V good
Ah, True Blood ... who knew my next favourite US TV import would be about vampires? I have no interest in vampires as a rule, having allowed Buffy to pass me by, and correctly adjudged Twilight to be for people under half my age, but the magic words "Alan" and "Ball" drew me to True Blood, having thoroughly enjoyed American Beauty and Six Feet Under, and - although here he is adapting another writer's work from source, that is the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris - you know you're onto a winner with the master. (Also, he's from Georgia, so clearly has an instinctive geographical "feel" for the Louisiana setting.)
Another winner from HBO, it's showing here on the abidingly essential FX channel, which is one of the few reasons I hang on to my Sky subscription - as it's not on Freeview or Freesat, for, one imagines, Murdoch-related reasons - True Blood hooked me in from the off, and now, having cheekily raced through the best part of season one due to press discs, I'm convinced it is inching its way towards being a modern classic. Usually referred to as Southern Gothic, which it undoubtedly is, this is more than just the story of virginal, extra-sensorily perceptive waitress Sookie (Ana Paquin in the role of her career) and her pan-ethnic relationship with vampire Bill (The Grand's Stephen Moyer, gone to America and everything) in a parallel present where blooduckers have been granted equal rights with complicated socio-sexual consequences and vampires desiring to "go mainstream" and integrate drink commercially available blood substitute called True Blood, while humans crave V Juice (vampire blood) for kicks. It's really the story of a small town, Bon Temps, and its interweaving plotlines. It would be easy to sell on the frankness of its sex, or the gushingness of its gore, but it's about far more than sucking and fucking in the Body Heat heat - it's a soap opera, concerned equally with gossip and gravestones, family and fangs, humour and horror.
Certainly, the lead characters - and by extension the actors - are a statuesque lot, easy on the eye and often glimpsed in states of undress, or at least in vests for the humid weather: Moyer, Paquin, Ryan Kwanten (who plays the world's most toned council employee, Jason, and used to be on Home & Away), Rutina Wesley (Tara), Lizzy Caplan (Amy), Nelson Ellis (Lafayette, pumped-up combination drug drealer/gay porn star/short-order cook) and Alexander Skarsgard (last seen as the hypnotic Iceman in Generation Kill, now the king of the vampires on account of his age and, presumably, height). But it's more than just a beauty contest - dismiss it as The OC with added haemoglobin at your peril. The other townsfolk are just as interesting: Sheriff Dearborne, Detective Andy Bellefleur, Lettie Mae, Hoyt, Arlene, Adele, Rene ... you're getting the impression that I'm sucked into this, and I am. Unlike that other hit from HBO, The Wire, it seems to win awards over there. And whether it's explicitly or implicitly post-Katrina is really up to you.
Like Six Feet Under, its use of existing music is smart and offbeat (in recent episodes of True Blood, we've heard The Eagles Of Death Metal, Allen Touissant, Cat Power, Heaven 17, Lynrd Skynrd, a cover of The Cure's Just Like Heaven by The Watson Twins, and Sweet Jane by the Cowboy Junkies), and like Six Feet Under, its credit sequence is worthy of an award all by itself: a beguiling, swampy montage of Louisiana verite, deftly mixing up the show's themes of death, religion and nature - a baptism here, a rattlesnake there, some flash frames of what can only be described as sexual congress, a Klan baby ... It can, and should, be seen here (and the song, Bad Things, is by a country artist I'd never heard of called Jace Everett, before you ask).
Interested? If you don't have FX, it's being shown on C4 later this year, except with certain cuts made to the sex and violence so that it can be shown at 9pm. Drained of a certain amount of blood, then.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 3:36 PM
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Quick plug - if you have missed the first four episodes you can catch them every night this week at midnight on FX.
Bravo. Our tastes have overlapped again. I don't just read this blog in a "he likes what I like" way, but I have been led by you to a couple of good finds.
In this case though I found True Blood a few months ago and sucked the first season dry. We've now broken the skin of season two using The Method That Dare Not Speak Its Name, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
(Thanks for the correction to my blog entry, Stephen - which is why I pruned that bit out of your message! I'm working way too hard.)
I thought C4 had an 'If you can't show it uncut don't show it at all' policy? Are they showing it uncut at another time or is this a radical shift?
-avodaith
I first saw this when the non-broadcast pilot episode leaked on to the internet and I've been hooked ever since.
I only realised the other week that I'd seen Stephen Moyer before in the British vampire series Ultraviolet; I don't suppose he played a vampire in The Grand as well, did he?
I like what I've seen of True Blood, but didn't American Gothic cover much the same territory a decade or so ago?
I'll give it a try on FX, I'm enjoying the wire on BBC2 23.20
you do seem to be overworking youreself Andrew. I noticed you updated blog comments seemingly less than a minute before you were on film24 after you were stressed and fed up you had overbooked yourself.
As much as we all enjoy these blogs and twitters greatly theyre not life support neccesities. I suggest you relax more try meditation have more andrew time pamper yourself. We don't want you to burn yourself out.
I realise I may sound preachy and sanctimonious but trust Its coming from a positive headspace of love and harmony dude, Hat's off to you anyway, peace out
It's a great show. It takes a little while to get into I found, but then once it's got its fangs into you, you're hooked. Loved series one and enjoying series two immensely.
Ok, I'm sold. I was/is a BIG '6 Feet Under' fan, am fond of the more convincing bits of the vampire genré and have FX, so I'm looking forward to this :D)
The second season is finishing up in America at the moment, and it's still full of ideas. It's nice to see a show like this where every episode ends in a cliffhanger, too.
Can't say I'm a fully paid up member of the Ball brigade just yet as I didn't really appreciate American Beauty, but I think Six Feet Under is next on the box set list.
I've watched eight episodes and really tried to like it. It's on HBO and comes from the creator of Six Feet Under, which I love, but I've really struggled with True Blood.
Apart from the sex and violence I find the rest of it pretty dull. The characters are mostly unintelligent or folksy caricatures, or both. Shows such as The Wire and The Sopranos had characters who weren't necessarily academically educated but they were often intelligent whereas the characters in True Blood are idiots.
Been watching series 1 all day and am mightily drawn in. Sexy, sultry and with great music and interesting plotlines, why is everything good in this world on HBO? Thank heavens someone invented downloading, darn those Americans and their addictive television!
Sarky_lass
Has the show Carnivale made it to your shores yet? It is spectacular, disturbing, dark and fascinating. Looks like a well-financed film. And Breaking Bad? Such a gripping plot and engaging characters. Sorry if I've missed your blog post(s) on either show. I think you and your readers would enjoy them.
I don't know what the specifics will be for this, but I know that C4 have previously cut a number of different versions of this kind of prog (Lost, Desperate Housewives etc) to enable repeats throughout the day - all times, post 6pm, post 8pm, post watershed, post 11pm, all different versions with different edits - so I'll be surprised (and frankly quite annoyed) if they don't show the uncut version at some point, as a late-night repeat, though they probably won't advertise the fact.
Hope so anyway. Looks like this is nicely timed, as I'm already sadly eyeing the moment in about 4 weeks when The Wire finishes on BBC2 and a void will be opening once more in my soul... (I think I may be the only person in the world who is watching The Wire at BBC2 pace?)
It's a fabulous show! My girlfriend told me to watch it over the weekend, and I was instantly hooked.
Tara is one of the funniest characters I've ever seen in an American show - so much rage! Plus she's very, very attractive.
Breaking Bad is also a great show, but I was never taken with Carnivale. Seemed a bit old hat from the first few episodes I saw.
Why can't we (the British) make good TV shows. The most creative thing British TV execs have done lately is change the film in the cameras shooting The Bill. Says it all, really.
Andrew, what are your thoughts on Tarvuism? www.tarvu.com
I wonder if they made certain, when designing the opening credits, that exactly half way through the credits there would be a nice image of a lady's back and bottom in nice lingerie. After all, they must know that Youtube uses the mid-point of the clip as the preview image.
I approve. Lady's bottoms are nice.
Must get around to watching True Blood. I've been meaning to for a while, but this review and the opening sequence have nudged me closer to doing something about it!
Episode one was pretty dreadful, so I won't be going back.
Going to try out that Exciting New American Drama called Hung this week. I have a feeling I'll be similarly unimpressed.
There's just so much rubbish to wade through out there...
Hiya,
You can avoid Murdoch like I do by getting Tiscali instead.
I love the books, they're a real unguilty pleasure (I like to have a balance of high and low culture in my life). No TV so I will have to wait for the DVD, but I am looking forward very much.
Also, Buffy is surely the best TV show there has ever been. When it's still highly regarded in 10 years time, will you watch it then, Andrew?
Try the books, Andrew! They are a great series. I haven't watched any of True Blood yet but am stacking it up on my Sky box to look forward to.
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