Upfronts: "Reaper" to live or die?

MONDAY UPDATE: Now we know. It's alive! It's alive! Click here for the latest.

One of the cliffhangers in this pre-upfront weekend is the fate of CW's "Reaper."

Its aud may be small (really small) but their love for the show burns like, well, hell fire. Its culty cachet is evidenced by its status as a Television Without Pity selection, among other examples of web-based fawning over the show about a young slacker who learns on his 20th birthday that he's going to work for the devil -- thanks to a Faustian bargain his mom and dad made some years back.

"Reaper's" pre-launch buzz about the strong cast (Bret Harrison, Tyler Labine and Missy Peregrym and Ray Wise as the Devil) and better-than-average writing didn't translate into much sampling. Show had a tough start and never found its footing in the Nielsen sense.

Word on the street as of this writing is that "Reaper," from ABC Studios and creators/exec producers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, is very much on the bubble, and its only fighting chance may be as a midseason replacement. Here's to hoping the devil gets his due, for season two. We should know by Monday ayem.