Sunday nights are fast becoming my busiest TV night of the week. My DVR’s red “recording” light was already winking at me for a good chunk of the evening before, thanks to my old love “Mad Men,” my new love “True Blood,” plus all the old standbys like “60 Minutes” and “American Dad.” But as of last week, “Dexter” has returned to Showtime with new episodes. Consider the ante upped.

I’ve been a fan of this show since its beginning two seasons ago. It doesn’t spare on the high concept premises and story lines, but is still written elegantly enough to avoid becoming a joke. Michael C. Hall has proven his acting mettle beyond my expectations in his portrayal of Dexter Morgan, considering how hard it is to believe that this is the same man who played David Fisher all those years not so long ago.

Tune in to Showtime Sunday nights at 9pm to check out “Dexter.” I like the show so much it’s actually inspired me to read the book on which this series is based, called “Darkly Dreaming Dexter,” by Jeff Lindsay. I know right? I’m going to read an actual book! With pages and everything!

I fear I may have blasphemed by daring to mention the “B” word– book– on the interweb, and on a blog about teevee, at that. As an act of contrition, I’ll subject myself to a new reality show, get drunk and rant about it on here, later.

Oh, dear. “Paris Hilton Is My New BFF” started this week. Sounds like a fresh batch of hate stew a-brewin’.

HBO’s new series about vampires, “True Blood” is well under way, and the third episode of the series airs tonight. I have to say I wasn’t excited to watch this series before the premiere at all, despite knowing this is Alan Ball’s first TV project since “Six Feet Under.” The whole marketing campaign was labored, uninspired, and It was trying too hard to be sexy and outrageous. Much like a drunk sorostitute dirty dancing in an ill-fitting dress, I was just embarrassed for the both of us. In the end, I only watched the first episode as a way to kill time while I waited for “Mad Men” to start. 

The show centers around Sookie Stackhouse (played by Anna Paquin), a hick waitress in Louisiana who happens to be able to read minds, and Bill Compton (played by Stephen Moyer), a vampire, to whom Sookie becomes uniquely bonded.

Within the world of the show, vampires are a reality (obviously, since it’s a vampire show…), and vampires’ rights and social standing are in constant jeopardy. It’s vaguely allegorical to the plight of whatever is the oppressed group du jour, if you want to be joyless and intellectual about it.

However, I’m happy to say the show doesn’t totally suck, as you may have guessed from my subtle lede above. It has gotten progressively interesting in only two installments, and after last week’s episode, I will admit I actually have a twinge of genuine anticipation for tonight’s episode. In short, this show just may be getting good. 

Go ahead and tell your DVR to record it tonight while you’re watching “Mad Men” sweep at the Emmys. If things continue to improve on “True Blood,” it too just may be a contender at next year’s awards.

P.S. Did I mention I love “Mad Men”? Twice? In a post about a different show? Oh, silly me. Well, you should watch that tonight, too.

[Picture source: Cleveland.com]

Alan Ball, the creator of “Six Feet Under”, has a new HBO show about vampires living openly in the present day called “True Blood”.

From Alan Ball’s interview on HBO.com:
“It’s based on a series of books written by Charlaine Harris, and it takes place in a world where vampires have made their presence known to humans. They’ve come out of the coffin, so to speak, because of the development by a Japanese biotech firm of synthetic blood for medical purposes, which the vampires claim fulfills all of their nutritional needs. So they’ve organized, and they’re struggling for assimilation and for equal rights.”

The series focuses though on Anna Paquin’s character, Sookie Stackhouse. She’s a telepathic waitress who befriends one of these newly outed vamps in a small Louisiana town. Hmm, I guess that could prove interesting. However, those faux TruBlood beverage ads confused the heck outta me until I realized it was plugging HBO’s new show. Will viewers be able to tell when Ball is being serious or funny? Will he be able to balance the horror elements with the satire of society?

All I know for sure is vampires are no stranger to the television series format, see “Angel”, “Forever Knight”, or CBS’s now cancelled “Moonlight”. Thus, I’m sure a few fans of the genre will be tuning in on September 7th when the series premieres to weigh in on Ball’s take on the vampire mythology.