The CW series finale of Reaper airs tonight, but ABC Studios is trying to keep the show alive in first run syndication, so it may not be the death of the show quite yet.
While Reaper will air on the CW no more after tonight, its production company ABC Studios is trying to sell the show into first run syndication. If ABC Studios is successful, new Reaper episodes will be produced, and for fans in the local markets where the syndicated episodes air, the show will continue on pretty much as before.
If you read back through my CW Renew/Cancel posts, you'll see that Reaper had ratings competitive with the low end of the surviving CW shows. Sadly, it's demographic mix didn't fit the female 18-34 target that the CW is currently after, so it was doomed to leave the CW. If the syndication deal works it would resurrect the show on many of the very same CW stations because the network just handed back Sunday night to its local affiliates.
The potential irony (and egg on the face of CW chief Dawn Ostroff) of Reaper being more successful off the CW than on it isn't lost on our friend and frequent commenter, Nick C.
Note: First run syndication (currently underway for shows like Legend of the Seeker) is different from repeat syndication (for shows like Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and for this year's casualty, The Unit) in that instead of simply replaying old episodes, new episodes are produced season by season as long as the syndication deal is in effect.
I look forward to Reaper living longer in syndication. Hopefully one of my local stations can pick it up with Legend of the Seeker (which I missed most of the first season because it was doomed to air at 4pm on saturdays locally) and give it a bit better treatment.
ok – I hope i have first comment.
Damn!
Reaper is cancelled. ABC studio didn’t succeed…
TheCW post above me is an idiot and is not connected to the CW at all. If he was he’d have at least gotten the website right. What a dumbass.
I still doubt this will happen although stranger things have proven me wrong (see 2nd season of Dollhouse). I am curious as to Tyler Labine’s contract situation. If indeed Reaper is given a syndication deal does that overide the contract Tyler has with Fox for Sons of Tuscon? Or because it is a syndicated show would Reaper have to go on without him? Perhaps filming would work out so he could do both? Guess i’m getting ahead of myself. I would say the odds are slim for this happening but as a fan of the show I would be happy to see Reaper live on.
I sincerely hope that ABC studios is able to reach a syndication deal for reaper. It’s a really funny show and didn’t deserve to be treated the way it was. They should never have switched its time slot in order to protect 90210. If it does make it to syndication I hope that it does well and the people at the CW learn a show geared toward teen and twenty something males should not be excluded. then maybe they will give some male oriented shows a little more attention.
I think Spring 2009 is going down as the year of suprise renewals and cancellations. I liked Reaper, it had its up and downs, wasn’t one of my favs but would watch it. I think it will be interesting to see how it does on a new network.
I never watched Reaper and am not really interested in getting into it. But I sooooooo hope this syndication deal happens. Egg on Dawn’s face, that would be totally cool!
i hope to see it live
i like this show
the guys who plays the devil-whos name escapes me
steals the show IMO
just like the crazy guy in fringe
whos name also escapes me
id like to see some egg flying
heres to dawn and her egged face
fandom aside
i think this show was underappreciated by the CW
seemed like a guy show on estrogen night
also wasnt really promoted IMO
numbers dont see this show surviving
i think this show can do better elsewhere
weve been surprised alot
heres to being surprised again
and hack im buying that lotto ticket
I think Spring 2009 is going down as the year of suprise renewals and cancellations.
A) Spring isn’t a year.
B) I’m sure people are going to remember the spring of this year for much more than “suprise” TV stuff.
C) There really aren’t THAT many surprises. If, say, CSI was canceled, that’d be a surprise. The only real sizable surprises were Dollhouse and maybe Scrubs.
j, while “surprise” may not be the right word, there were certainly a lot of moves this spring that went against recent trends/practices. And while I’ll remember them (so perhaps our predictions might improve next season), I agree that most people won’t.
J –
…and I’d add the whole Medium conundrum to your list of “surprises”.
This season will be held up as reasons for fans to hold out hope (and spam comment threads across the internets) when there is no hope to be had for years to come.
Julia, I believe that lesson is Crazy People Matter(tm)
well maybe surprise is too strong a word
intersting choices for sure
LENO being on primetime
medium
samtha who
dollhouse
scrubs
abc comedy wedsdays-with no anchor
smallville on fridays
fringe to thursdays
chuck?
southland being kept and moved to fridays
betty?
im sure im missing a few shows which should have been canceled kept and vice versa
and other interesting choices made by the networks
will be intersting to see it play out
Thanks Bill, for your update on Reaper! If anyone here would like to aid in getting Reaper to syndication, e-mail your local CW affiliates (addressed can be found here: http://www.cwtv.com/stations) and tell them you would like them to pick up the show.
You always got to love people that point out an insignificant grammatical error as a reason to invalidate a statement.
I sometimes still confuse syntax as I am constantly switching bewteen editing Chinese, Portuguese and English websites.
English is not my first or second language but I think you guys know what I meant.
Yes, surprise is too strong a word and Spring is not a year, but this will definitly be a year that will remembered for logically predicted trends not happening. Is that better?
~Lanie~
YES, wonderful news. I hope Reaper can live on with Tyler Labine in attendance. Sons of Tuscon does not sound very promising, he’ll do better sticking w Reaper. I do hope this show does end up bighting CW execs in the ass. Why even bother greenlighting the show in the first place if they were going to hang it out to dry as they did.
@ Chet – Leno gives us an interesting mark for NBC shows to live up to. I’m going to call it the “leno line”. If your show is on NBC and is out-performed by the 10pm version of Leno on the same night, your show is doomed to be cancelled.
I say this with the expectation that Leno is going to be a ratings black hole, of course – something on par with your top rated univision shows.