True Blood

[Z...]

Just got hooked on this TV series.
At first it was very cool, atmospheric and artistic opening credits that got my attention, then slowly I was sucked in the mysteries surrounding telepathic waitress in small Louisiana town.
I haven't been mesmerized with TV show like this every since the Twin Peaks. Apart from the shape shifters, vampires, demonic maenads, werewolves, and southern accents this show IMO has excellent and not at all superficial characterization, possibly because it is based on the series of novels - Sookie Stackhouse - Southern Vampire Mysteries. Which I will most certainly never read ;)

In any case I was wondering if anyone else around here appreciates this show- or something is wrong with me :)
I thought I got over vampire genre long time ago and this was certainly unexpected.

 

[Mrs.Tigersoap]

Hi SK,

I must confess that we like it as well. The fact that we also immediately liked it is probably not a very good sign, though :/ (you did use the words 'hooked' and 'mesmerized'...). That makes me think of the Avatar thread..
The fact that vampires are depicted as psychopaths (well, apart from Vampire Bill) is a nice change in the vampire genre. They are usually depicted 'just like us but better and sexier'. The shape-shifters, etc. also add interest. And that Southern accent, I love it! Alan Ball created the show. He's the guy behind Six Feet Under, so maybe that's why the characters seem very interesting and 'profound'.

Some scenes are sometimes a bit OTT, though...

While watching the show, we were wondering with Tigersoap if in a (distant?) future, psychopaths would try (like the vampires in the series), should they be exposed, to have their own rights, etc. as if they were a minority, etc. That was a scary thought...

I'm concerned that once again, even though vampires are not so nice in True Blood, some people (women?) will still find them sexy and mysterious. There are already enough women in real life who are attracted to very sinisters beings and having their lives wrecked by them.

 

[Tigersoap]

I agree, it's my secret shame as well

It is the "adult" twilight in a sense, Alan Ball (who wrote six feet under) has the knack to make the characters and situations interesting.

It's a good serie but I can't help but to notice that it keeps making the vampire attractive and cool and excuses a lot of ponerized behaviors. To be watched if forwarned about the dangers of psychopathy imho.

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Blood

 

[Z...]

What I liked the most are little subplots. Like Tara and her alcoholic mother with exorcism and hints of spirit attachments. The woman that performs the "exorcism" does unleash something and eventually pays for it. The dwarf healer was great character as well.

I disagree that parallel of vampires with psychopaths is so clear cut as the Fellowship of the Sun followers are no better.

And yes, the Louisiana accent is simply a melody to my ears :)

 

[Gimpy]

I haven't been mesmerized with TV show like this every since the Twin Peaks. Apart from the shape shifters, vampires, demonic maenads, werewolves, and southern accents this show IMO has excellent and not at all superficial characterization, possibly because it is based on the series of novels - Sookie Stackhouse - Southern Vampire Mysteries. Which I will most certainly never read Wink

I'm the opposite, I've read almost all the books, but will never see the TV show. :D

The character of Sookie Stackhouse kept me reading the series, but I've since stopped it having gotten sick and tired of vampires. ;)

 

[Tigersoap]

I disagree that parallel of vampires with psychopaths is so clear cut as the Fellowship of the Sun followers are no better.

Yup, it's not clear cut, many characters have flaws but it still plays along the good vampire/bad vampire love relationship that marks the genre, hence my comment.
Although the Sookie character has more strength she still falls in love for the bad guy who is different

Funny that it's called the fellowship uh ??!!:D

 

[Masamune]

Hi Stormy Knight, yes I got hooked on the show also. My roommate and also my parents kept trying to get me to watch it the first season but I only saw like 2 episodes. Then I started watching the second season and I really liked it.

I like all of the supernatural elements covered in the series and liked how they had vampism, spirit possession/releasement, references to healthy foods (organic), and how the v made their perception greatly enhanced (like tasting the earth that their food was grown in and experiencing the trees as alive). Also it kind of exposed religion as a cult like experience.

I didn't like how they portrayed the vampires as the heroes though. I don't think that they were necessarily psychopathic, just normal people who have been fed upon and thus have to feed on others and become cold and emotionless. The main characters all ended up becoming friends of the vampires and seemed to glorify that type of vampiric lifestyle.

One scene I found interesting was when Kara (I think thats her name) finally started to figure out it was bad to associate with the maenad and her friends and decided to move out of that house. So the maenad followed her to her job and from outside did her strange dance and started to affect all of the people in the bar. She exerted her influence over all of the normal people there and made them act very mean to Kara. Kara had a horrible night and eventually broke down from all of the negativity from everyone. As soon as she left work the maenad was right there to comfort her and bring her back to the house and made her feel comfortable again. Kara was lured right back into the dangerous situation of living with this evil being.

 

[Z...]

Its Tara :) - There is a bit in the first season where she says that her mother efd her up not just with the alcoholic lifestyle but also with the name of slave owners plantation - being African American :)

I also thought Maenad character was very well portrayed.

 

[Cyre2067]

I also enjoy the show when it's running, unfortunately they killed off my favorite character - Godric, or rather - he killed himself off...

 

[anart]

I'm curious about how much television you all watch?

~added later - I'm not going to come down on you for it ;) - just really curious, since it seems to be more than I would have thought - knowing what we know about tv and all. ;) ~

 

[Z...]

Good question.
well I am rather watching it on my lap top, usually my assistant downloads all the TV shows, we happen to like same shows and she brings every week bunch of new episodes which I happily accept. In fact it was her who introduced me to True Blood . Btw she is the girl in early twenties - thats why I thought something must be wrong with me :)
Greys anatomy, True Blood, Dr. House. Sometimes I flick through Discovery, National Geographic, History or Cartoon network.

I'd say on average 10-12 h a week.
When I have a long day of hard work and I get home late - the only way to unwind is in front of the TV :(
I read work related stuff all the time and sadly I lost a habit of reading for fun

 

[Cyre2067]

Eh I don't really watch TV at all. I catch Glee and the new V series when they're on, but they've been off since November. So mostly it's 0 hours of TV, but probably like 5-7 movies a week. I like DVDs. True blood is the only other thing I watch and that's been off for a few months.

 

[Masamune]

I'm curious about how much television you all watch?

~added later - I'm not going to come down on you for it ;) - just really curious, since it seems to be more than I would have thought - knowing what we know about tv and all. ;) ~

I don't watch any television at all, but if I find a show that I actually like I will watch that usually on demand somewhere (internet or tv) and skip all the commercials. Recently I have only liked true blood and v so that is pretty much all I have watched. When I am at my parents house I usually flip through the channels a little bit and watch with them. We watch the daily show, bill maher, sports, discovery, or history channel but I mute all the commercials and sometimes just freeze the screen to avoid all the annoying commercials. ;)

 

[Gimpy]

I'm curious about how much television you all watch?

~added later - I'm not going to come down on you for it ;) - just really curious, since it seems to be more than I would have thought - knowing what we know about tv and all. ;) ~

We got rid of cable a couple years ago, and only watch things from Netflix Instant Watch, or dvds.

And it sounds weird, but most of my TV time is spent exercising. I have quite a variety of those "10 minute solutions" and "Pick your level" shows from Instant Watch.

To keep things from being boring I go through two or three during a good day. On bad days I'll be on the recumbent bike and just pedal along slowly. :D That does not mean I do the whole dvd. I just pick one 10 minute set from each, to keep things interesting. For housecleaning, I'll put on music or something I've seen so I can pace myself: Dirty Jobs is a favorite, because my house is always a mess.

My goal for a day is at least 3 sets of 10 minutes. If its a housecleaning day, then its one 45 minute episode of Dirty Jobs, with breaks.

Unless Hubby is home to watch something else, I'm busy maintaining mobility, cooking, or cleaning something. (Or playing with fabric, as I love to sew when I can)

It all depends on how my body is doing for the day.

 

[Franco]

I'm curious about how much television you all watch?

~added later - I'm not going to come down on you for it ;) - just really curious, since it seems to be more than I would have thought - knowing what we know about tv and all. ;) ~

Disconnected our TV service about 2 years ago, we just watch movies and series now.

Can't say i miss all the advertising and bad programs, if i could select specific programs like National Geographic, that might be nice.