True Blood - Something New To Look Forward To
I was over in the States a couple of weeks ago chasing my missing shirt that I thought might be in the head office of Lehman Brothers. Unfortunately it was not and I'm still trying to locate it.
During some downtime I caught a new series called TRUE BLOOD on HBO. Tremendous stuff. Its created by Alan Ball the man behind Six Feet Under and the writer of American Beauty. It stars Anna Paquin she of The Piano (Second-YoungestOscar) and Rogue of X-Men.
It also stars as seems to be the case in these HBO series, Stephen Moyer of the parish of Brentwood Essex.
The take is vampires co-existing with humans now that they are legal. The story takes place in a small Louisiana town and follows the fortunes of Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress at a diner, and her relationship with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).
Its not out here yet, but it will be and I think its going to be worth your time especially now that they've got the second series.
And its very Racy and very violent in a HBO kinda way.
The first 6 episodes are already out there if you get my drift.
I think this one is going to run and run.
Its also got a great music intro. And this is it.
- More from Springer Bell.
- Login or register to post comments
Looks good
Another HBO production with great opening credits. I'll look forward to it appearing here, or maybe I'll have to wait for the DVD.
The guy who appears after about 30 seconds looks rather like Neil Young.
Hmmm...
It's okay, runs a bit short of ideas
See for yourself
I did
Watched 5 so far and think its very good.
http://www.metacritic.com/tv/shows/trueblood
Some very positive reviews there. And otherwise. But you either like that kind of stuff or you don't. I'm just interested as to where this will end up. Which is what it's all about in the end. Isn't it?
And its got its second series already signed up.
Title track
Like the title track and according to Shazam on my iPhone, the title is "Bad Things" by Jace Everett. From the album "Bad Things".
Anyone know anything about him ?
Nothing
Seen very good reviews of him but his record company seem to have pulled his stuff, probably with a view to a relaunch.
Southern Vampire mystery novels.
Is this based on a series of books by Charlaine Harris? Some of these elements sound really familiar.
Not Anne Rice though, I lost patience with her writing.
Sookie Stackhouse book series by Charlaine Harris
Well Spotted. Are the books any good? Because I'm really enjoying this.
Quite good
They are pretty good - not life-changing literature but an entertaining yarn. They do contain elements of romance that might be described as Bridget Jones-like.. Obviously the protagonist is female but she's a well-rounded character and the series doesn't descend into mostly sex like at least one other vampire series of novels which I used to follow. Nor are they so wordy that you yearn for the author to find a decent editor.
Iit's much better than Sephenie Meyer's Twilight series which seems to be huge with the kids just now, and will be rammed down everyone's throats (no pun intended) when the film comes out. I only read the first one because it was recommended to me and cheap.
I'm looking forward to seeing True Blood though, I may have to order it on DVD though.
On second thoughts
Actually, after this thread I decided to re-read the books in this series I had and buy the next one (from my point of view that was the third one but there are lots), and I should just add that it is racier than I'd remembered.
So is the series
And I'm up to episode 7
Blade in the Bayou
As high concepts go, this one's a bit of a shortarse, isn't it?
I fang you.
Speak for yourself Bugs
Seriously the pedigree of Alan Ball makes this one a runner. I'll admit that its a genre that doesn't appeal to everyone. But I've seen 5 of the 12 and it looks good to me.
Its not Kung Fu Vampires as Buffy but I'll eat my fake vampire teeth if this one is not around in 4 to 5 seasons.
My problem with most "high concept" series. . .
is that they run out of steam after a while. The formula gets tired so they either just repeat themselves week after week (cf. Gimpy Sarky Medic Who Only Gets Away With It Because He's Like Toadally A Genius) or opt for the shark-jumping gambit (cf. Maverick FBI Agent Who Twigs That Uh-Oh We're Not Alone).
But if this one manages to hold those temptations at bay, more power to its garlic cloves, say I.
Now that I've seen some of this...
I've been watching this series via bit torrent and I concur that it is very good. I shall buy the DVD boxset when there is one, although I may wait for a UK one because I keep getting stung for VAT and import duties from Amazon.com at the moment (worth it for "Wonderfalls" and "Sports Night" though).
I'd say the TV series is actually better constructed the novels one which it's based (at least as far as I've seen and as far as I've read). To be fair in that regard, I believe that this was the first published work by Charlaine Harris so there may be an element of her learning her craft as she goes along. Also the screenwriters have the benefit of knowing where the story is going later on.
Just so I've said it again, I'd still take True Blood or the novels on which it's based before anyone could make me sit through the film version Twilight. Vampires with no hint of sexual undertone is just wrong.