August 30 2008
HBO's "True Blood" strikes while the vampires are hot.
Alan Ball's new vampire show draws the inevitable comparisons with our BTVS.
This thread has been closed for new comments.
You need to log in to be able to post comments.
About membership.
I was a fan of Six Feet Under-- But I thought the last three episodes were an insult to the integrity of the show. Ruth mourns, grieves and recovers in ONE final episode...and I found that a truly stupid ending for another wise ground breaking show.
Buffy was not about "weird", it was about being human, adolescence AND growing up. And.....yes kids... Season 5 and Season 6 were about death and mourning. So when I saw Ruth being "ok" only a short time after the death of her son-- I not only balked but found it repugnant-- the show after all was about how the family was emotionally stunted.
But I will watch this one with an open mind.
hbojo | August 30, 09:32 CET
What ? she doesn't recover, she's absolutely devastated, but the final episode takes place a while after her son's death.
I thought Six Feet Under had the best series finale ever, it was just perfect.
I don't see how True Blood can be as good as SFU, or Buffy, but I will definitely watch it.
Nico-Angel | August 30, 09:49 CET
Hang on a minute, they cancelled Deadwood afer 3 seasons, and promised Movies that never happened. Now where have I heard something like that before? Oh well I'll still give a shot.
The Do That Girl | August 30, 10:06 CET
I think you will find the show has very little to compare with Buffy (at least not what I've seen).
Maybe this show will open a few eyes, but I would not want people to make any comparisons 'before' it has aired - If you are lucky enough to see a preview I think you will agree that this is some different that has not been shown before (or at least different enough to be something new)
Zol. | August 30, 10:18 CET
It's on the continuum of Anne Rice and NEAR DARK.
And just because you enjoyed SFU, certainly doesn't automatically mean you'll be enjoying TRUE BLOOD, natch. But Ball is a clever enough fellow, in general, to make it worth a try.
ProgGrrl | August 30, 11:17 CET
Watching a few interviews with Ball, I got the feeling that he is a little bit worried that the vampire thing will scare off some of the viewers he's looking to reach-or something like that. Cause he's said a couple of things that don't seem to jibe, although they are not absolutely contradictory.
At one point, he says he's never watched Buffy or read an Ann Rice book; at another point that he's checked out just about "every vampire movie ever made." Why would some one do one, and not the other? He can't possibly think he's the only person ever to use vampire mythology metaphorically?
Anyway, I think it has possibilities...the main character, a waitress, is a very down to earth character who happens to be able to read (most) minds, and doesn't take herself too seriously.
toast | August 30, 11:20 CET
It appears that a major theme of True Blood is going to be the vampire as surrogate for various despised and feared minority groups. There are also race and class issues in the books which will at least be touched on in the series.
The obvious parallel to Buffy is the romance. I agree with ProGirl on the Anne Rice connection; it's most obvious in the vampire night clubs.
janef | August 30, 11:33 CET
Tonya J | August 30, 11:41 CET
ManEnoughToAdmitIt | August 30, 12:44 CET
bobw1o | August 30, 13:24 CET
(she plays her really well too I thought, quite a few issues with the rest of it but she was pretty decent. And pretty pretty too ;)
Saje | August 30, 13:29 CET
That said, using metaphor to explore persecution of minority groups has been done before - anywhere from Dark Angel and BSG to Harry Potter.
Effulgent | August 30, 14:19 CET
Loved Paquin's southern accent (I love that accent anyway :D)
I'm going to watch it when it officially airs.
Krusher | August 30, 14:21 CET
Not to mention X-Men, maybe the prototype for that idea.
Saje | August 30, 14:29 CET
Tonya J | August 30, 14:29 CET
Saje | August 30, 14:39 CET
Ah, that's why he looks so familiar! But he looks a lot older than in Ultraviolet. On a different topic, what a shame Ultraviolet only ran for one season.
Effulgent | August 30, 15:00 CET
Nebula1400 | August 30, 18:25 CET
Shapenew | August 31, 00:37 CET
And yay, I like John Billingsley.
But he looks a lot older than in Ultraviolet. On a different topic, what a shame Ultraviolet only ran for one season.
Well that was 10 years ago now, we've all passed a lot of water since then ;) and the character's presumably meant to be old too and have that "heroin chic" thing going on. And yep, real shame they didn't do more 'Ultraviolet', I think there was plenty of room for them in the mythology. Course, Idris Elba might not have got 'The Wire' in that case, big clouds from little drops condense.
Saje | August 31, 01:17 CET
I rented it on Friday, but haven't watched it yet.
UnpluggedCrazy | August 31, 06:11 CET
doghouse | August 31, 10:32 CET
Nebula1400 | August 31, 19:05 CET
UnpluggedCrazy | August 31, 20:01 CET
Tonya J | September 01, 14:38 CET
[ edited by Tonya J on 2008-09-02 03:11 ]
Tonya J | September 01, 18:10 CET