My TV friends are dying. best year for devil tv

Last updated on January 3, 2023

Lonely people need good TV

Okay, it’s my favorite TV shows, but no, I’m not exaggerating. I look forward to certain shows all day or all week. And then I get a little nerdy, and run over to TWOP (Television Without Pity) or Primetimer to see what those guys have to say about it. (Diff shows draw different commenters. Some are smarter than others. You have been warned.)

Life on Mars is dead and buried. Prison Break has been pronounced dead by Fox for 3 months now, with just a few shows left, moved to the always dead Friday. I’ll write about them later. But Reaper, the rare comedy-drama that works both ways, and is totally, always compelling has just recently been pronounced off life support by Hollywood Reporter. I think it’s a premature burial, and still very much alive. Let’s work to save the one that still has a chance first, shall we? (Full disclosure: before I became this cartoonist person, I worked in the studios for a few years, and so I think behind the scenes as much as in front of the screen.)

If you liked The Screwtape Letters, (yes, the same C. S. Lewis who wrote the Narnia books, which are much better books than movies) you’ll love Reaper. Basically, it’s letters from Uncle Screwtape, a demon, to his demon nephew, on how to do it better: that is, how to tempt man and womankind, and what evil is, and how to make it.

I don’t know if the extremely clever writers of Reaper actually read this book, but I saw that Ray Wise, the only actor in Reaper I was familiar with, reads a lot and saw a lot of films with a devil to design his portrayal. And boy, does he knock it out of the park. He is the perfect devil.  And Sam is his perfect victim. It will make slackers squirm, for sure. :)

The series begins with Sam, a loafer who works at a Home Depot type place because “college made him sleepy” waking up on his 21st birthday, ready for a normal day, at his boring job. Then he meets Ray Wise, the devil. Turns out Sam’s biological father, an attractive appealing advertising exec, promised Sam’s soul to the devil when he turned 21, in exchange for keeping his mother alive during some illness. (I think, the deal isn’t quite clear yet.)

Sam has 2 jobs now: his job at The Bench, and his work for the devil: to find souls who have escaped from hell and to bring them back (to hell). Sam let’s Sock and Ben, co-workers at The Bench, in on his secret, and they help him out in the chase of the escaped souls.

One of the most beautiful things in this show is that even with the setup of a different soul (scary bad people of all types) to get every week, EACH EPISODE IS ALMOST TOTALLY SURPRISING! This is just not a predictable show. How rare is that! And thank God!

Other things I love about Reaper:

• The casting is impeccable. Give the Casting Director an Emmy!!! Sam, Sock, especially Ben,  Andi, of course the Devil, and even the supporting characters, like Ted, the funniest boss ever, Gladys at the DMV (because souls have to be handed back at hell on earth: the DMV. Hee!), Nina, who I’m very sorry to read is leaving – bad choice, Sam’s parents, and even Morgan. I also especially liked Andi’s ex, Greg – bring him back, brilliant!
• I don’t have a crush on anyone in particular. It’s a fabric. I just like the whole world. It all works.
• Locations. I know it’s filmed in Canada, and I’m a union person – hate runaway production. But they make it very interesting. I like it when they go to various outdoor lakes, forests, houses, that are NOT LA. And I have to add that since I’ve been watching this, I’ve had to go to the DMV twice, and I didn’t mind!! And to Home Depot. They weren’t as bad as usual.
• In the first season, Sock, Sam’s even slackier friend, has an affair with Gladys (who happens to be a demon). A twenty-something guy and 50-something woman get it on. On the CW.
  Is this not scream-worthy? In a good way? The brilliant part is they made it work. Sock was sexier in that scene than when he did his half-sister. (oops, hope I didn’t spoil anything.)
• You might imagine that as a cartoonist I laugh a lot. Unfortunately for me, that is not the case. Yes, I often laugh at my own cartoons – at least the first few times – but I don’t think a lot of other people are as funny as they think they are. TV hardly ever is. But I usually laugh a lot, and loudly, at this show. And the writing is so tight that I can watch it again, several times, and find even more cleverness in it.
• It’s not just funny. Remember how I said it was like The Screwtape Letters? There are a lot of interesting iffy situations with good and bad, and choices. Is Sam really Satan’s son? Ray Wise constantly tempts him and goads him. But Sam, Sock and Ben – particularly Sock – aren’t perfect either. Will they go to hell, too? And what was so bad about the latest soul, a young man who was a virgin, and coveted a woman? He went to hell for that! That wasn’t fair!
  The Devil pointed up to the sky and said “His rules, not mine.” Still not fair!@

Well, I don’t want to go all fanwanking on you. Let’s just agree that this show deserves to live, and move on, shall we? TWOP has a small forum. There’s a bigger forum here, ReaperDMV. Here’s the CW’s Reaper Lounge.  And The Reaper Site.

And just to prove my love, I did my latest Slate cartoon, above, to incorporate both Obama and Reaper. (You can also see it on Gocomics, with comments – and add your own.) You might not agree with the politics – or you might! It’s a tiny bit ambiguous, like lots of my cartoons. But they put me up first today! That can’t hurt for Reaper! Or the Devil!