It probably isn’t a coincidence that the latest episode of South Park focused on kids who shop at Hot Topic and buy vamp-wear the same week that the new vampire movie Twilight hits theaters. And it’s not that much of a shock that Twilight had a huge opening at the box office and even brought in 7 million from midnight screenings alone. After all, midnight shows are the best time for vampires kids to hit the theaters because the sun is deadly for them. Apparently, vampires are very in right now.
So is the finale of HBO’s True Blood lost in the shuffle somewhere between that creepy man-boy model guy from Twilight and trendy fashion nerds? As the first season of True Blood concludes, I think it is a good time to reflect on what has been the first HBO hit, at least as hour-long drams go, since Deadwood went off the air. With the second season already on order from HBO, it looks like True Blood will be around for at least 13 more episodes. According to HBO, viewership has increased 66 percent since the show debuted in September– faster than The Sopranos, which experienced a huge increase between the first and second season. Depending on how the finale plays out tonight, I think it is safe to say that the show is generating more buzz than the last few drama’s that HBO has pushed on us.
I haven’t read the novels that the show is based on but I really like the world that Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) has created. Over the course of the 13 episode season, we’ve slowly been introduced to the different things in the True Blood world. Vampires are only part of the picture as we’ve learned that there are shapeshifters and many other things that haven’t been brought up yet.
While I do hope the show cashes in on the success of Twilight, I just wouldn’t want to turn those who are not interested in seeing, as some have put it, that vampire with the fuckable face off because True Blood is not the same thing as Twilight. If you haven’t had a chance to get into True Blood, now would be a great time to start. It’s a great fucking show.