Monday, November 10, 2008

Is True Blood the Best Show on Cable?

In my opinion it is.

True Blood was created by Alan Ball, who you may recall was the brains behind HBO's previous hit, Six Feet Under. Until this show began, I would easily say Six Feet Under held the mantle of being my favorite show to ever air on HBO, which is no small feat, considering the company the show kept.

Set in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisianna, True Blood centers around the characters of Sookie Stackhouse and her Vampire boyfriend, Bill Compton. Sookie, played by Anna Paquin (X-Men), is a waitress with a big secret... she's a Telepath. Season One so far has dealt with Sookie's budding relationship with Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a Vampire born again during the Civil War. Surrounded by an incredible supporting cast, Paquin and Moyer bring real-life relationship issues to the screen, but with a big supernatural twist.

I would go so far as to say True Blood is easily one of the best Sci-Fi shows on TV right now. It took the season to get in a couple of episodes before it REALLY picked up, but right from the bat you'll be hooked. I can tell you now, that if you're just starting to watch, it only gets better and better. It seems like each week something even crazier than the last happens, and every episode leaves you with a breathless cliffhanger.

I can't imagine this show ever airing on a channel other than HBO (or any of the other pay channels) simply because the raw, gritty, dirty feeling it gives you couldn't come across on any of those mediums. Part of the appeal from True Blood is in just how dirty it makes you feel.

The story... well... suffice to say the Vampire guy, Human girl thing has been done to death. However, True Blood is honestyly unlike anything you've ever seen or read before. It takes that basic plot, and then slams it against a tree, and then rips its heart out. The plot is completely original, thanks to Charlaine Harris, who wrote the series of books that inspired the show.

In True Blood, Japanese scientist's have invented synthetic blood, and vampires have progressed from legendary monsters to fellow citizens overnight. They call this the "Coming Out". Meanwhile humans have begun to consider themselves safe, some even marrying and loving Vampires, but many remain apprehensive about these creatures they only knew in nightmares as children. Religious leaders and government officials around the world have chosen their sides, which is usually shown via a TV news report, or magazine cover (Angelina Adopts Vampire Baby!) but in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps, the jury is still out. Bon Temps is, simply put, as backwoods as it gets.

Like I mentioned before, the entire supporting cast is made up of lesser-known actors who could each probably carry a show themselves. You begin to care for these characters, and often find yourself wondering if you'd make the choice to become a Vampire, or stay loyal to your own humanity.

If you like Vampires, this is obviously a show for you... but if you're looking for a show that delivers non-stop intrigue, suspense, and entertainment... then you owe it to yourself to check out True Blood, and see what it's all about.

10 comments:

  1. True Blood is a fuckin bad ass show.

    But on cable television? Sorry but True Blood has yet to touch the power of The Shield. Then I would have to give the #2 spot to Californication. Then some True Blood, and then in #4 is Entourage.

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  2. I'm actually going to have to go with Devon on this one. I'm not a huge follower of shows, but i've watched the Shield and Californication, but neither hooked me like True Blood. I'm not a vampire enthusiast or anything like some, but it happened to be on casually, and the story hooked me and now we have to watch weekly. Damn good twists, damn good story, damn good show.

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  3. What twists?

    Anyways, as far as The Shield goes if you did not watch Season 1 Episode 1 and started from there, of course it's not going to appeal, The Shield is in it's 7th season and it is still pulling stuff from season 1 through 6 as part of it's storylines. You can't afford to miss anything.

    As for True Blood, I have missed around 4 episodes, but when I get back to watching, I feel like I haven't missed anything. Now that's not entirely a bad thing but on the same side, it means the show is also really predictable. I haven't been surprised or anything in True Blood, I knew she would find out Sam was a dog/shape shifter, I knew the crazy voodoo lady was a fake, and I knew poor Milton was gonna end up dead. Yawn. No one on the face of the planet thought Lem would get a grenade sandwich, and no one thought Karen was gonna ditch her wedding reception to jump in the car with Hank.

    True Blood is an awesome show, just predictable.

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  4. I don't know if "twists" would be the word for it, but they've definitely had some crazy plot developments. I didn't expect to learn everything we did from Sam last night. Not only is he one of potentially thousands of shape shifters, but he also said there's werewolves and all kinds of other shit out there. The scene last night with the Vampire court... wtf man, where have you ever seen some shit like that before? It was completely new to the Vampire stories we're used to. Kinda reminded me of a scene in one of the Twilight books though... but that's another story.

    I've never watched The Shield, but I will say that FX has some damn good shows. I've been loving me some Nip/Tuck for years. Fucking LOVED Damages, and now Sons of Anarchy has me hooked.

    Somehow never got around to watching the Sheild. Maybe I'll download em.

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  5. I mean True Blood, not True Blodd, see, got me all riled up fuckers.

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  6. Well then this is where I pull my vampire show card and say Buffy kicked the shit out of True Blodd and Twilight and without Buffy there would be neither.

    Even though Riley and the whole monster military shit was fuckin RETARDED.

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  7. Buffy shmuffy. That show was my favorite when I was like 13. That's like comparing apples to bananas.

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  8. Yes but, without Buffy, there would be no True Blood, or Twilight.

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  9. There would too be True Blood. It had nothing to do with Vampires initially. The show is based of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, which Alan Ball picked up one day while running early to a dentist's appointment. He decided it would be better to develop it around Vampires, because people would buy in to that.

    Twilight though... Stephanie Meyer is a dumb Mormon twat who can hardly write worth a shit anyways... so I'll give you that one.

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  10. Yes but if Buffy wasn't so popular, I doubt he would have thought making it about vampires would be such a good idea.

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