Reaper
How dead is Reaper? Although star Bret Harrison tells us a comic book about the canceled CW series is in the works, that's the only way the hellish adventures of Sam and Sock are likely to continue anytime soon. Tyler Labine, who played Sock to Harrison's Sam, says syndication speculation is groundless: "I think it's not officially, officially dead but as far as everyone is concerned, it's over," he says. Of course, the two would happily reunite for a movie. "Yeah, the R-rated version of Reaper," Harrison says. "There's a lot of things you do on set before you shoot the actual taping that would be a lot of fun." To mark the second and final season's recent release on DVD, the pair also talked about why they wish the show had gone to hell.
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Hugh Laurie (House), Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU) and Bret Harrison (Reaper)
Every week, senior editors Matt Webb Mitovich, Mickey O'Connor and Tim Molloy satisfy your need for TV scoop. Please send all questions to mega_scoop@tvguide.com.
I have to wonder if the psych hospital in the House finale was also a hallucination. It was pretty strange how the street and parking lots were empty. And it looked like he was going to one of those hospitals from the 1940s. — RSmith
MATT: How Vanilla Sky! But nope, sources assure me that House's rehab stint is the real deal. And that hospital's more retro than you think. Greystone Park State Hospital (in Morristown, N.J.) made its debut in 1876 as the not-so-subtly named New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum. The hospital has tended to such patients as singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie, and until the Pentagon was built, it boasted the largest foundation (674,000 sq. feet) of any structure in the U.S. I'd try to book a TVGuide.com Q&A with the building, but fear I'd be stonewalled.
Now that Reiko Aylesworth has been dropped from ABC's The Forgotten, could SVU bring back her ADA character, Erica Alden, from Season 1? —Walt
MICKEY: It's an interesting idea, but a very well-informed source tells me that Aylesworth will ...
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Question: First, I totally agree with you on Pushing Daisies. The show is an absolute delight, and I love all the little side excursions, like the backstory on the Civil War hero ancestor of the sword owner. While it's completely different, I am reminded a bit of Arrested Development, in that the show isn't afraid to take really wild chances while keeping everything in character and staying respectful of its premise. Now a question on Reaper: I'm enjoying the show, but if Sam continues to be such a slacker and show so little initiative in his life, doesn't he risk becoming really unlikable? I know the show is slowly nudging him forward, but maybe it needs to be a little faster. Of course, he is saddled (humorously) with perhaps the worst TV parents ever!
Answer: Once again, can we just cheer the full-season pickup of Pushing Daisies? If Moonlight is improving by the week, I'm becoming incrementally less enchanted by Reaper by the week. Sam is a big part of the problem (through no fault
...
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Oh, Reaper, my belly so aches from laughter, and it's all your fault. There were a ton of priceless moments in this episode, which I think promise good things for the future of this series. When I first found out about this show, it was easy to fall into a disbelieving mindframe, wondering how any network was going to pull off a show about a guy who finds out his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born. I wondered what kind of footprint the CW was going to make with this kind of wacky premise, and now I know. A huge, hilarious one.Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison) and his best pal Bert "Sock" Wysocki (Tyler Labine) are lackey salesmen at The Work Bench, a Home Depot-like hardware store where they work under an Office Space-worthy rule-monger manager and are are graced by the presence of Sam's crush Andi (Missy Peregrym) and their pal Ben (Rick Gonzalez). After a bizarre workday in which Sam learns he has (a sad excuse for) telekinesis, plays hero by saving Andi's life and is ...
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Ray Wise and Bret Harrison in Reaper by Michael Courtney/The CW
It took a year, but the CW (the network cobbled together from the ashes of the WB and UPN) is finally starting to look like a real network, albeit one aggressively and obsessively focused on the 18-34 youth market. Which no doubt is causing more than a few existential crises among those longtime vets of the TCA press tour who said goodbye to that demo a while ago.Dawn Ostroff, the network’s relentlessly perky entertainment president, took a “no regrets” approach to her upbeat presentation Friday morning. She’s serious about tapping into trends with her programming and with various online/digital offshoots (especially where the new teen soap Gossip Girl is concerned), but otherwise, there’s something kind of refreshing about a network that doesn’t take itself too seriously.There was loud laughter in the room during clips of the CW’s various lightweight reality shows, including a first look at the new twist on guilty-pleasure fave Beauty and the Geek...
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Ray Wise and Bret Harrison in Reaper by Michael Courtney/The CW
A few thoughts after sitting through an L.A. satellite feed of CW’s Upfront presentation on Thursday, which was more impressive (the Pussycat Dolls performance aside) than I expected.The Reaper looks much funnier than I expected. Should have guessed given that the appealing lead, Bret Harrison as a schmo who learns his parents sold his soul to the devil, is best known for sitcom work (Grounded for Life, That ’70s Show, The Loop). Ray Wise is a scream as his demanding new boss, aka Lucifer. Only drawback: Reaper’s time-slot competition includes another largely comedic series about a reluctant nerdish hero, NBC’s Chuck. Is there room for two?Also getting a good response: Aliens in America, with its Muslim exchange student fish-out-of-water befriending his classmate/host, a nerdy social pariah. This looks perfectly suited as a companion piece to the similarly sardonic Everybody Hates Chris.Gossip Girl may well become a brand-appropriate hit, but I’m personally ...
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The LoopWow, considering last night’s main plot point, I’m gonna have a little trouble keeping this thing PG-rated. What’s that you say? You missed the episode? Well, suffice it to say it involved Sam suffering a groin injury and a treatment method that prompted Lizzy to ask, “You want riverboat-style or regular?” That’s the line, folks. I ain’t crossing it. Besides this little bit of naughtiness at the hands — ha! — of the smokin’-hot Sarah Mason, last night’s ep was so-so, mostly because the show seems to be repeating itself. Sure, all TV shows have a formula to which they adhere pretty consistently, but the whole “Sam screws up big, then saves the day completely unintentionally” thing has officially become old. This is goofball comedy, people! Must it be this predi
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The LoopIf I ran TV — and I eventually will, so treat me nice — I'd always air the second episode the night after the premiere, just like Fox did with this little gem. You can't go wrong! The folks who liked it in the first place get an immediate second helping, the fence-sitters don't have to wait a week to get a second look, and the naysayers... eh, who needs 'em. Me, I was happy to jump back into The Loop, and not just because I'm totally crushing on Darcy the overqualified assistant. I hear ya, sister. (Note to boss: Don't fire me.)
More importantly, last night's episode brought the funny in a big way. The "Jack" ads cracked me up, Philip Baker Hall's prom-queen metaphor was priceless, but the Joke of the Night award definitely went to foxy
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The LoopThis show made me think. Really. It made me think that if I hadn't moved in with my buddies Dave and Jeremy right after college, I too might have ended up sharing a sweet, spacious apartment with two buxom lasses who parade around in little tank tops and are prone to fits of giggles. And that perhaps I overvalue Dave's and Jeremy's friendship.
But enough about my problems — we're here to talk about The Loop, Fox's latest foray into the magical land of Quirk. Come, come, friends! Into the Quirk! I'm happy to say that last night's premiere exceeded my expectations — though, to be honest, they weren't sky-high (did you see The War at Home? Yeah.). But The Loop has plenty going for it: It's genuinely funny (a scarce commodity these days), employs
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