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Well that was fast -- only two outings and HBO renews True Blood lickety-split even though reviews were generally marginal, vampires are a tired premise, and the show is nothing more than a contemporary version of Interview With The Vampire with rough sex and dopey romance thrown in. So here's what HBO brass Richard Plepler and Mike Lombardo won't tell you but my research sources will: the pay channel is desperate. Sundays have been so decimated that the key adult 18-to-49 demo is down an average 60% from last year to this year. Eyeballs have sank as well. Sundays in 2003-2004 averaged 2.2 million households, then in 2006-2007 plunged to 1 million, then in 2007-2008 bottomed to just 343,000.
Now comes this salacious drivel based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series of books. And its pisspoor writing demonstrates that either Oscar and Emmy winner Alan Ball (American Beauty and Six Feet Under) is phoning it in or else he's got a talent-less nephew with the same name. (What he does have is his UTA agent Sue Naegle now prez of HBO Entertainment.) So HBO gives it a decent launch with all the usual hype and glory so audiences are fooled into thinking there's finally something good on. And the first Sunday night airing attracts 899,000 viewers, which is way better than any other series on the channel recently. And then the second Sunday night jumps 37% to 1.2 million plus substantial gains across all demos. And the series winds up ranked #9 among all cable shows with adults 18-49 and #8 with women 18-49 its second week out, which is meaningful since HBO only has 32% penetration nationwide.
So Plepler and Lombardo now think they're heroes. I'm here to tell them they're not. True Blood is the definition of craptastic. When Alan Ball was first pitching it, he told HBO, ''This is popcorn TV for smart people.'' But I felt like a dumbass for watching all four advance episodes expecting some kind of intelligent life to emerge on the small screen. And if the pay channel bosses had half a brain between them, and taste that wasn't in their mouths, they'd feel ashamed to feed this junky show to HBO's already malnourished viewers.
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true blood is a terrible show – terrible script, terrible acting, terrible production… why in the world would HBO renew?!
Props to HBO for their second-to-none marketing department, but Showtime originals are hands-down cable’s best lineup.
if you dont like it, DONT WATCH IT! simple
What Andrewmsv said with exclaimation marks after it.
What the hell happened to HBO? It used to be the place to be for top notch projects and the Emmy was more than likely to go to HBO than anyone else.
How the mighty have fallen.
the renewed it douchenugget, because it’s a great show
True Blood is fantastic. I subscribed to HBO for the first time ever just to catch Alan Ball’s latest gem and I am so very glad that I did.
It’s a terrible show, Rob, but your comment explains why you may like it. All derivatives of the word douche are passe.
Keep living in the past.
True Blood? Yawn.
I think the show is building pretty well. The 3rd ep. looks to be a doozy.
That said… HBO has never to my mind said why they canceled Deadwood.
Deadwood was gaining momentum plus it already had the critics gushing.
HBO mentioned plans for two 2 hour movies to bring closure. But even that seems gone with the wind. HBO at least gave ROME’s creators the heads up and allowed them to bring season 2 to a proper closure. HBO’s first mis-step was the way they handled Carnivale. I mean the greatest in terms of acting/writing show HBO ever aired was the Wire and no one seemed to tune in yet it got a deserved 5 seasons. But Deadwood was fast becoming a real hit. Maybe not Soprano’s but close.
What is going on over there? At least there’s Entourage, Curb and Flight of the Concords.
But I still will give HBO dramas a look. And I also agree that since Dead like Me Showtime has finally ‘gotten it’ with Brotherhood and Weeds. But for my money it’s FX that has really brought the heat with The Shield, Rescue Me and It’s Always Sunny In Philly.
agreed, this is a total stinker. couldn’t even follow the pilot enough to pay attention. but if you think this was a bomb, did anybody catch the promo for “little britain usa” that ran before entourage? wow, that was about the unfunniest thing i’ve ever seen. even entourage has become a cartoonish version of itself going through the motions.
Uh., True Blood is a good show. Acting is strong, writing is strong..moron
Don’t know if the first two posters work for Showtime or are just 90210 addicts who can’t take something that doesn’t fit their safe little norm of character and story preconceptions, but HBO has a real winner here. For people who don’t react with fear and loathing to shows that take the risk of being different, give it a try. If it were on Fox or CBS, it would be the next Firefly or Moonlight and would not have been given a chance. I applaud HBO for avoiding the path of the gutless wonders running the major networks.
HBO has certainly had several missteps since the beloved ‘Sopranos’ had it’s heyday. They deserve a ton of credit for keeping ‘The Wire’ in production despite it’s poor ratings, that show was as good as television gets. The problem with ‘Deadwood’ was that it assumed it was as strong as ‘The Sopranos’ and could burn through an entire season without anything of consequence actually happening. That show deserved to be canceled, it had lots of potential but simply refused to follow through.
It’s simply too early to cast judgment on ‘True Blood’. It defiantly has some good things going for it, but I could easily see it going off the tracks and falling in love with itself, much the way ‘Deadwood’ did. The first sign of that and I’m gone.
Is it actually getting decent ratings? I can’t imagine that it is. I mean, the Alan Ball fans would check out an episode or two and then drop it like a rock. Horror fans would give it a try too but there really hasn’t been that much positive buzz in horror circles about it.
But I guess HBO needs to pretend something is a hit considering it’s been a couple of years since they had a hit on their schedule.
“True Blood” isn’t as good as “The Sopranos,” the first season of “Rome” (season two, a.k.a., “Ancient Sopranos,” was a train wreck), or the first two seasons of “Deadwood.” (I had to watch the last season of “Deadwood” with closed captioning on, the dialogue got so ridiculous.) It’s silly and pulpy, but that’s a good thing, at least compared to all the insanely boring psychiatrist shows they’ve been airing. That said, whenever the action leaves Anna Paquin and the vampire, it gets a bit draggy, and the last two execrable seasons of “Six Feet Under” are testament that no one knows how to sabotage his own successful series quite like Alan Ball.
And Alan Ball really should have gotten a Louisiana person to consult on the script – he clearly has no feel for the state’s culture: No town with a Cajun name like “Bon Temps” would be anywhere near the northern town of Monroe, which is pronounced “MUN-roe,” not “Mun-ROE.” The only restaurants in Louisiana selling Mexican beer are Mexican restaurants, and still most folks never order it. And the Civil War pretty much did not happen in the state except for one brief skirmish – true to their French heritage, Louisiana folks surrendered at the first sight of a blue uniform, so descendants of Civil War veterans are few and far between there.
what the haters don’t realize is: True Blood is every goth girl’s fantasy. deal with it.
True Bloods ratings actually increased from week 1 to week 2 by a significant margin – the exact opposite of what normally happens with a new show.
I disagree with Nikki on this one. SUre, true blood has yet to prove itself having only aired two episodes, but I find it to be interesting and will keep watching. It’s not like TV is full of GREAT shows. Look at Heroes for example. Talk about a tired concept — superheros. Now there’s a show filled with them? I liked X-Men better when they called it X-Men. Anyway, I digress. At least True blood gives credit to its source material.
To call True Blood a show is to elevate it from a bad high school production of what they think an HBO show is.
Early Cinemax could have done better. It’s one of the most awkward things I have ever seen.
I liked the show. It’s a good time. The sex, horror and off kilter humor are a good mix in my opinion. Let’s see what they do with it over time.
thank you nikki finke. true blood was the worst pilot i have seen a long time. corny from start to finish. poor production value, as others have said a crappy script and mediocre at best actors. anna paquin can’t act, same with the black girl who plays her friend. i kept looking at the time on my cell phone wondering how much left of this pain i had to endure. cmon HBO. you have terrific shows. why sign a second season to a poorly constructed show. ressurect sopranos, continue the good work on the new season of entourage and be smarter with your script choices. the public is tired of second rate shows, especially from cable channels such as you (and also, no more vampires, please)
I’m not a fan of True Blood but to be fair, I’m not a fan of pulpy goth-romance so the show clearly isn’t for me. It’s Tales from The Crypt meets schmaltzy soap opera. It might not be high art but I’m sure it will find a steady niche.
Deadwood was cancelled because it was a Paramount TV show. Time Warner (and HBO) brass didn’t want to invest in a show that was made by the sister company of their rival, Showtime.
End of story.
Bored to Death and Boardwalk Empire will bring HBO back to form. Albeit next year.
Personally I hate the look of True Blood and loathe the totally exhausted vampire genre as a whole but I supect that women aged 16-30 and gay men will keep this series on the air for a few years regardless.
I have not been given the opportunity to have a look at that show but this is a rather smart move for HBO.
Maybe they want to go back to fundamentals after the end of the SOPRANOS era. Remember the original series of THE HITCHHIKER, that was not precisely Shakespeare.
I prefer Showtime but I will not bury HBO yet…
Terrible show.
I’m a huge fan of the books that this show is based off of. I understand, that when transferring books to screen, there is a lot that will be left out or changed to make the screen version work. The whole suspension of disbelief (with a crane) thing as well. I can deal with that…mostly.
But True Blood just made me wish I had could go back in time so I wouldn’t lose an hour of my life like that.
The acting was atrocious, everyone was trying too hard. The only actor and character that didn’t annoy me was Sam Merlotte.
It’s a shame, really, since the books are wonderful and quirky.
Horrified to admit it, but I’m sucked in *groan*.
That said, if they didn’t have the cliffhanger endings I dont know if I’d be anticipating it as much. I’d love to see it go OTT into Tennesee Williams territory. Just embrace the southern gothic trashiness of it all. Now that’s popcorn and bonbon TV.
This time I agree. The show is awful. How the same guy who was behind American Beauty and Six Feet Under could be behind this, I can’t believe it.
Totally agree, Nikki, Vampires are the second most played out premise in Hollywood, behind zombies. Honestly, no matter how cute you make, it’s been done.
Wait, so HBO should be lambasted for renewing a welll-performing show at a time that their ratings are suffering?
Yeah, makes sense. CBS needs to cancel Two & A Half Men. Who cares if it gets good ratings? It’s no good.
I thought it would be so much better, but the writing lacked intelligence, and the acting, well, actors didn’t have a lot to work with. An underwhelming beginning. Honestly not interested in seeing what happens next.
I’m the target audience too, but bad is bad.
The books it was based on are campy trashy fun. Something got lost in translation for me. I’m giving it one more episode and if it doesn’t get better I’m done.
They really need to get a dialect coach in there so that everyone doesn’t have a different version of the same accent.
So Nikki, I take it you won’t be on the True Blood panel at next year’s Comic Con?
I really like this show so I digress with NF here. The ad campaign to bring it in was really good. Several of my friends and I were actually wondering who would want to buy a bottle of liquor that tasted like blood until we realized it was a farce. So that got us talking. I mean- yes it’s corney sometimes, based on a concept used repeatingly but they handle it in a new way. The perfect show to watch before gearing up for Monday. I like Vampires and I love Southern Gothic so we keep watching. It really does keep getting better with each episode. I’m happy HBO renewed it.
Needs more Ryan Kwanten ass.
True Blood showcases african american talent like few other shows on television. And to feature an african american male cross dresser? Where do you see risks like that being taken anywhere on television? Or in film for that matter. And why hasn’t anyone commented on the strength of the opening credits? True, credits do not a show make, but I think its representative of the envelope-pushing that might be expected a few eps down the line. They had to open big, so its not a surprise that the writing tended to be overly dramatic. But give Alan Ball some credit. Over time this may turn out to be gem like six feet under.
What happened to allowing a show to develop a little before completely writing it off??
give it time, give it time.
Man you people need to get a life! That show is awesome! It’s funny, it’s sexy, and sometimes a little scary it. LUV IT!
But Nikki, apparently gushing all over crap vamp stuff for the sake of just how awful it is is the new Cool Kids Clique these days. One word: Twilight. Seriously, sparkly vampires? Anne Rice is probably trying her damnedest to scrub out some new piece of drivel to capitalize while she still can. Course, she’d have to dumb down her writing more than it already has been to compensate.
Jpon,
While True Blood does have some african-american actors, I wouldn’t start celebrating. The sassy black friend who is throwing herself at the white town stud/slut? The male is a cross-dresser ala Meshach Taylor in Designing Women?
I don’t think many people would call these roles progress. Granted, in today’s Hollywood, there’s something to be said for just holding steady since there are so few minorities on TV but I wouldn’t really credit True Blood for any breakthroughs in casting.
I don’t see why anyone should be surprised this show is renewed, regardless of whether it’s good or not.
Fact: vampires are hugely popular amongst women right now. You can talk about S&M fantasies or whatever, but the novels that TRUE BLOOD are based on have a huge following and you can bet all the fans tuned in or started subscribing to HBO to see this. And look at the insane popularity of Stephenie Meyer’s Young Adult TWILIGHT novels, which are 100 times more repulsive – and Republican – than anything in TRUE BLOOD.
It’s a genre with a pre-sold niche audience, and HBO knew this going in. It wasn’t much of a gamble for them.
The acting has it’s moments, the premiss is completely lame, it’s like a good ol’ 50’s B horror flick, without the good, or the horror… No real room to grow plot lines- i.e. John from Cincinnati. All the best, but it’s a “dead show” walking;)
I willingly fall for the writer’s construct. And I am not surprised that viewership increased among women. It resembles the soap opera’s of the eighties…in a good way. I am not a professional reviewer and I have enormous respect for you, but I admit to willingly suspending my disbelief mostly because of the amazing chemistry between the two main characters….it might be cheese-y but it’s a guilty pleasure!
Kill it! Kill it! This vampire sucks whale.
I love this show. I didn’t like the first ep until I watched it again later in the week. The second one builds on the first and I love the characters, especially Anna Paquin and that black girl. It’s so much better than Entourage.
The insidious thing about the vampire genre is the way it plays on woman’s submission fantasies.
This kind of thing tends to set feminism back over 100 years.
I didn’t see it, Nikki. Now I won’t have to.
This and Fringe? Sounds like another lost year for TV.
Well, at least CNBC has some viewers. Haha!
TRUE BLOOD, aka Vampires Are People Too, is a mess. Awful concept, writing, acting (Lois Smith excepted), direction, production values.
Oh well. Maybe Cinemax will craft a sexy, scary, atmospheric, entertaining lesbian vampire series.
BREAKING: Nikki shows disdain for a work of mass entertainment. Millions die of shock.
First off, Blacks are over-represented on TV, far in excess, and I’m just waiting for someone with guts to file a lawsuit over discrimination (Blacks are only 12% of the population, have about 50-75% of commercial roles for example).
Second, while Tru Blood has revived the network a bit, there is implicit a cost. It’s not reached Sopranos type levels, it’s 32% penetration is the same as 2003 — I suspect there will be a lot of cancellations as belts are tightened.
But worse, as HBO is known as the gays and girls ghetto, with what amounts to soft-core vampire stuff, if/when the economy revives, they won’t get the male Sopranos office. They’ll be chasing after the same demo that can get that stuff for free on Bravo, Logo, Lifetime, Oxygen, WE, CW, etc. For the price for a small but significant uptick now.
Ball was never that good either. Cliches that were old in 1968. American Beauty was nothing but the same tired old Cliche fest by a guy who cannot understand the interplay between men and women or the nuclear family.
HBO was built as the “guy’s network” with Sopranos, that’s all gone now.
“No real room to grow plot lines- i.e. John from Cincinnati.”
You can only grow a plotline when the show has one in to begin with. “John from Cincinnati” wasn’t canceled; it was euthanized.
I like it. Anna P is amazing and while it falls on it’s face sometimes I think it’s new and engaging. But did anyone notice last week when Anna and her beau are out for a walk you can see their breath? Yikes. Not what I think of in LA.
As far as the lighting prod values etc…I think many of you are missing the point. Alan Ball didn’t want to adhere to vampiric cinematic tradition, and he’s not. It’s soapy, sudsy and pulpy and if you take it at face value. Entertaining.
Right on the money,honey!Stereotypes,cliches,horrible dialect coaching,overplayed gratuitous sex scenes.This is an embarrassment for their supposed strong horse.Plepler and Lombardo-stereotypical suits shitting up what they have no business being involved with-creativity!!!!!
Nobody’s every going to die waiting for you to say what you really think, Nikki!
I agree with you that True Blood is, to put it politely, seriously uneven — and I get unrationally cranky about bad accents. Either do them properly or leave it be and let my willing suspension of disbelief do the work.
But you want to know a little secret: Alan Ball’s Six Feet Under might have been a critical and award-season darling. But I thought it was pretentious, sour and appealed to the kind of people who think sulking is a sign of profound depth.
So what the hell do I know?
The show is not that bad. I found it interesting and tuned in to watch the second episode.
Obviously a lot of people feel the same.
And I think the black chick is hot and funny. She’s gonna be a star.
I think True Blood is a great show! That being said, HBO is kicking themselves for not jumping on Mad Men when they had the chance…
The show is amazing isn’t it?
Let’s be glad it got renewed. It’s destined to be the next big thing!
Hey whiskey, if you think blacks are overrepresented on TV, then I see why you chose “whiskey” as a handle. Put the bottle down and slowly back away, bro ^^. That made me laugh out loud. I’m not surprised, though; Had a conversation a few years ago with an older white actor who works quite a bit; I was in a film that was doing quite well at the time, and he launched into this whole diatribe about “affirmative action” casting. This guy’s resume is longer than my entire life span.. This was dinner, at his home, and I was the only black person there, party of 6 or 7, etc… guess he thought me an easy target. Every so often, I am reminded how much racism still exists in the industry. Yes, it’s much, much better than it was, but, blacks are not even close to being OVER-represented in TV. Get a grip.
It is in Nikki’s words truly “craptastic”. Everything feels off and half-baked in this show; the premise, the rules, the characters and the tone.
Nikki:
If you want to get a bunch of traffic from a new source – fantasy fans – then start reporting on the status of Song of Ice and Fire at HBO.
They are a very popular (and good) series of fantasty books. HBO has the rights to them, not sure if they will turn them into a series or not. I hope they do.
Shame they would put on a P of C like this. They should have just picked up Moonlight. Their subscriptions would have soared. At least Moonlight had subtleties that True Blood will never have. If I wanted to watch soft porn, I would just subscribe to it.
This show SUCKED. And my lame pun is funnier than anything in the first two episodes. Let’s see, you get a chance to do a vampire show on HBO and you make it some hillbilly soap opera with no edge? Wow, how HBO has fallen!
Sue Naegle – get it together! The best project you have on the hopper is George R. R. Martin’s Fire and Ice series. Have some huevoes and put it on the air!
B-movie, vampire soap opera. It’s ok for what it is, but I wouldn’t watch more than one season’s worth. I don’t see many people staying on for multiple seasons.
i don’t understand all these critics against this show , alan bell ahs created the show to have sex , action , blood etc.. and critics are genreally positive if you don’t like the show good but i don’t understand because you are so offensive mybe this show is too intelligent for some people…..
“That black chick” and “that black girl” who’s been referenced a couple of times, here? She’s very good on the show. Her NAME is Rutina Wesley. Look up her fuckin’ name and stop being lazy and disrespectful!
The first episode was wretched; I’ll give it 1-2 more before I tune out.
Ugh. Watch Showtime for good shows.
Read/see “Twilight” for good vampire fare.
“In Treatment” & “Little Britain USA” are currently all HBO’s got re: good.
Hey Whiskey, how can a network be both a “guy’s network” & a “girl & gay ghetto”?
This isn’t a Klan forum. Go find 1.
The program has a lot of problems. It’s mixed quality. I think there is a lot of room for growth within the vampire type genre, fun good camp stuff. I think the problem is that the book series used here is good reading – but it doesn’t visually translate in a way that makes the characters that likable.
Really, it plays right into the general thoughts that people have, and as such, people will try to stereotype it in the same way they think of “Buffy” etc.
If they wanted to take the genre in a diffrent direction, they would have done much better adapting Christopher Moore’s “Blood Sucking Fiends” “You Suck!” etc, as dark comedy alternative.
Right now all of the heavy hitters are suprisingly on Showtime’s side of the street, with Dexter, etc. really being sensational. And having seen the first few of Dexter this year – there is NO show on the market that has as solid of a first episode as Dexter. Nothing even close.
Uh guys, it has been TWO EPISODES! Give it a chance, let things develop, and then decide if it is “craptastic”.
It is not great but Anna Paquin is a great actress and very fun to watch. Are you telling me that by episode two of the Wire you though it was the best show ever? BY chapter two of a book written by an author that has done great things, do you toss it aside because it sucks? Give Alan Ball a chance.
I really love the show but I’m completely sold on the subject matter. The show oozes sex appeal, excluding the graphic sexual themes.
The series is good. Nikki finke is not.
Personally, I get a big kick out of the show; but then I’m a fan of Harris’ novels. Sure, it’s not Emmy-winning stuff, but it’s not trying to be. The Sookie books are solid midlist fiction, nothing more. True Blood tries to capture that spirit.
Also, it should be noted that it was Ball who added in all the extra sex, nudity, and profanity. In Harris’ novels, a lot of the sexual content is off-screen unless Sookie’s involved, and the profanity is filtered out by Sookie’s character, who narrates the novels in the first person voice.
While I like Ball’s take on the books, the books are a lot closer to being “family reading material” but I guess when you do a show for HBO, you have to toss in a ton of sex, skin and swearing… the three S’s. That makes it adult only content, but kind of needlessly in this case. I think True Blood would have been better off being made for SciFi Channel, where the show could have been held to a modesty standard similar to the books.
Just don’t need all the sex, skin and swearing to get the point across. Still, for Charlaine Harris’ sake, I hope the show continues to do well. Maybe Ball will pull back a bit on the excesses and concentrate on telling the story more…
I gave it an episode and a half…
Great premise… not so great casting, etc… and the stereotypes… a yi yi yi…
Hey Whiskey,
Hate to rock your macho white guy’s boat, but what makes you think that gays and girls in today’s media market comprise a ghetto? Not only do women and gay men comprise more than 55% of the population, they also are responsible for more than 85% of all consumer purchases.
Granted, HBO purports to offer something different, elevated, for what would be considered a more discriminating viewership than the mass market. But sophisticated and literate audiences have always skewed more heavily female and homosexual than broad audiences that include a large percentage of working class, lower-educated males.
“Guys” as you would have them described, can get their man-feed from pretty much every other television network left off your list, as well as 95% of all Hollywood movies (until marketers realize, that demographic is dwindling in proportion every day).
And by the way, people of color have a long way to go in terms of being given equitable representation in narrative vehicles like television programs, commercials, print ads, and movies. Today, twenty-five percent of Americans are people of color. Yet they are cast in less than 15% of all television roles for example, to say nothing of HOW they are represented (ie. drug dealers, criminals, prostitutes and pimps, low-status employees, disposable “soldiers”).
It is your racist homophobic macho-mindset that is a tired cliche.
Zygarch
Those idiot ****sucking ***holes at HBO should ****ing bring back DEADWOOD. Canceling that ****ing show was their telekarmic death-knell, IMO.
Loopy ****s.
(God, I miss Al Swearingen)
Whiskey…stop drinkin’ what time period are you stuck in?
I enjoy True Blood in all its campy glory. Nikki so you don’t like it? To each his own. Don’t be silly and try to bully HBO into canceling a show before it has time to get an audience . That little habit is why primetime TV sucks now. 100’s of channels to chose from, the internet, books and films at home. Its a battle and chances need to be given and taken. There is an audience for it, let it be. You and the rest don’t have to tune in.
Thanks HBO for taking the chance.
Poor HBO… They used to have a killer line up. The Sopranos, OZ, Six Feet Under…. now you can tell they are struggeling and why the fuck did they cancel Lucky Louie that show was seriously funny and its DVD sales show a divoted large fan base. HBO needs to get on the ball again and fast because they are getting the shit kicked out of them.
TRUE BLOOD SUCKS! PLAIN AND SIMPLE IT WAS A SHITTY PREMISE WITH AN EVEN SHITTIER CAST AND MEGA SHITTY SCRIPTS.
I like this show.
True Blood is fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!! E’ il meglio!
Everyone has their opinion and I am simply sharing mine without insulting anyone who may have a different point of view or taste:
I just started watching this show and find that I almost gagged on the 3rd show. The first one had potential and thought it would develop as time goes on.
It is bad porn and predictable. The dialogue is trite and boring. The acting is 3rd rate.
6 feet under gave us some great acting and the winner is now the Dexter series. Dark and funny, well acted, well thought out.
Deadwood was fast paced and very well acted.
Carnivale was deliciously dark and engaging.
The Sopranos was very good but over extended its welcome. Glad that is over.
Rome was brutal and both the acting, script and story line were wonderful. Dark humor and great human drama. Characters were complex.
This vampire series… not so much. Escapism if there is nothing else to watch or no more rentals to be had.
This vampire show is below mediocre.
Oh good God.
True Blood is quite good show, surely one of the most interesting in this flat TV show new season.
HBO can’t survive only with shows that critics love but people don’t see. And Alan Ball has the right to do something less introspective and sperimental than SFU.
You don’t like it? Don’t watch it.
“True Blood” is just bad. The plot line is gawd-awful compared to “Dexter” or even some cable series. The show throws sex in your face even when it doesn’t make sense for the plot line. I’m very disappointed. As far as interest goes, shows like “Buffy”, “Angel” and even “Charmed” has it beat.
I suppose if I hadn’t read the books BEFORE watching this crap that HBO has put out in True Blood, I might have thought it was ok. No. That’s a lie. I would still think it stinks up the screen. Just one more reason for me to decide to cancel HBO…why pay for a channel that has been going downhill for sometime…really a shame, as the original plot (you remember what that is, right?) via the books was great…and for those who REALLY want to get a kick out of reading about vampires (and Laugh Out Loud doing it) I recommend Mary Janice Davidson’s series…check out just the first book in her Queen Betsy series, and you’ll understand why True Blood is such a total stinker.
I am 54 year old female with a Masters degree – I work with professionals in a medical setting (I have the LEAST amount of education on staff) We are all CRAZY about the show! It’s gritty, sexy and the such a Hoot! You should hear all the talk around the watercooler on Mondays! It’s called entertainment, Nikki – give it another look! Also speaking for all us gals the chemistry between Moyer and Pacquin oooh La La!!!!
i wish i had speed like bill
I am a 30 something female, and I can tell you every woman I know between 20 and 45 is LOVING this show right now!
I don’t watch a whole lot on television anymore… there’s very little that feels new and original. And even the shows that are original, e.g., Pushing Daisies, I grow tired of the premise after a few episodes.
I’ll grant you, TB is pure camp, but it’s fun. Love the characters, love the gratuitous sex, love the chemistry between the Anna & Moyer, love the setting of Bon Temps. It is the only show this last season I couldn’t wait to watch the next week. And it does have the Alan Ball touch, which I appreciate being a huge fan of Six Feet Under and American Beauty.
Well, I’m a Gothgirl and I hate True Blood. It’s nasty and tawdry – after watching it you feel like you should be scrubbing yourself with bleach! The writing is poor, a lot of the acting is poor, Paquin plays Sookie like some kind of mentally-challenged zombie. Plus Sookie is marginalised, and characters who hardly feature in the books suddenly become the focus of all the attention. To say the series sucks is being kind.
I never got into any vampire books or movies at all. It has never been my cup of tea. My husband saw a few shows from season 2 talked about it so much I got season 1 for him as a gift. I didn’t understand what the big deal was about yet another vampire story “yawn”! I watched the pilot with him thinking I would indulge his request that I watch at least one episode. I did it already dismissing it in my mind ready with all my preconceived ideas. After the pilot I was hooked!! So much about this show grabbed my attention. The story itself is so original with such interesting twists. I love the Sookie and Bill scenes. I loved the first season so much I bought all the books and am waiting for the release of season 2! I’m probably going to order HBO to see the premiere of season 3. The writing is so clever and the ideas are so intriguing. Vampires who are now part of society and want to mainstream into living as regular citizens. A stroke of genius. That premise took what would otherwise be unattainable story lines and made way for endless possibilities. I can’t say enough about this show. LOVE IT !!! Just watch it!