YES.
It is trashy and wonderful.
I first heard about it a little over a year ago, when it was debuting on HBO. In case you don’t know, it’s based on a series of novels by Charlaine Harris about a waitress who lives in Bon Temps, Louisiana, in a world where vampires have “come out of the coffin” and are living openly. I read the first book when I heard about the show and I didn’t think it was too bad. I liked it more than the Anita Blake books (which are super-trashy and the basis for my favorite Penny Arcade cartoon ever) and thought I might check the show out once it was on DVD.
Will and Annika gave me a brief review of the show, giving the cold open a big thumbs up and the rest of the show a mild endorsement, which I will admit, made me a little wary of it. I mean, if Will and Annika like something they REALLY LIKE IT and shout it from the highest hill top, so the lack of enthusiasm was concerning.
Oh boy, I need not have been concerned. I watched the first four episodes without a break. And immediately wished that I had the rest of the Season One DVDs to watch.
Which is weird because the it seems like the first season is based on the first book and so I know what is going to happen.
Without being spoilery, I will say that the TV show has fleshed out (and added) some characters that I am really enjoying and added some subplots and secondary stories that I think are brilliant. Now, whether these stories show up in later books in the series, I don’t know. But I love that they are in the show.
I guess the reason I am really surprised that I like it so much is that I am not a fan of Alan Ball’s other HBO hit, Six Feet Under. That show did nothing for me and I thought that the actors sucked.
I love the actors in True Blood. I love that the accents all seem to be from different parts of the world, let alone the South, and, yet, most of the characters have never lived anywhere but Bon Temps! I love the trashy sex. I love that the classiest girl in the show is a waitress in a redneck bar. I love that it is gory and violent. I love how the storylines are being woven together.
I can’t really recommend it without reservation, though. Sort of like Breaking Bad, it treads a line. If you’re the kind of person who thinks that drinking, drugs, sex, nudity, blood, violence, and psychic powers are best done in small doses, and you thought that Buffy was too cheezy… well, you won’t like this show.
But I am not one of those people, this show was made for me.
Dude, I think it’s awesome that you love it! I totally, totally get loving it, I just… don’t.
And I totally get not loving it! And after seeing it, I can see why you guys don’t – which I’m guessing has to do with it skewing less towards campy horror and more towards… whatever the hell it is?
Soap opera?
YES! Though I prefer the label given to other shows that tread this ground (like Lost, Melrose Place, and Angel – they are so the same kind of show!) – “serialized dramas.”
And, yes, I am not giving up on serial commas, either.
Ah! Your last comment about it being a serialized drama has cemented it for me. Those aren’t my very mostest favoritest kinds of shows, but I often like them enough to make sure they’re pretty high on the DVR list. I’ve been hearing interesting things about this show, but I didn’t know if I should go for it or not. (People tend to think my Buffy love is a vampire thing, but it’s so not.) I’ve decided to definitely give TB a shot based on your characterization, though. (Besides, I should have a boatload of fun trying to pinpoint what Southern accent each character is doing.)
I am SO GLAD!
I’m enjoying it, too, for most of the reasons you mentioned, and that the tone is so much darker than what I get from the books.
Ye-e-e-es. I’m not sure whether I’m going to like this or not, but it’s starting in the UK this week, so I’m about to find out!
One of the things I have noticed about watching True Blood is that I rarely find myself aware of the time. When the credits hit the screen I am nearly always surprised that the show is over. With other shows, I often find myself watching the clock, but with this one, the episodes fly by. I am totally engaged from start to finish. Plus, I lurve the hot dimness that is Jason. How can anything be so stupid and so cute at the same time?
I have it on my netflix thanks to your recommendation. I’m curious red, I think.