Can 'True Blood' overcome Emmy curse against vampires?
The Golden Globe-nominated drama series "True Blood" earned a slew of good reviews and socko ratings for its second season premiere last Sunday. And last month it picked up a nod from the TV critics association for best new program. However, to earn an Emmy nod, "True Blood" will have to overcome the TV academy's bias against shows about the supernatural. Remember how that critical darling "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" had a stake driven through her heart for seven successive seasons.
"True Blood" could benefit from the canny scheduling strategy that has reaped Emmy rewards for HBO in the past. While voters considered the merits of previous seasons of HBO series such as "Sex and the City" and "Entourage," new episodes were running on the paycaster. That could well help "True Blood" register in the popular vote of academy members.
"True Blood" 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 universally admired from the outset, this one divided opinions at first.
At Meta Critic, the aggregate score from 27 reviews of the first season was only 62. However, that result was skewed downward by several very harsh notices. Many prominent critics loved the first season, which is the one under Emmy consideration. 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."
By comparison, the second season of "True Blood" earned a solid 74 at Meta Critic based on 15 reviews of the premiere. Among those who found the show to their liking was Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly. He admitted, "I was slow to catch on to 'Blood's' allure: My review of the debut season, based on seeing its first few episodes, was chilly-to-negative. But I'm glad I watched the whole first season before settling down to these new episodes. 'Blood' is telling terrific Southern gothic tales with a potent mixture of freaky scariness and great country music."
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Photos: HBO (left), 20th Century Fox TV (right)
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Buffy had another problem -- at its best, it just wasn't very good. The cast wasn't coming from a background in solid film and acting education and never really got past that.
Posted by: Lauren | June 25, 2009 at 01:48 PM
I had gotten a slow start with the show during the first season. Once I started watching it I was absolutely hooked. Its about time we have a truly original tv show like this. I cannot tell you how sick I am of reality tv. Bring on some great sci fi. Give it the recognition it deserves. It is original and bold. I would like to see emmy nods for the show as well as Stephen Moyer, who is amazing, and Anna Paquin. The rest of the cast is also wonderful. Pure entertainment.
Posted by: Nia | June 20, 2009 at 12:02 PM
I guess I'm against the reviewers trend. I liked Season 1 a lot, but felt the Season 2 premiere was underwhelming.
Posted by: DoctorMontalban | June 18, 2009 at 04:58 PM
it's an okay show.
nothing special about it. plot:average.
acting: so so.
Posted by: David | June 18, 2009 at 12:32 PM
I feel the show does have a chance for Best Drama. It is a well written and acted show. Let's hope the Academy recognizes it.
Posted by: westaz | June 17, 2009 at 05:57 PM
Being on HBO means that the show has a 150% better chance of being nominated for Emmys than "Buffy" ever did. Emmy doesn't like sci-fi, but they liked WB/UPN/CW even less, ignoring even the geezer-friendly "Gilmore Girls" and the autobiographical sitcom of Emmy darling Chris Rock. I don't think "True Blood" will be nominated for Best Drama Series, but Paquin has a decent shot. Writing, directing, and a bunch of tech nods are possible as well.
Posted by: 742 | June 17, 2009 at 12:35 PM