Deal with the devil

The upcoming season premiere of The CW’s “Reaper” has me conflicted.

While it’s exciting to see Sam, Sock and the gang again, I’m also a little perturbed that it’s replacing one of my new favorite shows, “Privileged,” at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, starting next week.

“Privileged” is about Megan, an aspiring journalist who takes a job tutoring a pair of spoiled rotten twins in Palm Beach. Maybe it’s just me, but it really felt like the show had a woefully short season. I checked, though, and the CW has actually aired 18 episodes (most shows air between 22 and 24 each year), pretty good considering its less-than-stellar ratings.

I recently watched the second season premiere of “Reaper” and, while entertaining, it’s no match for “Privileged.”

That’s not to say that “Reaper” is bad; the show gets off to a pretty good start.

It’s just that I would’ve much rather seen four to six more episodes of Megan and her Floridian friends.

In case you’ve never watched, here’s a quick primer: It centers on Sam (Bret Harrison), an average twentysomething, who, in the pilot, found out his parents had sold his soul to the Devil as a baby. Now Satan, played with gleeful abandon by Ray Wise, has come to collect, and he forces Sam to work as his bounty hunter, catching rogue souls that have escaped from hell.

Last season ended with Sam’s father dying, right around the time Sam discovered that he shared more than a boss/employee relationship with the Devil. That’s right, folks: Beelzebub is actually Sam’s real father.

As the son of Satan, Sam is “destined to end the world,” which led neighbors and secret demons Steve and Tony to try to kill Sam. (I really hope those guys, played by the always-great Michael Ian Black and Ken Marino, come back this season).

“Well, you’re not really good at anything,” pal Sock advised Sam after he learned of his supposed destiny. “So you’ll probably screw that up, too.”

This season opens with Sam on a road trip with Sock and their friend Ben, dealing with the death of the man he thought was his father.

Finally coming home after a month, Sam’s got his work cut out for him when the Devil tasks him with collecting the souls of 40 angry, very scary souls.

Elsewhere, Sock develops a crush on his attractive new stepsister — and warns his friends to stay away from her.

“That is my sister,” he says. “I got dibs.”

Only our Sock, played by the very funny Tyler Labine, could get away with that one.

Most interesting is the introduction of a new character, a soul who has escaped from Hell but whom Sam can’t catch.

This guy (Sean Patrick Thomas, who you’ll probably recognize from “Save the Last Dance”) tells Sam he made a deal with the Devil, but somehow got out of it.

This gives Sam hope that maybe, just maybe, he won’t be at Satan’s beck and call for, well, forever.