New on the tube: "Reaper," "Cane"

The best new show of the fall is on tonight. Hope you know where the CW network is.  

“Reaper”  
8 p.m., CW (KCWE)  

It would be easy to say that “Reaper” is an attempt to revive the old “Oh, God!” movie franchise with a millennial twist -- this time, with Satan come down to Earth (in the form of Ray Wise, much more nattily dressed than George Burns) to give oracles to a humble store clerk.  

It would also be a no-brainer to say that “Reaper” is some kind of network-safe stoner comedy, with its premise of college-age dropouts sleepwalking through their day jobs at the local big-box store when one day Sam (Bret Harrison) turns 21 and then it's all, “Dude! The devil just showed up in my car!!”  

No, no, no. Critics have generally been as thrilled about “Reaper” as I am, but they keep wanting to hang a label on it -- slacker comedy, post-Buffy horror show, “Touched By a Devil” … the truth is, “Reaper” is all that and more. That's why it's so good. That's why it zoomed to the top of my list of the 27 new shows premiering this fall.  

The work of two young women writers of the post-Buffy generation and produced by a team that includes Kevin Smith (“Clerks”), “Reaper” is remarkably well-paced and hilariously well-written. Neither the CW, its predecessor the WB or its parent company, the CBS, has a show anywhere near as clever as this. Scratch the surface and you'll discover something else. “Reaper” might be the most faith-based show to come along since “Touched by an Angel” … and not nearly as mawkish.  

Consider. In the first episode “Reaper” establishes (a) that there is perdition and that irredeemably bad people go there, though some managed to escape in a jailbreak reminiscent of the old Fox show “Brimstone”; (b) that preserving the order of the Judeo-Christian-Muslim worldview demands they be sent back; (c) that Satan is a wily trickster who will say anything to get you to do as he tells you (pay careful attention to his facial expression when he tells Sam he knows how history will end and that “God wins”); and (d) that there really is something to this whole purpose-driven life business, even if the inspiration, in this case, is the worst person in the underworld.  

“Cane”   9 p.m., CBS (KCTV-5)   A year ago, CBS filled this time slot with “Smith,” a drama about a guy in a bad marriage who pretends to go off to his humdrum job but in reality, robs banks with a pack of psychos. CBS executives promised “Smith” would risky, adventurous, edgy … and that it was. Also, completely inappropriate for network TV. It drove away audiences in droves, and the network cancelled “Smith” after three weeks.   Well, the dangerous show is back, only it's been given a couple of tweaks to make it more palatable to a mainstream audience. “Cane” is about a large sugar-cane growing family, with Hector Elizondo as the patriarch and Jimmy Smits as the heir-designate, which is in one of those classic struggles for survival with a predatory rival.

There's feuding inside and outside the family, as you might expect. Also, somebody is going to get killed in tonight's episode, and it's going to be the responsibility of one of the ostensible good guys -- pretty much how “Smith's” first hour ended last year. The difference, other than the heavily Latino makeup of the cast, and that Smits seems to be happily married, is that the killing will be seen as a good thing.   It might even work, but the first hour's writing, pacing and storylines were too pedestrian for me to recommend “Cane.”

Aaron reviews the new season of “House” at videos.kansascity.com.

Comments

[Mark Bunker]

Really? Reaper? This is what all the buzz was about? I have to say I was underwhelmed by the pilot. It all felt too mechanical and uninspired. It seemed like the bare minimum needed to set-up the show.

Compared to the pilot for "Dead Like Me," this show lacked any wit or inspiration. And Dead immediately lost the wit when it's creator moved on after the pilot and the show limped along on merely a fun premise and good cast.

Reaper seemed to limp to the end of the pilot. I was happy to remove it from my TIVO subscription list after the first hour.

[tulse luper]

Reaper - first 30 minutes were fantastic,
last 30 minutes insultingly atrocious.
Wants it both ways - clever and grotesque.
Not happening.

[barb]

Reaper is definitely one of my favorite new shows. Great ensemble. Bret Harrison and Ray Wise are perfect in their roles. My husband and I used to watch House on Tuesday nights ... call us fickle, but now we watch Reaper. (Although I've promised the hubby that we'll catch House in reruns.)