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When creating a show about the adventures of a slacker, it makes sense to get the best in the business at crafting those stories to direct your pilot - and, in the eyes of Hollywood and beyond, that man is Kevin Smith. Smith, the mastermind behind Clerks, Mallrats and Dogma, is bringing his slacker talent to the small screen this season with The CW's Reaper.
Reaper, which premieres Tuesday, centers on a slacker, Sam, whose parents sell his soul to the devil (why they do so is explained in the pilot), causing him to become the devil's personal bounty hunter, charged with bringing escaped demons back to hell. Viewers tune in to Sam (Bret Harrison, The Loop), his buddy Bert "Sock" Wysocki (Tyler Labine, Invasion) and their misadventures as they try to capture the aforementioned demons.
Smith, who directed the pilot of Reaper, discussed how he got involved in the show, the intricacies of working and television and more in a phone interview with The Diamondback.
The Diamondback: How did you get set up with Reaper, and what are your thoughts on directing a series you didn't write yourself?
Kevin Smith: It came through my agency, Endeavor, and my agent was just like, "Hey, we got this script here, an offer for you to direct a pilot," but I said I was going to pass, because generally I just ... generate my own stuff. I was just so f---ing like, "Who wants me to direct a TV show?" I wanted to meet the moron that was like, "We're going to hitch our wagon to this f---ing loser's star!" I wanted to see what script someone would send me to do a f---ing TV show, and when I read it, I suddenly got it, because I was like, "Oh, it's kind of Dogma-like," inasmuch as it's real characters dealing with supernatural elements.
There are elements of Clerks to it, inasmuch as it's two guys sitting around bullshitting. So I was like, "Wow, I could have written this! Why didn't I write this? Oh, I know, because I'm not talented." So then I met with the girls that did write it (Tara Butters and Michelle Fazekas) ... I was so amused by the notion that two chicks created a genre show, because it's not uncommon to find women on the staff of a show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Battlestar Galactica, but rarely do chicks create this kind of material. I was just like, that's kind of historic to me, I want to be involved in that.
DBK: What did you try to accomplish as a one-shot director for the pilot?
Smith: Basically, I had a cush gig as the pilot director because most times, when a director comes onto a show that's up and running, you're kind of locked into a formula and locked into performances and the look of the show and stuff because it has been going on for a while at that point. When you direct a pilot, you kind of set that tone. So that was basically all I had to do, was give it a certain look and feel and whatnot and hope that … every episode after that would kind of follow that pattern that we struck.
DBK: As an executive producer on Reaper, is there any chance any of the actors you've worked with before will pop up?
Smith: It would be nice, but in terms of my continuing role on the show, it kind of begins and ends with the pilot. I got this weird consulting producer title, which ultimately means nothing. It doesn't mean that I get meaningful consultation on the scripts or anything like that - it means they send me the scripts, but if I send an e-mail back like, "Here's what I think," I don't really hear back. [laughs] I don't know, if I get to do another episode down the road, I'll try to bring some of my cats in there if they're up for it, but, at the end of the day, it's the girls' show.
DBK: Since you're only doing the pilot, how much are you going to care about the series' development and how long it goes?
Smith: I care more about the show than I probably should, because once you do the pilot, they're kind of off-and-running, and they don't need you anymore. From the time I read the script to the time I first sat down with the girls and they told me their ideas about the mythology of the show, ... I just thought it was cool. It was a show that I would totally watch, so I am kind of invested, inasmuch as seeing where it goes and hitting certain character and story arcs that I thought were kind of nifty and interesting.
At the end of the day, it could just be a monster-of-the-week show, but they have some ideas for it that takes it out of that realm a little bit in a very X-Files fashion, where some episodes stand alone and some are part of a larger mythological arc within the series. I would like to see it keep going, selfishly of course because … if you direct a pilot, you earn money for every episode that ever follows, even if you never work on it again. But on a personal level, I would just like to see what happens with the characters and where everything goes.
Reaper premieres Tuesday on The CW at 9 p.m., and will also re-air Thursday night at 9 p.m.
tripp@umd.edu
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