It’s time to say goodbye to the second season of The CW’s Reaper tonight during the season finale “The Devil and Sam Oliver.”

Although the network has canceled the series in order to offer teenage girls shows that focus on way more entertaining stuff — you know, like models and rich folks — there’s a chance CW affiliates may keep Reaper alive to air on Sunday nights. If that happens, I’ll be among the first to post an update.

During tonight’s episode, Sam and his daddy The Devil go head to head in battle following Nina’s (Jenny Wade) delivery from Hell, meaning that scroll Mr. Oliver (Andrew Airlie) sent back with her. After translating the text with a little help from Tony (Ken Marino), Sam learns he can summon daddy with a specific incantation that will trap him into a competition. Sam challenges The Devil to a game of quarters, but they play to a draw and The Devil refuses a rematch, so Andi offers her soul as collateral.

Will Sam get his soul back after Andi’s daring action? I have no idea, and given the show’s current up-in-the-air status, I suppose it could go either way. Fingers crossed fans will get resolution somehow if there’s a cliffhanger tonight.

Follow the jump to check out the promo for “The Devil and Sam Oliver.”

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Tonight (May 15) from 8pm to 9pm ET, fans of The Game will most likely reach the end of the line when it comes to the still-kickin’ comedy’s existence. Unless a truly surprising reprieve occurs between now and next week, when the five major broadcast networks announce their 2009–2010 schedules during their respective upfront presentations to advertisers, it’s likely the sitcom will be no more.

The hourlong, two-episode send off tonight consists of the installments “I Want It All and I Want It Now” and “The Wedding Episode”:

After Janay (Gabrielle Dennis) suffers a false alarm with the delivery of her and Derwin’s baby, Melanie decides she wants to marry Derwin as soon as possible and before the baby arrives, even if it means not having her dream wedding.

Elsewhere, Kelly rushes to her ex-husband’s side when Jason gets arrested for assaulting her boyfriend, leading to an emotional meeting for the ex-couple.

And, finally, what many of us have been itching to see: Tasha admits to Kelly at last that she was the one who set Jason up with Camille (Stacey Dash), and Kelly understandably doesn’t take the news well.

The CW couldn’t even be bothered to upload a sneak peek or promo to YouTube for these important episodes, so show your support by watching the finale live when it airs.

The Game usually airs Fridays on The CW at 8:30pm EST.

Tonight (May at 8pm ET, the CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris presents its fourth-season finale, which may also end up being the show’s series finale, given the network’s current exclusive focus on teenage female viewers.

During “Everybody Hates G.E.D.,” Chris learns the sobering news that he’ll have to repeat the tenth grade if he receives one more tardy. Who wants that on their shoulders, right? So, of course, Chris does everything possible to arrive at school on time.

Nonetheless, he’s eventually late again when he misses the bus one day, and to make matters worse, he then has to tell his parents about the repercussions. I can hear Rochelle’s strident, angry voice right now.

Meanwhile, Chris’ younger brother Drew attempts to brainstorm a talent after he decides he wants to try out for Amateur Night at the Apollo. The boy certainly dreams big!

Continue reading for details about The Game…

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As I mentioned in an earlier post, the number of days in The Game’s future are quickly decreasing, provided that The CW fails to renew the show for a deserved fourth season. So, if you’re a fan, make sure to catch the four episodes left in the current season, which include tonight and next week’s brand-new installments, plus the one-hour, double-episode season finale slated to air two weeks from now on May 15th.

Tonight, May 1, we have “Put a Ring on It.” During the episode, Tasha and Kelly throw an engagement party for reunited Melanie and Derwin, but, of course, things don’t go exactly as planned. That’s because Jason brings his new squeeze Camille (Stacey Dash, Clueless) along with him to the event, forcing Kelly to come to terms with her ex-husband having moved on.

Meanwhile, Tasha suffers significant guilt knowing that she was the one who set up Jason and Camille. Will keeping the secret from Kelly kill her, or will Kelly kill her when she finds out the secret? Hmmm…

Follow the jump for a sneak peek at the episode featuring the very, very awkward moment when Kelly bumps into Jason and Camille at the party.

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Everybody Hates Chris fans, make sure you catch the fresh May 1st and May 8th episodes of the series because it looks more and more like they will be the excellent comedy’s last ones.

The CW apparently has no more use for sitcoms or television shows that don’t target an audience of teenage girls, putting Chris and The Game, its current Friday-night companion, in grave danger of impending cancellation.

Tomorrow’s brand-new episode is called “Everybody Hates Bomb Threats.” After Chris and his classmates are required to memorize and recite a World War II speech as punishment for him disrupting the class, he decides to call in a fake bomb threat to avoid doing the work. Meanwhile, Rochelle gets walloped with a freaky voodoo hex when she refuses to give a disgruntled customer a refund.

Sneak a peek at the episode in the Director’s Cut video after the jump, which provides a behind-the-scenes look at the episode, guided by director Keith Truesdale (The Secret Life of the American Teenager, 7th Heaven, Girlfriends, The Bernie Mac Show).

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I read an interesting column not too long ago. In the wake of the Hollywood Reporter’s recent proclamation that Reaper is as good as gone at The CW, writer Daniel Fienberg defends the devil dramedy and offers several reasons why the network should at least give a Reaper renewal proper consideration before lowering the ax.

Among the fine points made is Reaper’s sturdy, if not impressive, performance against reality behemoth American Idol, the Fox reality show that The CW intentionally threw Reaper under the bus for in order to save sappy 90210 from a swift and certain ratings death. Remember, the network moved 90210 from its original 8pm ET time slot to 9pm, just so Reaper could take on — and get crushed by — Idol at 8pm instead.

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Could it really be almost time to say goodbye forever to The CW’s devil dramedy Reaper? That just might be the case now that a reputable entertainment publication has publicly stated the series is canceled.

In an April 19 online article titled “Crunch Time for Bubble Series,” the Hollywood Reporter closed its overview with one lone sentence that Sam fans have been dreading pretty much since the middle of the sophomore series’ first season:

Over at the CW, “Reaper” is gone, while the prospects for “Privileged” have improved, and the show is now considered for a possible midseason order.

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There’s a brand-new episode of The CW’s Reaper coming up tonight at 8pm EST with the interesting title “Dirty Sexy Mongol.”

Although Sam receives a new assignment from The Devil, the only thing on his mind is learning how Alan (Sean Patrick Thomas) got out of his deal with The Devil. Unfortunately, Sam and Alan are attacked by two demons sent by The Devil when Sam finally manages to locate him.

As a result, Alan not only refuses to talk to Sam anymore, but he up and disappears. Meanwhile, one of the demons shows quite a bit of interest in Ben.

Follow the jump to see five sneak peeks for the episode. The fourth, featuring a little Demon-Devil action, is my favorite.

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It hasn’t even been a week since The CW’s Reaper returned for its second season and already the bad news has started.

Instead of opening with a bang worthy of all the love fans feel for the show and its characters, Tuesday night’s “Episode 201: Episode IV: A New Hope” Season Two premiere drew a modest audience of just 2.36 million viewers overall, which was about the lowest the series has ever gone. The Nielsen performance was also 40% lower than the show’s series premiere way back in September 2007 (has it really been that long?!).

If it’s any consolation, the supernatural dramedy did have the unenviable position of airing directly opposite two mega popular reality series, Fox’s American Idol (22.68 million viewers) and NBC’s The Biggest Loser (8.26 million viewers), as well as a repeat of CBS’ reliable military crime procedural NCIS (13.66 million viewers). When you look at the situation from that perspective, it’s not surprising in the least that Reaper didn’t get farther in its uphill battle. A lousy time slot will do that, not to mention a nearly yearlong hiatus.

So, what does all of this mean? Well, if you’re a fan and have a glimmer of a hope for a third season, now is definitely the time to band together with other Reaper devotees and begin the push to recruit viewers who can help improve Tuesday’s dismal performance. The last won’t be easy, though.

Reaper will air Tuesdays on The CW at 8pm EST.

Although hard to believe, it really is finally time for the second-season premiere of The CW’s delicious Devil dramedy Reaper. The first episode up tonight at 8pm EST has the very long and quite confusing title “Episode 201: Episode IV: A New Hope,” so let’s just call it “A New Hope” for short.

Following the Season One-ending development that The Devil and Sam might be a whole lot closer than mere employer and employee — father and son, in fact — Season Two opens with best buds Sam, Sock, and Ben returning from a soothing vacation. Yet, the road-trip afterglow doesn’t last for long because the trio are forced to face the grim reality that their jobs are now gone at the Work Bench and their apartment is, too. Jobless and homeless, the guys manage to get back on their feet eventually, no thanks to The Devil and his latest whopper of an assignment.

That’s the bare-bones summary. I’ve had the opportunity to screen this week’s and next week’s (“Dirty Sexy Mongol”) episodes ahead of their premiere, and I gotta tell all of my fellow Reaper fans that it sure is nice to have the gang back. As expected, however, the plot isn’t all fun and games.

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