Results tagged “vampires” from jsstudios.com

Sunday the new series, Trueblood, started on HBO and I tuned in to watch it.

The basic premise of the show is that vampires have "come out of the coffin" since they can now get their minimum daily requirement of synthetic blood from any store that happens to carry it. They no longer need to go romping through the hillsides to find young, hot women to bite in the neck. As a result little towns everywhere are beginning to struggle with the thought that their populations will soon suffer an onslaught of legions of vampires who now want to mesh with mainstream society.

The star of the show ( and shown to the left ) is Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, the local tavern waitress. She's not your average girl. She happens to be able to hear everyone's ( except vampires' ) thoughts. This ability comes in handy when costar and vampire ( Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton ) is being setup by a couple of rednecks who want to drain his blood and sell it on the black market. She saves him from his unexpected fate and the two seem to be made for each other.

But Sookie's life is not without turmoil. Her friends ( Rutina Wesley as sassy, Tara Thornton and Sam Trammell as Sookie's employer, Sam Merlotte ) aren't sure how they feel about vampires - but they do know that they believe she ( and their backwoods, Louisiana town ) may be better off without them. Furthermore, Sookie's brother ( Ryan Kwanten as Jason Stackhouse ) is the primary suspect in a murder investigation.

As with any HBO series, there's no shortage of sex, skin, language and violence. Given the sultry and seductive nature of vampire legends, I expect that episodes to come will probably get better and better. And the first episode left no doubt. Within 30 minutes of the first episode the viewer gets a glimpse into the perverted sex life of at least two characters. Thankfully the kids weren't in the room.

Vampires have never really been my thing, but I believe the story could just as easily be setup with INSERT SCORNED CLASS OF PEOPLE HERE. For example, "We dont want those GAYS|NON-WHITES|OTHER RELIGIONS people in our little, podunk Louisiana community." But, as with many new vampire stories, there is apt to be new spins on the vampire traditions and legends that will assist in creating compelling stories.

The bottom line: HBO has already had no problem hooking me as a regular viewer with such hits as The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Deadwood. I expect that Trueblood will be no exception to the rule.

How about you? Is Trueblood going to be a must-see?

I'm slowly catching up on the stuff I wasn't able to watch during the week. The series premier for Moonlight just happened to be one of them.

Moonlight is a new series in which the main character, Mick St. John ( Alex O'Loughlin ), is not only a crime-solving detective, but a vampire as well. You can forget everything that you already know about vampires. He isn't scared of crucifixes or garlic. He doesn't sleep in a coffin. Instead he sleeps in a freezer. And it's not one like you might store your spare t-bones in.

He doesn't need to hunt young women in their sleep or prowl the night in search of fresh blood. He gets his from his own supplier. Although, other myths remain true. While he can roam about during the night, sunlight is something that sucks the power from him. He can heal himself as most vampires do recover from their injuries. He does have super-human strength and will most likely kick your ass if you piss him off enough. The only thing that will destroy him is separating his head from his body or fire.

Sophia Myles plays Beth Turner, the meddling reporter / web-caster. She has the right mix of good looks, curiosity and pushiness to get the scoop. Oh, and did I mention she's kinda hot too? It seems like her and Mick are gonna be paired up a bit as the two try to solve crimes. It's quite natural for them to end up together. He saved her a long time ago when she was a child from another vampire. The premiere leaves you wondering if Mick's "real" identity is going to be revealed to her or not as we see history repeating itself when he saves her from the killer they are after.

Last fall I suggested that mainstream audiences might not be ready for a show like Heroes. Boy was I wrong. I'm almost tempted to say the same thing about Moonlight. I like the show and I'd like to see more of it. It's something fresh, something new, and as Mick says, "Vampires are coming back into fashion." But, will mainstream viewers accept it and like it as much as me? I don't think having the premier on Friday night is going to really help it's success. Time will tell.

How about you? Do you think it will last?