111 replies to this topic

[Judois]

I just got the disc 1 of this series from Netflix. I remember watching it when it was first on and I still think that C. Thomas Howell was such a bad choice for the cop character. Or maybe they should have just not had that character at all. I still have the rest of the disc to watch. I only watched the first episode so maybe they wrote him out later.

I looked all over this forum and couldn't find a thread for this show. I found that hard to believe since so many people have said they liked the show when it was on.

[Eris Rising]

I was a player of the game it was based on, so I looked forward to the show. Enjoyable over-the-top goth kitsch. Especially loved the young lady dramatically invading the funeral. What was her name? The ushers would have had her out of there in two seconds.

[KiwiRaptor]

Heh. K:TE is one my guilty TV pleasures. I was strictly an AD&Der in my role playing days, but it was a fun show even without knowing the background.

[Jeebus Cripes]

I used to watch Kindred back in the day. Good times. I'm not sure what my opinion would be now, but at the time I thought it was an okay show. Wasn't there some Romeo & Juliet-like story involving lovers from rival clans? That's about all that I can really recall. That, and the guy playing Julian was hella fine! He's dead now, right? Damned shame.

[swannlore]

[

b]Especially loved the young lady dramatically invading the funeral. What was her name?[/b]

Her character's name was Sasha, and I think her last name is Walsh. Can't remember her first name,though.

I loved this show and was sorry to hear that Mark Frankel, who played Julien Luna, was killed in a motorcyle accident. The guy was a great actor and I had also seen him in the miniseries Catherine, which was about Catherine The Great.

Its really just too bad that they did not try to keep the series going in some other respect,though.

Edited by swannlore, Jun 2, 2004 @ 5:20 PM.

[NickChick]

She goes by Brigid Brannagh now, I believe, formerly Brigid Conley-Walsh(?). She was on the season finale of Without a Trace.

I was also most upset by Mark Frankel's passing, which I discovered months later in a column in Parade. I'd somehow missed the news when it happened.

My eye candy from this show, Channon Roe, also still works.

Edited by NickChick, Jun 2, 2004 @ 5:32 PM.

[mr.simpatico]

I remember this show too. Seemed like a brilliant idea at the time - the idea of a Mafia like 5 families of Vampirism and the Don Corleone-ish Julien Luna (even if it was a little like in style the failed FOX pilot movie "Blood Ties" which aired not long before it). I was saddened by Mark Frankel's death but I do think the show could have gone without him.
Although I'm not quite sure if it wasn't good it ended when it did - it was a Spelling show after all and would have succumbed to the soap-opera-ish staples and cliches that befell Melrose Place (which wasn't as soapy and cheesy as it eventually become at first either).

She goes by Brigid Brannagh now, I believe, formerly Brigid Conley-Walsh(?). She was on the season finale of Without a Trace.

Kinded is where I first saw her too. She was very good IIRC on the show and I remember thinking at the time she had a good future ahead of her. She's become quite the HITG! character actor - off the top of my head I can remember seeing her on Angel (as Wes' girlfriend), C.S.I. (twice), WaT, and one of the L&O shows.

I've been thinking about getting the DVD. Anyone know if it's any good? - I know there are particularly many extras but it doesn't seem that expensive.

[JuniperBerry]

She's become quite the HITG! character actor - off the top of my head I can remember seeing her on Angel (as Wes' girlfriend), C.S.I. (twice), WaT, and one of the L&O shows.

She was also on an episode of Charmed playing an evil Celtic witch. Good times.

I was an avid V:TM player back in the day, and I remember the nerd herd excitement, too. As a show on its own merit, it was damn good, and I miss it. Decent plotlines, lots of pretty (mmm...Jim Morrison wanna-be...), and I loved the actors. The effects really weren't bad either, considering the time.

Compared to the game, it was disappointing to me. I've always been partial to Malkavians (crazy vampires) and Tremere (magical vampires), neither of which were represented. I also thought the clans were too cookie cutter, and not quite spot-on for, IMO, what the basic clan concepts were all about, like the Brujah-Gangrel hate. In the game, characters are encouraged to be a little more nuanced, and the politics is way more interesting. In the game, those Brujah that Embraced the Prince's niece without permission would so have been smears on the carpet. To ghoul and blood bond her, however, would have been much more fun, and well within political limits. I also wish they'd made more of the clan weaknesses. The Nosferatu Primogen was so not ugly. He was bald, which might be Hollywood-ugly, but seriously not the freak that Nos are supposed to be.

My favorite memory is making fun of the fact that vampires were out in the daylight. In the first show, you can clearly see that the sun has well risen in the sky, and one vamp character shouts, "It's almost dawn!" To this day, my friends and I will walk outside on a sunny day, and merrily claim that oh my god! It's almost dawn! Because we're easily amused like that.

Hee, Jess! We often follow that up with, "Damn! And I forgot my Ray-Bans!" Great minds. I also agree with blame Spelling. This is also going to be my strategy with the Hunter: The Reckoning movie, because I have a feeling that's going to be bad. Like, makes K:TE look like Shakespeare bad. It's all Spelling's fault!

Edited by JuniperBerry, Jun 3, 2004 @ 11:02 AM.

[Jeebus Cripes]

mmm...Jim Morrison wanna-be...

Heh, I remember that episode. Damn, y'all are making me wanna get the damned DVD. You know, I never did see the last episode. I went to sleep at a friends house that night and asked my mom to record it for me. Needless to say, that didn't work out... I remember being ludicrously upset about that.

ETA: What exactly was Patrick Bauchau's role on the show? Was he the leader of Julian's clan? My memory is hazy, but I do remember him leaving quite an impression on me. When I saw him in Carnivale I just about freaked. "Squeee! The dude from Kindred!"

Edited by Jeebus Cripes, Jun 3, 2004 @ 4:04 PM.

[Cynthia187]

Man...it's been a while...(may Mark Frankel rest in peace)...

If I recall correctly, Archon (Patrick) was the one that sired Julian. I believe he was more of a father figure than a leader. I do recall that he was highly respected and seemed very powerful...

[Fabrisse]

If I'm remembering correctly -- Julian had taken over the Ventrue from Archon.

I remember enjoying the show -- I knew nothing about the card game or the roleplaying game. I think it could have been a really cool series had it continued. Preferably with C. Thomas Howell's character fading out after the first season.

And Mark Frankel... we overlapped for one semester in school. I didn't know him very well, but he was nicer than many of the graduating seniors to those of us just coming in.

[JuniperBerry]

Archon is a title in the Camarilla, the organization of vampires that Julian and the other vampires were involved in. They're like the Democrats of the vampire world. The Archon is an enforcer for the Cam, so Julian would be answering to him. When he hid the girl from the Blood Hunt, it's the Archon who makes sure that his ass is grass for that little stunt.

I'm such a nerd.

[KiwiRaptor]

I could be remembering this wrong, but I got the impression that Archon answered to Julian in the TV show. Wasn't Julian the "Prince" of San Fransisco or some such?

Edited by KiwiRaptor, Jun 3, 2004 @ 10:21 PM.

[Sunnybelle]

I could be remembering this wrong, but I got the impression that Archon answered to Julian in the TV show. Wasn't Julian the "Prince" of San Fransisco or some such?

Yes, Archon gave power to Julian. I hope it's o.k. to quote this in spoiler tagsArchon was killed by the new Brujah prince because Archon ordered Julian to kill Brujah unjustly and that is when the actor playing Archon went to another show I love "The Pretender".

I have the DVD and they just leave me wanting more. I was saddened by Frankel's death and I think they should have continued. It was just getting good. I had no idea about a game. Are there books or is it just a game?

I really liked the Romeo and Juliet storyline with Sasha and Cash. Lily was my hero I couldn't stand that woman Julian fell for.

Edited by Sunnybelle, Jun 3, 2004 @ 11:59 PM.

[taylor3698]

Julian was the prince but that was after Archon had step down and gave Julian his power. I think that makes Julian more powerful than Archon. Its been a while since I watch the show.

I'm so glad that there are people out there who loved this show like I did. My favorite character has always been Julian and I'm glad that the later episode had started to focus on him more. Never understood why the show got cancel. It had so many possible storylines, yet it ended way to quickly to have any storyline wrap up. I did enjoy the beginning friendship if not partnership of Julian and Frank. I'm sad that it never got a chance to really developed. Loved the times that Julian had to save Frank's ass. Definete hoyay moments there.

[JuniperBerry]

Sunnybelle, I don't think there are K:TE books, but there are Vampire: The Masquerade books out there, tons of them. Check the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section of bookstores. Usually they're near the roleplaying games section. The game itself might be harder to get, as White Wolf, who makes the World Of Darkness series that V:TM comes from, just had their apocalypse and ended that world this spring. Very Joss Whedon of them. Far as I know, the game has been discontinued, but you can probably still find a book or two if you're curious about it.

[Bitterswete]

I barely remember this show, and only have vague memories of watching it. A few months back, I read a couple of Kindred crossovers (with Poltergeist and Highlander) and it made me interested enough to actually look into the show online. And I found half the stuff I thought I remembered was wrong, and I had mentally recast a lot of the roles (Lily, Cash, Archon, etc) with the wrong actors. The only one I truly remembered was the actress who played Sasha, so I recognized her right away when she appeared on ANGEL.

I'd like to watch the series again, if for no other reason than I don't feel like I've watched it at all. I don't even remember whether I liked it or not. I think I probably did. :)

Edited by Bitterswete, Jun 4, 2004 @ 9:07 AM.

[Sunnybelle]

JuniperBerry, Thanks I would like to read the books. I'll look for them. I guess this is the suckiest year to be a vampire with apocalypses shutting down everything. *sniff* Angel.

[Sprout]

They are relaunching Vampire (under the new title, Vampire: The Requiem) in August, but the similarities to the game that produced Kindred will probably just be superficial, at best. Of course, by the time Revised Edition and the Time of Judgement (the aforementioned apocalypse) rolled around, the game had changed a lot from the early editions that Kindred was adapted from.

[SideshowJed]

I could be remembering this wrong, but I got the impression that Archon answered to Julian in the TV show. Wasn't Julian the "Prince" of San Fransisco or some such?

If memory serves, at one time Archon was Prince, and Luna was his hatchetman. One day, Archon made up some charges against a group of Brujah and had Luna end them. Truth comes out that it was just Archon being petty, Luna can't do his killing anymore, Archon sees this as the moment Luna stops being muscle and starts being an authority and hands Luna the reins. Archon took the white phosphorous to the back because of this.

[KiwiRaptor]

Oh yeah, I remember that scene. Archon pretty much offered himself up as a sacrifice when the Brujah came after him, so that justice would be satisfied without starting a clan war. That takes class.

[scapebabe]

I had a lot of fun sitting with my friends and determining which character was using what power as defined by the roleplaying game. "That's Protean 5!" Ooh, he's using Obfuscare!" and so on and so forth. Yes, we were adorkable. I then came up with my theory about how they decided what characters had what power: first, they wrote down all the vampiric powers on little strips of paper and shoved them in a hat. Then, they put all the character names on a dart board. Throw a dart, that's the character, and then go around pulling random powers out of a hat. Ventrue can have enough Protean to turn into wolves and meld into the earth! Toreadors have Fortitude! Nosferatu have Potence!

Despite my geeking, I did enjoy the series. I loved Lily (I think Stacey Haiduk is cool in general - anyone remember her stint as Lana Lang in the old syndicated Superboy?) and for the longest time wished there were nightclubs out there that were actually like Haven where they play Enya and no one would laugh at you for it.


Summarily, I loved how the Brujah were Giovanni, and the Gangrel were Brujah.

[ShadowDenizen]

Ooh.
A "Kindred" thread.
I just got the DVD's, and watched them all over the weekend.

Man, I loved this show, despite all it's flaws. Some of my favorite actresses are (were) on this show: Stacey Haiduk, Brigid Walsh (who did an awesome stint is Angel S2 as Wesley's girlfriend!!), and Kelly Rutherford. Not to mention that I had a crush on Channon Roe for the longest time!

I found it interesting how the POV shifted from CTH in the beginning as the earnest cop, to the Catelyn and her romance with Julian.

And, in terms of 'porting things from the RPG to the small screen, who could forget the one-espisode cameo by the Assamites?

Edited by ShadowDenizen, Jun 7, 2004 @ 9:01 AM.

[scapebabe]

Rumor has it they'd planned for Malkavians and Tremere to be eventually added to the series. Some even claim that there's an appearance by a Malkavian, but having recently watched my house's copy of the eps, I didn't see it. There's that one crazy Gangrel who could have just as well been a Malkie, though.

[JuniperBerry]

Which makes me even sadder that the show was cancelled. I realize that the lead actor's death was a serious blow to the series, but I'm sure they could have found a way to go on. Hell, it would have been fun to watch the Primogen go crazy for the Prince position.

Does anyone know if Spelling was going to follow the game plot, or go with his own? It would have been interesting to see the Anarch takeover of California, and a few Sabbat skirmishes here and there. I really think they may have even been better off by taking the Brujah niece, and sending her out on the road after the Anarchs take the city. Her Gangrel honey could have followed, and I think I'm writing a fanfic. I'll stop now.

[Jeebus Cripes]

and for the longest time wished there were nightclubs out there that were actually like Haven where they play Enya and no one would laugh at you for it.

Heh. You and me both, scapebabe. You and me both.

I realize that the lead actor's death was a serious blow to the series, but I'm sure they could have found a way to go on.

Is that the main reason it was canceled? I was under the impression that the ratings weren't strong.

So, do they just have 9 episodes on the DVD? Or were there additional eps that we never saw (ROAR, I'm looking at you. God, I hate FOX.)?

[Fabrisse]

MF died after the show went off the air, I'm pretty sure.

[taylor3698]

I agree with Fabrisse. I remember that Fox gave a month of episodes for Kindred, but then when the ratings drop and it didn't have a cult following, the show was canceled.

I think Fox really liked MF. I remembered Fox producing a show which stars MF called Fountune Hunter. This was of course before Kindred and got cancel due to bad ratings. I always thought that if MF had lived, Fox would have eventually produced another show for him.