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"The Loop" was one of those shows that never found an audience, which is too bad because it was very funny. Maybe it had the wrong time slot. Maybe it was on the wrong network. It starred Bret Harrison as Sam, the youngest executive at an airline. I was amused to see that actor playing another character named Sam in a new series on The CW.

The local CW station let me watch some DVDs of their new shows. "Gossip Girl" and "Life Is Wild" are not for me. But "Aliens in America" and "Reaper" are both terrific.

"Reaper" is about Sam Oliver (Harrison), a slacker who finds out on his 21st birthday that his parents sold his soul to the devil. As dark as the premise sounds, there's still plenty of action and comedy. The pilot that I watched had Nikki Reed in the part of Andi, Sam's potential love interest. She was great and very believable in the role yet they replaced her with Missy Peregrym. The video previews on the Internet show that all of Andi's scenes have been reshot with the new actress. Missy's good looks make her character just a little less plausible as the girl with low standards who works with Sam and his funny pal Sock.

I noticed that they recast the father on "Aliens in America" too. Based on the online preview, I once again wish they had kept the original actor.

Entertainment Weekly, USA Today and TV Guide all pick "Reaper" as one of the best new shows of the season. TV Guide put it at number 8 on their "Hot List." USA Today's Robert Bianco ranked it second in his top ten. Unfortunately I have to question Bianco's taste because he also put the not so good CBS show "Big Bang Theory" on his list.