Reap Me, Bret

The CW network's new show Reaper stars Bret Harrison so I really wanted to like it. I thought Bret's previous show, The Loop, was hilarious and him adorable so I was interested in checking out anything else that put him in front of the camera. If I had my choice about it, I would have been happier with just a continuous Loop, but I tried to approach the new show with an open mind.

On Reaper, Bret's character Sam finds out that as of his 21st birthday, his soul belongs to Satan because his parents had sold it before he was born. (Note: The 25 year old Bret's believability playing below age may have passed.) The Devil forces Sam to be a hunter of escaped souls that must be returned to Hell. It was intriguing concept but the first episode I saw (#4) didn't keep my interest for long. Maybe it was the swarm of bugs that were killing people that turned me away.

Well, for Bret's sake I decided to give the show a second chance and I'm glad I did. The show has a lot going for it. It really is very funny. The humor has a lot of witty one-liners like the kind that made me first like the show Chuck, which by the way I think has gone down hill. Maybe in some sci-fi/supernatural way the writers' Muse hightailed it from the Chuck set over to Reaper. Bottom line is that Reaper is an entertaining hour that doesn't overtax the mind but provides a lot of guilt-free chuckles.

Like Chuck's Zachary Levi, Bret is a cute guy is a funny way. Not necessarily leading man material but rather the kind of guy you would want to straddle you while playing Twister or to pantomime "Snakes on a Plane" as your partner in naked charades. After I first saw him in The Loop I started tivoing Brett's earlier show Grounded For Life. The episode where Bret's character strutted his dancing moves to his favorite song Bust A Move was a precious keepsaver.