“Reaper”, which premieres at 9:00 PM tonight on the CW with the Kevin-directed pilot, is our favorite new show of the Fall TV season. The show stars Bret Harrison (of FOX’s fun but cancelled “The Loop”) in the titular role, as Sam, a kid whose parents have unfortunately sold his soul to the devil (Ray Wise, the most pitch-perfect casting of the year). When ‘ol satan comes to collect what’s due on Sam’s 21st birthday, he learns that he’ll pay the debt by collecting escaped souls and sending them back to hell.

Harrison’s a likeable lead, with his everyman charm allowing us to instantly empathize and cheer for his “Sam”. The show’s target demographic of young adults should identify easily with his laid back attitude (all the way down to his shyness with the ladies). However, the scene stealer (at least of this pilot episode) is our boy’s right-hand man “Sock”, played by Tyler Labine – (ABC’s one-season-wonder “Invasion”). Labine here not only shoots and scores with practically every line of every scene he appears in, but gives the word from the page an even bigger comedic punch with some pitch-perfect delivery. We hear Kevin encouraged on-set improvisation and had a big hand in the tone and delivery of quite a bit of the pilot, much to its benefit.

Rounding out the cast, Missy Peregrym (seen last season as reality-bender Candice on NBC’s “Heroes”) plays love interest Andi, though our pilot screener featured Nikki Reed in the same role. The most exciting casting for us on this one, though, has to be Ray Wise, who so memorably took on the persona of Leland Palmer on one of the best shows of all-time, “Twin Peaks”. To see Wise playing the devil with such playful menace and glee has us wanting to shake the hand of the casting agent who came up with this pairing. There couldn’t have been a better choice. While it’s obvious that the young cast will be the stars of the show, you can’t help but perk up when Wise shows up for a scene. It’s a real treat.

So that’s the casting…But what about Kevin’s direction? First off, Kevin brought longtime DP Dave Klein to shoot the thing to ease into the TV world. The result? Way cool. As we know, Kevin can shoot the heck out of actors doing zippy dialogue and knows how to pull the funny out in just the right way. The big surprise here amounts to the amount of camera movement and action that happens here, though. The pilot features a bunch of laugh-out-loud moments, and makes for a fun communal watching experience, but the centerpiece of the program are the action sequences. Not only are they well staged and directed, but the visual effects go beyond what you’d normally expect to see on a TV program. When Sam and Sock suit up to do battle, you can’t help but notice that “Reaper” resembles the classic “Ghostbusters” – Just updated for the slacker generation.

The pilot sets the stage for quite a few subplots, so we’re looking forward to seeing where this goes. While it would be simple for the program to fall into a “monster of the week” type of scenario, we’ve hoping to see it move further into a larger story arc, rewarding viewers for coming back week after week. Rumor has it that Kevin would love to come back to the program in some capacity as well, though a lot of that will depend on scheduling – The guy’s got two movies to prep for this year, as well as a directing gig on “Heroes: Origins”, after all.

With a perfect mix of humor, action, romance, and drama, “Reaper” is poised to be the first breakout hit of the new Fall TV season.

Can’t wait until tonight? Yahoo is presenting the show’s complete first act, streaming live via their website.

“Reaper” premieres TONIGHT on the CW at 9:00 PM.

A historial first-ever David Letterman appearance will kick off the television leg of the book tour tonight, and we’re way stoked to see what Kevin brings to Letterman. We’re huge “Late Night” fans here, and know that Dave’s brand of humor should be a fantastic fit for Kevin’s stage presence. Expect big laughs tonight, and expect to see Kevin getting an invite back. Tune into CBS tonight — Do not miss this piece of View Askew history!

If you’re going, don’t forget your camera — Send us a few photos and your line reports from any of the signing events you attend. It’s not every day (or even YEAR) that Kevin’s got a new book out, and Comic-Con signings have been rare lately, so don’t miss these. With a busy year of movie-making ahead, this is your big chance.

Kevin was a call-in guest on popular NPR talk show titled “Wait…Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” this weekend — The program quizzes its guests on current news and entertainment-related events. Not only was he charming as ever, he also fared quite well. You can listen to the entire program as well as take the quiz along with Kevin and the panel as you do so. NPR’s excellent site will also allow you to skip right to Kev’s segment if you like. Good stuff.

And finally, the man himself was an in-studio guest on XM’s Opie & Anthony program today. As usual, we’ll have audio online as part of the archives shortly. Kev was in studio to promote both his new book and tomorrow’s appearance on Letterman. The biggest revelation, however, came at the end of the show – Yes, Kevin might be getting his own show on XM Radio’s Virus channel! They may also rebroadcast SModcast as part of the deal. You can bet that we’ll keep on top of this exciting breaking news.

Never underestimate the power of goofy energy, which elevates this pilot a cut above most recent “nerd as hero” concepts. Learning that your parents sold your soul to the Devil makes for a bummer of a 21st birthday, but it’s a clever series set-up, albeit one that risks becoming “Buddy the Vampire Slayer” on an episodic basis. Still, “Reaper” enjoys terrific satanic support from Ray Wise as You Know Who and, if it can keep conjuring up a broth of humor and action, could become a new cult hit for CW, which would probably sell its corporate soul for one.

With a perfect mix of humor, action, romance, and drama, we’re picking “Reaper” as our favorite new show of the Fall TV season. It’s hitting the CW’s airwaves this Tuesday at 9 PM.

Alright, alright…Can’t wait until Tuesday? Yahoo is presenting the show’s complete first act, streaming live via their website. Just look for the little grid of white boxes in the lower right corner of the page’s splash graphic. You’ll see a preview of “Reaper” but then below will notice you can click an option to play the entire first act. You’ll be hooked.

HUGE thanks to Ming for his patience and assistance with our server, and to all of you for sticking with us through the construction. Next week, we’ll be debuting our new SuperSearch function that will give you even more precise access to our 10+ year news database. Live Archives continue to present a visual look at our new categorized news system. And of course, the front page and all of our special features should now be just a couple of seconds away. Scoops can now resume in the old scoops box. You can submit a scoop (or find more information on doing so) at the contact page.

We hope that you enjoy the speedier, spiffier News Askew. More surprises and enhancements are on the way.

Remember that Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash West book signing we were gonna have as the store’s swan-song on Monday, October 1st at 5pm? Well because I got so many people bitching about the signing being on a Monday night, we’ve changed the event to SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6th, starting at noon.


So clear your Saturday and cruise on down to the Westwood Stash to peep the place out one more time (or for the first time) before we shutter that bitch permanently.


Also, if you’re into Hold ‘Em, we’ll be hosting a poker tournament at the Stash right after the signing ends. If you’re interested in rolling some cards with me and Mewes and trying to take our money (which was probably once your money), email your inquiries to donkey@viewaskew.com. It ain’t cheap, so be prepared.

“Saturday night, if you’re in the Ithaca area, come hang out at my Cornell Q&A. The show starts at seven, and some tickets are still available right here, at the website. This’ll be the first time I’ve been back to Cornell since we shot the first “An Evening with Kevin Smith” there, so it should be a fun show.”


“…I head back to the house for a meeting with Liz, Dawn, and Joe (or is it Jeff?) about tomorrow’s Fox pitch. Liz has an idea for sitcom that I’d produce and direct the pilot for (kinda like what I did on “Reaper”). The meeting is really just an excuse to finally meet in person before we head into the belly of the beast together, tomorrow morning.”


“…We meet up with Liz, Dawn and Co. then head in to pitch Liz’s show. It winds up going very well, and Fox picks it up to go to the next stage (a script), with an eye toward shooting it pre-January if they dig the script.”

As always, visit the official blogs for the complete story, what we’ve got here just scratches the surface. Kevin recently asked for last-minute SModcast questions via the Myspace blog this week, so it’s smart to subscribe and keep a close eye on those spots.

For more online commentary, you can also peep out FilmBuff Newsreel. And of course, don’t miss your chance to check out the full trailer at Yahoo Movies in all flavors of Quicktime, including that beautiful 1080p HD!