True Blood

I stayed up to watch the so called "New Buffy" last night. "True Blood" has just arrived in the UK, showing on FX on Friday at 10pm. Its been a huge hit in the US and is into its second season and gathering quite the following, or so I read. The title comes from a product sold in the series..True Blood, a synthetic substitute for the biting business vampires get up to...Humans buy a beer and Vampires buy a bottle of chilled True Blood..oh and by the way..Vampires live openly in the world, side by side with humans and I'm sure the story will be based about any problems that might bring. The story is set in the deep south of America, New Orleans and the surrounding area and the main character, Sookie Stackhouse played by Anna Paquin, is a waitress who can read the minds of those around her, she works in a small bar pretty much in the middle of nowhere..a lot of pressure on her, no doubt, as the replacement Buffy. Does she cut the mustard?..Not for me..Not even close. I found her to be the weakest character.
The main Vampire love interest comes in the form of Bill Compton played by Stephen Moyer, and I think..he's the right man for the job. Not exceedingly good looking but has the correct amount of brooding darkness about him.
There were some interesting characters in last nights episode and they'll surely develop into more as they become more and more familiar. Lafayette Reynolds...the gay kitchen attendant...Sam Merlotte..the bar owner..they have both got stories to tell and hidden depth to their characters...and I might just stick around to find out...or put it on series link..or something.
It's on at 10pm because True Blood needed to make itself different to Buffy and so it decided to make itself an adult vampire series..with sex...er...quite a bit of it.
Was it needed? A piece of me says no..it wasn't needed..the storyline should have stood up without it..and then again...the story should have stood up without it...and it didn't.
Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles are set around the same area..New Orleans..steamy in an entirely different way..the books are descriptive enough to make you feel the heat..smell the fear....and still feel a bond with murderous bloodsuckers. After reading these over the last ten years...True Blood was always going to have a tough call to impress me. It left me feeling a little flat and in no doubt whatsoever about its new Buffy status.