1544 replies to this topic

[TWoP Bayliss]

Reviews, previews, rants and raves.

[kirshpgh]

Reviews continue to be split [as mentioned in the old TB thread] the EW ("C") and TVGuide (9 out of 10); some newer reviews:

An AP review calls it “anemic” (har, har) and the reviewer also loses points for referring to Bill as a “stud muffin”… Really? Couldn’t use a phrase from this decade?

After Elton likes it (“With shows like Pushing Daisies and the Doctor Who franchise breaking new ground in fantasy and sci-fi, True Blood sidles up nicely next to Dexter in giving the horror genre a fresh coat of (red) paint.”)

[Door]

So far I don't feel like the actor portraying Sam really fits. Maybe it's because he reminds me of Ethan Hawke, whom I hate? Give that guy a better haircut, or something.

[valny]

Today's NY Daily News gives it three out of five stars. Boy, those vamp teeth in the picture look awful. They look like two toothpicks! I'm used to the cool teeth on Buffy and Angel.

[Door]

The LA Times calls True Blood "drained of fun;" the WSJ isn't all that impressed, either.

[kirshpgh]

The puns, they are killing me. USAToday has an 'oh positive' review, but admits subtle isn't word Alan Ball is familiar with.

On a completely shallow note, in the red carpet premier photos, the actress that plays Maudette looks so much better in real life. Bon Temps must be harsh place.

[Zengar]

Eonline: Ryan Kwanten Is Bloody Hot. Yay someone from mainstream media agrees with me! From what little I saw of him in the pilot, I do think he will be the breakout star of the show before anyone else. I hope Alan Ball gives his character Jason more weight.

[cyberducks]

Matt Roush has seen the first 5 episodes now and really likes it.

[cyberducks]

Bumping this to post that Michelle Forbes is joining True Blood in a regular role. This must be for season 2, as season 1 has already wrapped filming. Who is she going to play? Bills's Lorena or the Maenad?

Yeah! Michelle Forbes - I remember her vividly from BSG.

[Illyria B]

I've never liked Michelle Forbes, not too thrilled about those news, but I do want a second season.

[alynch]

Good news. She also did quite good on Homicide: LOTS in what was not a particularly well written part, although I'm not quite sure if I buy the story yet. That article cites Variety as a source, but doesn't link to the original article, and I see no article at Variety's site.

ETA: Nevermind, found the original article.

Edited by alynch, Sep 8, 2008 @ 8:11 PM.

[girlwithbook]

Bumping this to post that Michelle Forbes is joining True Blood in a regular role. This must be for season 2, as season 1 has already wrapped filming. Who is she going to play? Bills's Lorena or the Maenad?

From what I've read, both those roles show up in the first season.

Edited by girlwithbook, Sep 8, 2008 @ 8:36 PM.

[cyberducks]

Variety wouldn't report a role already filmed as just cast now. Maybe Michelle will be Portia Bellfleur. She looks like the type physically.

[Zengar]

Zap2it TV Review on 'True Blood'. So far no reveiwer outright loves the pilot, but they all praise Paquin's performance and would like to see more.

This isn't also the first time I see some reviewer saying that he's watched the first 5 episodes. I wonder how they got to watch them.

Edited by Zengar, Sep 9, 2008 @ 2:32 AM.

[Door]

My guess is that HBO sent the first five episodes out for review because they knew the story needed that long to fully establish itself.

[cyberducks]

What Charlaine Harris has to say about the premiere and the show - she also has seen the first five episodes.

[bvamp]

I can see Michelle Forbes as Claudine.

Edited by bvamp, Sep 9, 2008 @ 12:15 PM.

[RolloTomassi]

From the Charlaine Harris link:

I realized the brown-haired man sitting in front of me was Alexander Skarsgard.

Poor woman, it's a wonder she was able to see anything!

[alynch]

The ratings for the premiere are in. Decent, but unspectacular.

Edited by alynch, Sep 9, 2008 @ 7:36 PM.

[cyberducks]

Pretty good, there will always be people who won't watch anything with vampires in it. The reach across the various platforms should give it a second season I would think. Not to mention all the folks who watched the pilot through err...sneaky means and who may buy the dvds later if they liked it enough.

Several people in my circle of friends got HBO just to watch TB.

[kirshpgh]

The LA Times interpretation of the ratings tea leaves was not as positive. I don't know what kind of numbers they were expecting.

[cyberducks]

I don't know what kind of numbers they were expecting.

Maybe the next Sopranos, which is not very realistic. Luckily HBO is not driven by ratings the way the networks are. I think we have a chance of getting more than one season.

To put things in perspective - look at the ratings for the Showtime hit Dexter here - now of course The Sopranos and Sex In The City got much higher ratings, but they were cultural phenoms and the exception, not the rule in pay cable.

Edited by cyberducks, Sep 10, 2008 @ 10:31 AM.

[Magwitch]

Elvis Mitchell talks to Alan Ball on The Treatment about True Blood and his new film, Towelhead.

[Door]

True Blood Italia has some great new pictures! Be aware, some of the pictures may be considered spoilery.

Edited by Door, Sep 12, 2008 @ 12:44 PM.

[Kris_AB]

Several people in my circle of friends got HBO just to watch TB.

And I can see that happening more and more if the series gets good reviews as it progresses. Genre fans will go where the entertainment is, HBO would be wise to play to them. Having genre material mixed in with the more serious "real world" fare will help premium cable channels look more diverse. Like they're just like any other network when it comes to content, except with little to no reality-TV and no censorship. It's a smart move. Carnivale got the attention of a whole lotta viewers too who normally wouldn't go for The Sopranos or Deadwood or Six Feet Under. Personally I don't understand folks who only watch genre programming (the same as I don't get people who only watch non-genre shows), I go where the good stories and acting are. Even giving subgenres a try when you never thought you'd be interested in them can yield great results (I hate most cop material on TV, but I love The Shield and Dexter).

[Zengar]

EW article 'True Blood': Making sense of that goofy dog painting.

Looks like the dog painting caught some attention. The article also asks some interesting questions that I didn't think before.

[cyberducks]

True Blood goes to Paley.

[Zengar]

Afterelton recaps on 1x02 "The First Taste"

[Turkish]

The Juiliard School recently released a newletter that mentions the series. Apparently, the actors who play Tara, Lafayette, Dawn and Arlene all went to Juiliard.

[Kris_AB]

Re: The EW article

I don't expect everyone to be as obsessed as I am about the details, but if you're a professional TV columnist, you should be able to do better than that guy.

It doesn't make sense to assume that Sam is some variety of vampire because, as far as we've been shown/told so far on the show, Sookie can't hear vampires' thoughts. She heard plenty of Sam's in the first episode.

Also, there's no reason to go beyond the theory of Sam being some sort of were-dog or shape shifter, there's nothing in the show to suggest that he's also a vampire (fine, we've only seen him at night), so I don't know why you'd make that leap. When Bill and Sookie are talking in the grave yard and she's asking what vampires can do...she asks if he can turn into a bat or any other kind of animal. His response is, "No, but there're those that can". It really sounded like he was speaking for vamps as a race, not just himself. Which I take to mean, vamps don't shapeshift, but there are people who can turn into animals in True Blood's reality. I could turn out to be wrong on that point, there might be vamps who can shapeshift, a whole lotta people seemed to read Bill's answer that way...but I really don't think Sam is a vamp.