main character's back, but he's given some funny individual storylines, including one where he falls in love with his half-sister.

I'd recommend Reaper to everyone who likes horror shows, but it's lighthearted. It's like the TV show Brimstone by way of Kevin Smith, with a dash of young millennial angst. At its core, it's a story about a young twentysomething finding his way in life, and the demon hunting is merely part of his personal growth.

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Uranus_Hz t1_j5w91qq wrote

It was a great show that was a victim of the writer’s strike. Just like Pushing Daisies.

Tyler Labine and Missy Peregrym were fantastic in it too.

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muad_dibs t1_j5we4fc wrote

The Writer’s Strike led to the cancellation of whole swaths of good shows.

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iamdew802 t1_j5ww8i9 wrote

Heroes didn’t die immediately but it probably should have 😭

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muad_dibs t1_j5wwc6m wrote

That girl is still stuck in that alternate future. I’ll never forget.

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iamdew802 t1_j5wwk1o wrote

Omg the paper crane girl? I saw her in something recently that caused me to have a flashback of so many Heroes related memories ha. I still laugh thinking about the Nissan Versa 😂

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grayscalemamba t1_j5wzqlc wrote

I think they meant the Irish woman that Peter travelled to future post-apocalypse New York with.

If you mean Charlie, she went to the past and lived out a happy life. Hiro meets her as an old lady in hospital.

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Grantagonist t1_j5xdj13 wrote

He went back and changed her fate? Oof. (I didn't watch past mid-S3.)

It was hilarious how one of Hiro's big lessons in season 1 was learning that he can't change the past... and then S2 starts with a core story about him going back to change the past. (Something like that.)

It's honestly a miracle fluke that the first season was somehow good.

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iamdew802 t1_j5x0baw wrote

Oh wrong direction in time, thanks for the correction

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leftai2000 t1_j5xgmab wrote

Yeah, they cancelled Las Vegas, leaving us with a cliffhanger in the last episode, dammit!

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bros402 t1_j5wufly wrote

the writers strike killed so many good shows

I support the right of a union, but holy shit that strike fucked up so much stuff

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thrice_palms t1_j5ww1q2 wrote

The only good thing that came out of the writers strike was Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.

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Drakengard t1_j5wmuew wrote

It even hurt a show like Lost which was in it's 2nd season. Nothing really got away unscathed by that.

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elvers t1_j5wpkdy wrote

*3rd & 4th seasons were the ones affected, just to let ya know

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lewlkewl t1_j5wv5tb wrote

It basically tanked Heroes.

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BranWafr t1_j5wy8hm wrote

Yes and no. What really tanked Heroes was the network deciding that they liked the season 1 characters so much that they made them change it from an anthology show that was going to have different characters each season to just bringing back everyone from the first season. Sylar was a great one season villain. Trying to turn a psycho murder into a sympathetic anti-hero was just a bad idea all around. The show still would have tanked, even without the writer strike. It probably just would have taken a bit longer.

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nethtari t1_j5yz08f wrote

Season 2 of Friday Night Lights got really fucked up by the strike...

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BattleHall t1_j5wuw32 wrote

> Just like Pushing Daisies

To be fair, Bryan Fuller TV shows are like Buddhist sand mandalas; beautiful, but you know they're not long for this world.

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mun_man93 t1_j5xb6vv wrote

Life staring Damien Lewis was another one. Big shame because the episode of the week with an overarching story being sprinkled in each episode is such fun tv.

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CannedApples13 t1_j5xm1ar wrote

PD had a good first season but then it fell flat.

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bros402 t1_j5zf5k9 wrote

I mean they weren't able to produce the remaining ~14 episodes they wanted that season

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calguy1955 t1_j5z0ct0 wrote

I fell in love with Missy Peregrym on this show.

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DeeBased t1_j5z684c wrote

She's so beautiful in it. Zach Levy married her for about 5 minutes, and then they got divorced. He's pretty religious, and I'm sure divorce is against his beliefs, so it must have been serious. However, I respect both of them a lot for keeping the details private.

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blammmmo t1_j5wis82 wrote

Ray Wise's Devil is absolute perfection.

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Cornualonga t1_j5wp320 wrote

Don’t forget Ken Marino and Michael Ian Black as demons

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Look_to_the_Stars t1_j5xq8x6 wrote

Don’t forget Armie Hammer as the Devil’s other son.

Or do. Probably fell into the role a little too easy

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iamHBY t1_j5wsdbi wrote

Facts, he was fantastic as the Devil.

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tripel7 t1_j5y0e3c wrote

Ray Wise could read an phonebook and it would be amazing

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Grantagonist t1_j5wqv7a wrote

Wanna know how it was supposed to end? Fazekas spilled the beans in this interview!

> As for Sam and the question of who his father really was, this one’s a doozy: “If you remember, Dad wasn’t dead. And there was a whole reason why he wasn’t dead. Basically, the whole premise that never actually had the chance to come out was the idea that Dad was a demon, who made a deal with the Devil. He fell in love with Sam’s mom and wanted to marry her. So the deal was, fine, you’re not a demon anymore. He was never fully human, either, which is why you can’t kill him. So, in the pilot, when he said he was really sick and made a deal with the Devil, he wasn’t 100% lying nor 100% telling the truth. And this is the reason why Sam is special: Sam is part human, part demon.” > > Boom. > > “Sam was led to believe he was the Devil’s son, but that wasn’t true. That’s not the reason Sam had powers — the powers came from his father. His father was really his father. And part of his deal was that he was never really allowed to tell Sam the truth, and that’s the reason why he says to him ‘there’s more to this than I can tell you.’ And part of what we tried to get out of all of this was that Sam really is special. That’s the reason why, at the end of the last season, Steve comes to him and says Sam is caught between good and evil. What we hoped to get out of the third season was what part did Sam have to play? Sam’s whole existence, and the reason the Devil was paying so much attention to him and hanging out with him so much was because there was a reason: Sam was half-human and half-demon, and the Devil was really worried that this kid was going to be his downfall. If you look at what the Devil is doing throughout the series, he’s trying to tempt Sam to be bad. And he’s trying to tempt him to embrace this, that what you’re doing isn’t so bad. The whole point was that if he can turn Sam bad, the Sam isn’t a threat anymore.”

There's a little more besides in the interview, definitely worth a read.

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Vincent_adultman98 t1_j5x8agj wrote

I came here to post this, I love that the creators did this interview for the fans.

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Stinkycheese8001 t1_j5xft3d wrote

I always wished that the ending was just going to be the devil getting to the end and saying something along the lines of “you can’t sell someone else’s soul, I was bullshitting you the whole time” which would have been super on brand.

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Uranus_Hz t1_j5xd1kf wrote

Never heard this before. That’s a good story.

What a shame.

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safe-word t1_j5w9mwp wrote

Bret Harrison had a couple of good shows that didn't seem to last. I thought he was perfectly capable of carrying a show. It's a shame he didn't become a bigger star.

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KDN1692 t1_j5xqgvy wrote

All his shows struggled and he was honestly a good leading man in this type of shows. I remember him from Grounded For Life. This guy was just on a lot of shows that simply never totally got out of the ground. Just 1 - 2 seasons. Granted I only remember breaking in cause the main girl love interest in the show was super hot. The Loop and Reaper were good.

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Riddlz10 t1_j5yhxr3 wrote

Him and Missy Peregrym, wish she was a bigger star too! i loved that show

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Jagermonsta t1_j5w9ipx wrote

Reaper was awesome. Right there at the same time as Chuck and the also cancelled too soon Pushing Daisies.

Also love your shout out to Brimstone.

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Kiethblacklion t1_j5x73kf wrote

I enjoyed Reaper. I thought it was an interesting concept and loved how Sock took more enjoyment from soul catching than the main character. And his flirting with the DMV lady was great.

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Odin043 t1_j5xwvu3 wrote

Lol thank you for reminding me of the dmv lady

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RealCoolDad t1_j5ygfaa wrote

Tyler is so great, I’m glad he’s in tucker and dale. He needs to be in more stuff.

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thep_addydavis t1_j5yjw5q wrote

He had a “long-ish” running show on Hulu. 4 seasons or so.

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roox911 t1_j5x0rsc wrote

Loved Tyler Labine ever since the breaker high days.

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Decipher t1_j5x6diy wrote

Nah nah nanana hey hey.. carry me away!

Also early Ryan Gosling in that show. The two were a great duo.

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Daide t1_j60i8l3 wrote

Still waiting for a reunion between the two in a project.

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Gh0sts1ght t1_j5x5jx6 wrote

Tyler Labine is so underrated and that show was amazing

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Orcus424 t1_j5wceei wrote

Here is a Reaper promo for those who haven't seen it or seen it lately. It does spoil the whole first episode though. It's too bad it didn't survive. The show was fun from what I remember.

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Amarice t1_j5wtuw8 wrote

Loved this silly show. Ray Wise is, to me, the best Devil. (Shout out to Tom Ellis, but not the same character!)

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ClaymoresRevenge t1_j5xjc0m wrote

I would love to see them interact at the devil. Very different in how they play it

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robochoco t1_j5xx6d2 wrote

Similar story with Better Off Ted. Way before it's time; it'd be a staple now with everyone realizing we're trapped in this surreal late-stage capitalism reality

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goldblum_in_a_tux t1_j60pkj2 wrote

preach! i rewatch both of those shows almost annually. such a bummer they both didnt make it past second seasons.

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-kilgoretrout- t1_j5wmtz8 wrote

This was one of the few shows I’ve ever talked my parents into watching and it became one of my dad’s favorites. Ray Wise as the devil and the dmv as a portal to hell, just fantastic. He still mentions it sometimes.

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LesNeesman t1_j5x4wd0 wrote

I chose my username because of Reaper. Haven't heard anyone mention it in years lmao

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Cheese_booger t1_j5wotdu wrote

I was just thinking about Reaper last night!

I was trying to find a show to watch and Deadbeat popped up. It’s an early Hulu show with Tyler Labine playing a slacker medium. Felt like a Sock spinoff, but I couldnt get into it.

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LiveFromNewYork95 t1_j5x193m wrote

Remember flipping through network TV and actually discovering shows? This was one of those shows for me, about halfway through season 1, flipping through when nothing was on, it looked interesting so I watched the rest of the episode. No trailer, no "this is a match because you watched ______", and this was at a time when shows (especially network shows) weren't always available next day so I just finished season one trying to piece together what I missed in the previous episodes. I miss how simple it was.

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Heikks t1_j5yew5u wrote

I remember when my wife and I were dating around 2006-07 she got the fall preview entertainment weekly and went though it and wrote out a schedule of all the shows we’d watch live and then a list of the ones I should record on vhs for us to watch later

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Chemistryset8 t1_j5x6yx0 wrote

I'm an Aussie so we only saw shows like reaper thanks to Usenet. Friends trading HDs got it on my radar, loved it.

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CannedApples13 t1_j5xlzrw wrote

I miss wonderfalls.

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txsaluki t1_j5y8x09 wrote

I thought I was the only person alive who knew about that show. It was amazzzzzzzzing

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cabose7 t1_j5x2irm wrote

Back when someone actually wanted Kevin Smith to direct their pilot

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dedanschubs t1_j5xqhhl wrote

He spoke about this recently too, the creators didn't like him/his directing but needed some reshoots on the pilot, so they asked his agent, assuming he'd say no as there was some bad blood (DGA rules mean you can't reshoot a directors work without their permission), but he just said yes and came back, much to their chagrin.

Also Tara Butters is married to Marc Guggenheim, and Kevin suspects that may be the reason he was never asked to direct an episode of Arrow (even though he loves the character and wrote comics for it), but did get to direct 3 episodes of Flash and 4 episodes of Supergirl.

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DeeBased t1_j5z5k0g wrote

Very interesting, thanks for the trivia.

Kevin Smith has more "I did nothing wrong and have no idea why _____ is made at me" stories than William Shatner does.

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OathOfFeanor t1_j5wcdif wrote

Loved this show!

I think of it as the comedic TV version of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

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BattleHall t1_j5wuk2d wrote

I have to admit, I watched nearly a full season of New Amsterdam before realizing "Holy Shit! Iggy is Sock/Dale!".

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Colburr t1_j5x8eke wrote

Used to watch this show for on Hulu when it was FREE

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Westeros t1_j5xbugm wrote

Such a FANTASTIC show; perfect mix of story and humor with the supernatural backing.

Probably could have had the success that Supernatural did if they kept chugging along

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human6742 t1_j5xfdq4 wrote

Yes I remember this being one of those “way better than you thought it would be” shows!

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shadowlarx t1_j5xjd3a wrote

Bret Harrison just could not make a show work for him. I know of at least three lead roles he had in TV shows that didn’t last beyond two seasons: The Loop, Reaper and Breaking In. They were all decent shows that had solid potential. But they all suffered from the same problem: Bret Harrison.

Bret is a good actor. He’s had a number of great performances as supporting characters. But he’s always paired with more charismatic actors. In The Loop, he was acting alongside Eric Christian Olsen. In Reaper, he had to act alongside veteran actor Ray Wise. In Breaking In, most of the scenes he was in got stolen by the incredible Christian Slater.

I like Bret Harrison but he’s just not leading man material.

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DeeBased t1_j5z4xju wrote

I still love to rewatch this show, but agree with you 100%. i've seen Bret in other things where his acting was okay. In Reaper he has to react to unforeseen circumstances all the time, and he chooses to wear this slightly annoyed, open-mouthed, confused look every time. It just doesn't work and doesn't make him any more likeable. I think another more charismatic actor like Zachary Levi would've killed in this role.

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shadowlarx t1_j5z5byu wrote

Levi would have been great. Unfortunately, he was busy doing Chuck at the time. As much as I would have enjoyed him in Reaper, I would much rather have the thrilling exploits of Chuck Bartowski.

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BerserkerRed t1_j5xm2wv wrote

Kevin Smith was also involved. Directed the pilot and executive produced.

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CritikillNick t1_j5ygact wrote

Reaper was one of the first shows I ever found as a teenager like fifteen years ago randomly browsing that I instantly clicked with. Was so disappointed the show never got to conclude

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bengcord3 t1_j5ylu37 wrote

Ray Wise is simply brilliant as the Devil. This show was the tits

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bros402 t1_j5wu8e7 wrote

Reaper was so good

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tyrannicalblade t1_j5wxnd3 wrote

Absolutely loved reaper, another one that was pretty good horror tv show and it was cancelled because of fox entertaiment being sold, The exorcist. 2 great seasons in my opinion.

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Not_Sure11 t1_j5x6dmm wrote

A blast from the past! It was a fun and entertaining watch with a great cast

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MentallyMusing t1_j5x8d7z wrote

That show was great! I'd forgotten all about it, thank for the reminder!!

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edgeplot t1_j5xd655 wrote

It was great, especially Ray Wise. I was so bummed when it was cancelled.

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leftai2000 t1_j5xgu0s wrote

It was a fun show, that managed throughout its two seasons, with interesting plot lines being developed and explored regularly. I was sad when I heard it was cancelled.

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AnonismsPlight t1_j5xmdat wrote

I adore this show. I think about the alcoholics anonymous episode a LOT because of both how funny and tragic it is.

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Silver6Rules t1_j5xnw0x wrote

I miss this show so freaking much. Sock had me hollering on occasion. Bret Harrison and Ray Wise were perfect. I hate they canceled this because this was really one of my faves. Such a shame.

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SardonicSorcerer t1_j5yck3m wrote

Bret Harrison had several pushes from network TV but just never hit. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who watched The Loop, Reaper, and Breaking In in their entireties. The Loop was the only one that was really bad. They threw a lot of talent at Breaking In- Christian Slater, Megan Mullally, Michael Rosenbaum, Ali Wong, Allyssa Milano, Samm Levine and Mike Tyson were all on the show.

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Precarious314159 t1_j5yd5i5 wrote

The creators of the show went on to make another show called "Kevin (Probably) Saves the World" that's similiar to Reaper but features Jason Ritter tasked with helping people with directions from angels. In one episode, Kevin has to get a Chuck E Cheese-style animatronic for someone and meets up with Sock and Sam who're hiding out from the Devil.

Shame that the creators of the show can never land a series. Everything they do gets one or two seasons then cancelled with cliffhangers.

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monchota t1_j5yi8lu wrote

The writers strike killed a lot of good shows at the time, we then got tons of reality TV. I really hope we avoid another one.

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gcbofficial t1_j5ykbu2 wrote

Almoat as bad as Raised By Wolves😢

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dadindc84 t1_j5wxx6h wrote

>Cancelling 'Reaper' after 2 seasons is still one of the worst decisions ever made by a TV Network

Not for the CW network. The show got really low ratings. It ranked 192nd out of 200 shows the first year and 169th out of 190 shows in year two. I suspect they renewed it for a second season, hoping that it would catch on but the ratings didn't get much better. Reaper wasn't owned by CBS or Warner Bros (the owners of CW) so the network had no financial stake in the series. This was before streaming and there was no monetization of delayed viewing. I enjoyed the show but liked the second season less than the first.

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jimbobdonut t1_j5xasu1 wrote

Now that the CW isn’t majority owned by CBS and Warner anymore, we’ll see if they pick shows from outside studios next season.

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dadindc84 t1_j5xhnkb wrote

Their goal is to get the best ratings they can with inexpensive programming. I suspect we'll get more low-budget acquired dramas and cheap unscripted shows.

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RebootJobs t1_j5wzxdx wrote

Been looking to stream this forever! Where is it streaming rn? Never saw it, but sounds hilarious.

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sixtus_clegane119 t1_j5x88hx wrote

I need to watch this show, as you can tell by my flair

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last-matadon t1_j5y3hem wrote

i watched this every day when i was in school. i didnt understand why they just stopped one day lol

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Fuzakenaideyo t1_j5y6504 wrote

Oh yeah i use to love that show, & i think about it from time to time, it introduced Typhoid Mary to a much younger me

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AlternativeHistorian t1_j5ya4p4 wrote

I really liked this show.

Another great show that had a very similar vibe and was on a couple years later is Todd and the Book of Pure Evil. Unfortunately, its run was also cut a bit short with only 2 seasons. But it's great and absolutely worth a watch if you liked Reaper.

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lazymutant256 t1_j5ydjl2 wrote

It's kinda obvious why it git canceled. It wasn't getting.g the ratings the channel wanted.. it don't matter how good the show was. If it's not getting g the views they expect it's gonna get canceled.

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armchairwarrior69 t1_j5yhlli wrote

Great show, I've loved showing it to people and having them go "only 2 seasons???"

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ArchDucky t1_j5ykqf0 wrote

Reaper was the shit.

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Jasonotg0 t1_j5ynbmw wrote

I still can't listen to Radar Love without thinking of this show.

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BadDub t1_j5ypvew wrote

Loved this show

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Healyhatman t1_j5yqdb0 wrote

I'm still upset about that cancellation

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riedmae t1_j5yvity wrote

Was a great show

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22LT t1_j5yx2hf wrote

The Actor that played Sock I always just think of the movie "Anti Trust" that he was in.

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Few_Faithlessness_49 t1_j5yyuhc wrote

I love almost everything Tyler Labine is in. Been watching the dude since Breaker High but I think he may be cursed. I just know that if he's in a show it will probably never have an ending because his stuff gets cancelled after a season or two. So strange because he's so fun to watch.

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bros402 t1_j5zfw10 wrote

He was in New Amsterdam

his character was probably the worst

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Cardboard_Chef t1_j5yz7c3 wrote

Laughs in WGN's "Outsiders". You don't know real frustration yet.

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Ennion t1_j5z1n9e wrote

I've not even heard about this show.

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Mafste t1_j5z3u1c wrote

Loved Reaper :)

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Eswyft t1_j5zpgsk wrote

He worked at home depot but with the name removed, not a department store.

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snowlock27 t1_j60uhus wrote

The promos always made me think of the show G vs E that aired on USA.

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LaxSagacity t1_j61h6tn wrote

It took them a few episodes to move away from mainly being about the monster of the week. I wonder how many viewers it lost during that period because once it got past those few episodes is when it began to shine.

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Greenlettertam t1_j62ppzd wrote

Reaper was an excellent show. Tyler Labine was fantastic, as always. He seems to have terrible luck with choosing lasting vehicles. Deadbeat was great, cancelled. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, cancelled, so disappointing.

Off the subject, but if liked Reaper. What do you think of Todd and the Book of Pure Evil?

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ShadowMadness t1_j5wxzbo wrote

Thought this said "Reacher," for a moment and was wondering when they announced that. Was bummed

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RedditRuleViolator t1_j5yl2ox wrote

Firing Justin Roiland is the worst decision ever.

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mrshatnertoyou t1_j5w8o1a wrote

I read this as Reacher and was getting disappointed, don't know this show.

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AzzyIzzy t1_j5whmb5 wrote

It was ok at best. Cool seyup, but never turned inyo anything memorable by the end of its first season. I saw another comment mention the writer's strike being a big reason for its lack of flourish and death and i can see that. But there was and is nothing that it had offered tgat makes me think "hry it should come back".

But to its credit there is alot of stuff that still gets released at this point in time that is even less memorable.

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Owasso_Landman t1_j5w710c wrote

I’m sure they sleep fine knowing a show that nobody watched, didn’t burn more cash, and got cancelled.

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