If you’re like me and you loved Buffy, that’s a huge statement, I know.

But Reaper is very, very good.   The premise is that a young man finds out on his 21st birthday that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born.  Like Buffy, the show plays it straight.  In Buffy, Sunnydale really was overrun with vampires and Buffy’s destiny was to slay them.  In Reaper, the kid really does have to work for the Devil.

Here are the facts:

1. It’s on “the CW.”  Maybe you’ve never heard of the CW?  It’s the combination of the old UPN and WB networks.  It’s a terrible name that makes you think “country western.”  That’s not my fault.
2. Reaper combines drama and comedy like no shows except Buffy and Twin Peaks.  It doesn’t try to be overly zany or “offbeat” like Desperate Housewives or Ally McBeal.  In fact, I insult Buffy, Twin Peaks and Reaper by putting them in back-to-back sentences with those other 2 shows.
3. It’s produced by ABC Studios.  Why on earth are they not playing it on ABC?  Because it doesn’t fit some profile of what a network show is supposed to be? Because it’s not a cop drama or a 30 minute laugh-track infested sitcom?  I can only wonder.

Do yourself a huge favor and put this one on your to-do list right now.

SureHits Says: straight A (no plus because LOST and Heroes exist).