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The second season premiere of HBO's True Blood reeled in 3.7 million viewers on Sunday, the highest number for HBO since 11 million tuned in to watch the series finale of The Sopranos. Though the difference in the numbers is staggering, it appears that True Blood is starting to fill some pretty big shoes.
Maybe this was predictable. Twilight was pretty popular at the box office too. It earned $70.6 million in its first weekend. And the CW has a vampire show in the works for next season.
But wait. When did America become so obsessed with vampires? Or, rather, when did media executives decide that vampires would be the new black? Whatever the case, it's working. The trend may have started with Interview with the Vampire in film and even Buffy on TV, as pointed out by Tim Goodman last year, but after a long hiatus it's back in full force.
Somehow we've gotten the idea that vampires, despite their bloodsucking tendencies, are actually normal people just like us. According to what we've seen in books, vampires are actually pretty nice. They suppress their darker tendencies for the people they care about, as was the case with Edward Cullen. By resisting the urge to suck her blood, he not only displayed heroism, but also made a deeply romantic gesture. Maybe vampires are the new superheroes -- and blood is the new kryptonite. If a human like Bella (or in the case of True Blood, Sookie) can keep that threat under control, she has no reason to be afraid by a vampire. And neither do we.
Comments (41)
omg natyshu95 you definitely have NOT watched True Blood. The similarities end with vampires, unless the Twilight series turns to brutal bloody violence, extreme cursing, exposing sex scenes....and quality...
lol...natyshu95, have you ever actually watched it?Twilight was written long after Charlaine Harris wrote the first book in THIS series. The Vampires are actually vampires, and they live in a world where they have "come out of the coffin" and revealed themselves to the public. Not to mention this show is for ADULTS, not preteen rabid fangirls who think vampires should sparkle.
i love vampires, but i feel like true blood is exactly the same thing as twilight, the only difference is that it is on TV
Killer1one: There is. BBC's made a show called Survivors (NOT the old show) about England after a mysterious virus kills off almost everyone.I agreee that it's starting to be tiresome. Tweenies everywhere going "I looove vampires, cos they're all like cute and cuddly but daaark and mysterious." Come on!Although i have to say it kinda started in the early 90s with Interview, but Buffy sealed the deal alright. ^^' (yeeey Buffy!)
Huh?
All I can say, is bring IT ON! I love vamps... ;)
wow this was a really poorly written article
Vampires...always!
The books are way better.
Yes more vampires! I like them a lot!
I'm getting pretty tired of vampires. Not that its bad, its just going into overkill at the moment.
I prefer werewolves, but vampires are cool to. :)
Not even gonna lie, I'm a sucker for vampires. Horrible pun completely intended. =]
maybe i am crazy but i thought that a zombie infested earth would make a good TV show, stating from the infection and so on. Zombie movies usually atracted a lot of people... why they haven't tried this? Just put it on FOX and if it does not work it will get canceled and we will go on with our lives
LOL @ people not grouping CBS's crime shows together tribalchic, they always do. Besides, it's not like vampires are real, so all of these shows are just reimaginings of the first vampire fiction.
I wish they would stop with all the vampire comparisons (mostly centered around Twilight) Each story has its own spin from 'Buffy' to 'Trueblood' from (and I hate saying this) 'Twilight' to 'Interview With The Vampire' every story is its own and I wish they would stop with the grouping of all these together in one general catagory. Afterall, CBS has like 6 different CRIME shows and no ones comparing them so closely.
I really wish somebody would make a zombie survivor tv series, that would rock! Enough with all the vampires already, bring on the zombies!
Is it too soon to dub this current crop of young vampire movie & TV stars "The Bat Pack?"
Well, maybe the show is given a chance because it is a good show, not because it has a Vampire theme.
The show definitely did not start off well this season. The first episode was kind of boring and out of all of the people I would want to see nude in this world, Anna Paquin was definitely not very high on the list. They killed off the one good looking female in the first season...
Well I'm glad people are finally giving "vampire-themed" shows a chance!
got to love vampires
all of the shows and films are great, in their own way. they're all diiferent so very difficult to compare to each other. the common thread is vampires but the other aspects all fall under different genres. buffy - action/horror, twilight- romance, true blood- murder mystery. it shows that the theme works on all levels. though i think i'd draw the line at vampires in space...
I don't think it's just America that's obsessed with vampires - they've been incredibly popular in the UK for a long time.
I love vampire stories, books, films and series. Twilight is the best Vampire books series and also film and True Blood is the best vampire series (sorry for Buffy fan).
Yeh, my sister once read that hairy men made better lovers..
So warewolves do deserve love. :p .... Hey, if you can make blood-sucking demons from hell (who's only instinct is to kill everything in their path) into something sexy, why not warewolves. :D
o come on tortoured mike the sparkling is cool....not. BUFFY WILL ALWAYS BE BETTER THEN TWILIGHT!!!!
all we need now is a werewolfe show only about them show the wolfs some love too!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76418&id=753947511
Don't get me started on the sparkling!
Check out BBC Being Human. It's a very diffrent vampire show. Very good..:-)
jus got to say
personally i think twlight has got to be e worst vampire movie ever
corny cheesy lines and seriously vampires 'sparkling' in sunlight????
thats is not even a vampire!!!!!!!!!
give me buffy, angel, true blood anytime
just to clarify, I meant crap version of Twilight (see below).
I have yet to see a "vampire" show better than Buffy. If any other fans out there have family or friends that are obsessed with Twilight (as I do) I suggest letting them borrow your Buffy DVD's to show them something that's, I don't know, actually good!!!
True Blood is like a crap version with Southern accents and all unattractive cast members. I wish they'd cancel it, or completely recast it. Get rid of Ryan Kwanten and Anna Paquin first.
Well vampires do seem to be the in thing but True Blood is a better representation of the mythical creatures than say Twilight. I wish HBO all the success in the world with True Blood.
Buffy was the beginning of vampire appeal for many people. With characters like Angel and Spike who were irresistibly prepossessing in an aggressive yet sensitive way, is it any surprise the the vampire appeal is back in full force with three new equally similar stories. I'm not a fan of Twilight or The Vampire Diaries, but I must say, True Blood is pretty good. It takes the concept of vampires and their relation to sexuality and counter-culture raciness to a new level and makes viewers appreciate the romantic yet obviously lascivious nature of vampires.
I haven't seen true Blood, but don't get me started on all the reasons Twilight shouldn't really be counted as a "Vampire" movie.
Quoting a review that I read that hit the nail on the head. "This is a girly romance story. The fact that there are vampires is purely incidental."
I agree, this fascination with vampires is not anything new, they've always had their fan base. It's only with the crazy success of Twilight that everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon. Hardly surprising that network execs are following the money trail... they're shallow that way.
Seeing the supernatural element added to the vampire element on the wonderful "True Blood" makes me pine for the loss of last year's "Blood Ties". A softer but equally appealing twist for me was also last year's "Moonlight". We could have had it all this year but for lousy, weak-kneed network location. I hope the mainstream nets have learned their lesson, and henceforth listen to their viewers via EVERY available forum, before they opt out on a goldmine...
watched this for the first time and I must say it was some pretty weird stuff
This trend is not new. We have always liked Vampires. Dark shadows and dracula.