Bubble Watch: Reaper

With the television season coming to an end in a month, the networks are already starting to look through their new pilots and make decisions on their current shows. Of course there are some shows that are guaranteed renewal or cancellation but there are also “bubble” shows in between. Will those shows be cancelled or renewed? Every day I will look at one of the bubble shows and determine whether it is worth saving and whether or not it will be saved.

Should It Be Saved?: Absolutely. “Reaper” is one of the funniest shows on television and I even consider it the male version of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” It is so well-done and is one of the few male-oriented shows on The CW.

Will It Be Saved?

Reasons for Renewal:

• “Reaper” performs admirably in one of the toughest time slots on television (Tuesdays at 8/7c against “American Idol”). There is no way The CW will get numbers close to what Reaper gets in that slot if they cancel it. Last year, “Beauty and the Geek” was thrown to the wolves and didn’t even get half the audience it usually got.
• The show is incredibly funny and if TV viewers had it their way, it would definitely be kept. We need good quality shows like this rather than crap like “90210″ and “One Tree Hill.”

Reasons for Cancellation:

• It is fairly obvious that Dawn Ostroff (head of The CW) cares very little about the show since she put it in the death slot to save her precious “90210″ (which still isn’t doing very well even though it doesn’t have to face Idol). More than likely she will want to can this show to make room for another girly show even though her strategy of focusing on only female viewers hasn’t worked so far.
• Even though the show does reasonably well against Idol, its ratings are still pretty low overall. The show usually outperforms “90210″ (which has already been renewed even though it should be a bubble show) in the overall ratings and is about even in the 18-49 demographic. However, The CW targets the 18-34 demographic and “90210″ is much better than “Reaper” in that category.
• I don’t have numbers to back this up but I’m also fairly sure that “Reaper” does much worse with female viewers. Since The CW doesn’t seem to think male viewers are valuable, that is another strike against the show.
• The creators of the show have signed a deal with FOX and Tyler Labine is attached to a pilot. Labine would be forced to return to “Reaper” if it is picked up but the creators would likely have to be replaced. I doubt The CW wants to go through the hassle of finding a new showrunner. Also, if that much talent has already moved on they can’t think to highly of the show’s chances.

Verdict: Unfortunately, probably cancelled unless The CW wises up and cans Ostroff. Cancelling this show will prove to be a mistake when the network starts drawing a 0.5 overall rating against “American Idol” next winter.

How Can You Help:

• Vote for “Reaper” at E! Online’s “Save One Show” poll.
• Visit Reaper DMV for details on how to mail your thoughts about the show to Dawn Ostroff. This (along with the massive amounts of nuts sent) helped give “Jericho” an additional season.
• Sign the Reaper petition.