‘Reaper’ offers intriguing story
One of the most anticipated new shows of the season, “Reaper” (9 p.m., CW) is also one of the silliest and cleverest.
College dropout Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison) thinks he’s going to spend his 21st birthday working at the giant hardware outlet at the mall. He doesn’t know that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born.
The suave and self-effacing old scratch (Ray Wise, “24”) informs Sam that he’s now under his employ as a bounty hunter, assigned to capture souls that have escaped from hell.
The miraculous audacity of “Reaper” depends on its audience’s familiarity with a million supernatural thrillers and shows like “Buffy,” where demons and portals to hell are as commonplace as Burger Kings. The fact that Sam can take this cosmic joke – not to mention his parents’ betrayal – with a certain grain of salt is part of the show’s essential comedy.
“Reaper” is turbocharged by the presence of Sam’s oversized sidekick, Sock (Tyler Labine, “Invasion”).
A moldy combination of “The Godfather,” “King Lear” and a little “Dynasty” thrown in for good measure, the new melodrama “Cane” (10 p.m., CBS) takes itself terribly seriously.
Tonight’s season premieres
A shocking secret revealed on “NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS).
Teens have a macabre highway encounter on “Bones” (8 p.m., Fox).
House tries to cope by himself on “House” (9 p.m., Fox).
Ryan faces Congress on “The Unit” (9 p.m., CBS).
A university sues Shirley on “Boston Legal” (9:30 p.m., ABC).
Cynthia Nixon guest-stars as a woman with multiple personalities on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (10 p.m., NBC).
Other highlights
Island hopping in the Pacific, Italy besieged and turmoil at home on “The War” (8 p.m., KSPS).
“Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later” (8 p.m., HBO) looks at a pivotal school desegregation in 1957.
“Hip Hop vs. America” (8 p.m., BET) looks at recent protests against the music’s misogyny, violence and materialism.
Gregory’s fate remains a mystery on “Damages” (10 p.m., FX).