Can vampire drama 'True Blood' put the bite back into HBO's Emmy chances?
HBO is missing from the Emmy race for best drama series for the first time in a decade, but does it have a potential entry for next year with the new series "True Blood"? Sunday night's launch attracted 1.4 million viewers which, as Denise Martin on Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker blog reports, "The 'True Blood' audience was lower than even the last new episode of HBO's 'Big Love,' which delivered 2.88 million in August 2007. And it pales overall when compared with the network's past drama premieres such as 'Big Love' (4.56 million in March 2006), 'Rome' (3.8 'illion in August 2005) and 'Deadwood' (5.79 million in March 2004)."
The series stars Oscar winner Anna Paquin ("The Piano") as a telepathic waitress who falls for a vampire (Stephen Moyer). Oscar winning scripter Alan Ball ("American Beauty") adapted a bestselling series of books by Charlaine Harris to create the show.
The last time Ball handled a series for HBO, the result was "Six Feet Under," which ran for five seasons and was a three-time Emmy nominee for best drama series. While that show was a critical darling, this one drew divided opinions. Over at Meta Critic, the aggregate score from 27 reviews is only 62, but that's somewhat misleading, because it includes many raves and enough pans to drag the final number down.
Matt Roush of TV Guide thought the show, "graphically sexy and scary, and often wildly funny" and judged it to be "a broadly entertaining, deliciously twisted slice of modern Southern Gothic." Misha Davenport of the Chicago Sun-Times found it to be, "bloody, sexy and violent" and said, "the show is also both occasionally funny and frightening." And Robert Bianco of USA Today saw it as, "part mystery, part fantasy, part comedy, and all wildly imaginative exaggeration" and thought it, "proves that there's still vibrant life or death left in the 'star-crossed lovers' paradigm."
Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times was on the fence: "Vampire fantasy, murder mystery, star-crossed love story, political satire, 'True Blood' is all and none of the above. Not quite funny, not quite scary, not quite thought-provoking, the show's attempt to question the roots of prejudice is continually undermined by its own stereotyping."
Then there were those critics who loathed the show. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly found the TV adaptation paled next to the original books: "I'd say that the author is more vivid, subtle, and funny in her portrayal of Southern life; I'll be surprised if her fans aren't disappointed by this adaptation. The best thing about Ball's shows is their opening credits." Ouch! And for Linda Stassi of the New York Post: "'True Blood' won't so much make your blood run cold as it will leave you cold."
(HBO, WB)
Having read the Sookie Stackhouse series multiple times and still can't get enough the show really doesn't do the series justice. Tara in the book owns a clothing store and is nothing absolutely nothing like the character on the show, never was there a crush between her and Jason either. It annoys me that they keep drifting from the main characters story (Bill and Sookie) with these sub plots, like La Fayette and Tara in tonights episode, what was the point of her having him pick her up and them go to that party? What did that really add to the story? And in the first episode where Tara and Lafette are "messing" with a guy who is ordering a drink? What a waste of time. And there is much much better, more interesting story, I'm just dying for her to go to Fangtasia and meet Eric! They really need to quit with all the minor, unimportant scenes, there is 8 amazing, page turning, can't put down books and they have only got to roughly chapter 6 of the first book in 2 hours!! Pick it up Alan Ball or your going to lose your audiances attention fast.
Posted by: Samantha Ing | September 14, 2008 at 09:25 PM
This series is fabulous! It is so entertaining, well-cast and great on every level. The acting is great, storyline, etc. It is exciting, scary, sexy and funny. I am completely hooked. A big fan of Alan Ball's work and this series looks like it will be another winner. Am very surprised at some of the negative comments I've seen when everyone I've spoken with has raved about it also. Give it a chance people, this series is already ass-kicking great fun. Cannot WAIT for the next episode. I've watched re-runs of the first episode 6 or 7 times now it is so well done. From the trailers I've seen and synopsis of the next storyline, Episode 2 looks like another winner and I will be glued to my chair for every minute of this brilliant show! True Blood ROCKS in every way! I just hope they don't kill off any of the great characters....
Posted by: tal | September 14, 2008 at 11:39 AM
I read all the books, and they are kinda fun. But there is NO WAY they can reproduce that on TV. They may make it work, but it will need a totally new vision of what the stories are. Did you see what the SciFi channel did with Jim Butcher's wizard novels? Same problem - you can't make the characters or the scenes work like they do in the books; they just fall flat.
Posted by: Bill | September 12, 2008 at 09:40 PM
It Held my attention but wasn't exactly what I expected. I will watch again though!
Posted by: entertainmenttodayandbeyond | September 12, 2008 at 03:32 PM
I watched the first episode and immediately fell in love with it. I hope it just keeps getting better and better. The only reason why people are bashing this show is because vampires are in it. Nobody gives a good vamp series credit these days. They really SHOULD!!!
Posted by: Brittney Soliah | September 11, 2008 at 11:36 PM
YES! I have turned over the pages of a Harris novel faster than most women get through a cosmo mag. and if the series does her justice I would be the first to forgive HBO for th crap they have put out between the time of Six Feet Under and Carnivale, the last two series I was seriously addicted to. Now if only the cable companies weren't raping the country I would subscribe again just for this show. ...
Posted by: Harris Fan | September 10, 2008 at 07:41 PM