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.

Sad but true, I’ve been keeping up with “Moonlight”, a vampire detective show starring Alex O’Loughlin.

It’s not very good, actually some of the dialogue is down right terrible, but it’s a guilty pleasure that I can’t seem to shake. I’m not like those crazy fans giving blood or anything. I can relax and laugh at this show instead of how serious I need to be for “Lost”.

I’d mostly forgotten about it due to the strike gap, but yesterday, I noticed two episodes waiting for me on my Tivo DVR. As it turns out there’s only two more eps left to go. CBS has been quite mum on saying if it’ll be renewed. But hey, didn’t it win a People’s Choice award? That’s gotta count for something. Plus, Mick St. John is pretty easy on the eyes (despite his Criss Angel wardrobe), so I’m sure it’s doing well with the female demographic.

“Moonlight“, a thinly veiled “Angel” rip-off, airs Fridays at 9pm on CBS.

Through the wonders of netflix, I was reminded of “Forever Knight“. I didn’t actually watch it when it was on network television. The Sci Fi Channel was where I saw most of the episodes, and typically out of order. Thus, it was news to me that Rick Springfield starred in the original tv movie from which the series was based upon. And only until I saw the dvd boxes did I learn that there were three seasons, thus it being dubbed “The Forever Knight Trilogy”.

“Forever Knight” tells the tale of the vampire detective, Nicholas Knight (Geraint Wyn Davies). He’s an 800 year old vampire, hailing from France, who wants to make amends for his violent ways by solving murders. He even seems to think at some point he can become mortal again. This mortality dream is strung along for the lifetime of the series.

Nick’s arch enemy is Lacroix (Nigel Bennett), the vampire who sired him. Lacroix finds it completely unacceptable that Nick does not embrace his vampiric instincts. And thus, they play an endless game of cat and mouse.

It’s not the best vampire genre show, “Angel” is much much better since that show tried to expand on the myth. Forever Knight plays up all the vampire stereotypes and simply interweaves them into the standard murder procedural outline. Nevertheless, it is entertaining to watch, even if the effects seem a bit cheesy now. Davies excels in the role and really gets the viewer to empathize with his plight.