15 replies to this topic

[Bitterswete]

Since season 2 is starting tonight on Disney Channel (Fri. June 29th, 8pm Eastern) I thought it was a good time to start a thread for this show.

I really liked My Babysitter's a Vampire: The Movie. Which is funny since I only watched out of a sort of morbid curiosity. I mean, it was a vampire movie airing on Disney Channel. Odds were it was going to be pretty bad. And I wanted to see for myself how bad it really was. (Although I didn't expect to last more than 15 minutes.)

But I ended up really enjoying the movie. It was a lighthearted take on one of my favorite genres. I love horror/supernatural shows, but they can get pretty dark and angsty at times. The MBAV movie was a fun change of pace. But it wasn't over-the-top silly the way some horror/comedy shows and movies can be. And the violence wasn't soft-peddled the way I thought it would be either. It wasn't as graphic as a show like Supernatural, never mind the stuff on premium cable. But, for Disney Channel, they showed a lot more death and mayhem than I would've expected.

I enjoyed season one of the series for the same reasons I enjoyed the movie. And I've been looking forward to the season 2 premiere since I saw the promo for it.

I'm also looking forward to seeing the ratings for the premiere. The movie, which aired again last weekend, was one of the most watched programs on cable last week, despite the fact that Disney Channel and Disney XD have already aired it multiple (and I do mean multiple) times. So I'm very interested in seeing how a brand new episode will do.

[WileyCoyote]

I really liked My Babysitter's a Vampire: The Movie. Which is funny since I only watched out of a sort of morbid curiosity. I mean, it was a vampire movie airing on Disney Channel. Odds were it was going to be pretty bad.

Here's the secret reason why.

Ready?

It wasn't made by Disney. It was made by Canadian company Fresh TV, and Disney just bought the US rights off of them.

The Canadians actually have a few of these "Supernatural Lite" type shows. If you like this show check out "Todd and the Book of Pure Evil", for example.

[Bitterswete]

Here's the secret reason why.

Ready?

It wasn't made by Disney.

Yes, I know. And it's not that unusual. Disney Channel has aired many movies and TV shows they didn't actually make, some of which had already aired on other networks...and were Canadian. (Life with Derek, for example.) And a lot of the movies and shows DC ends up financing aren't actually made by them either. Instead, a producer will go to DC and basically say, "We want to make a show/movie about such-and-such. If you're interested in airing it on your network, will you help pay to make it?"

For example, 16 Wishes was made by a Canadian production company, and both DC and the Family Channel in Canada helped pay for it, which gave them both the rights to air it on their respective networks. Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars is another Canadian production DC helped pay for along with another Canadian cable network.

The difference when it comes to MBAV (the movie and season one) is that, as far as I know, Disney Channel didn't help finance them. I think they were already "in the can" by the time DC took notice. But I'd be shocked to learn Disney wasn't helping to pay for season 2. The airing of season one seemed to be sort of a test, and it was a successful one. Since then, DC seems to have adopted the show, treating it like one of their "originals."

To me, it's interesting that, seeing what the movie and show were like, DC picked them up at all, and didn't end up cutting them into oblivion. It really is a departure for them. Of course, MBAV has also ended up being the first thing DC ever aired with a TV rating higher than TV-G. Instead, it's rated TV-PG-V. (The V is for violence.)

And I know way more than I realized about the doings at DC. I guess all the articles I've read about this and that stuck.

All of that being said, I enjoyed the season two premiere. However, I do wonder where the heck the Vampire Counsel came from. They were mentioned briefly in season one, but nobody actually said they were in town and more or less running things. Although I think there was a line in the premiere suggesting that Jesse being gone might have something to do with it.

In any case, I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.

Edited by Bitterswete, Jun 30, 2012 @ 12:24 PM.

[omgsowicked]

To me, it's interesting that, seeing what the movie and show were like, DC picked them up at all, and didn't end up cutting them into oblivion.

One of my Canadian friends who watched the show on Disney and then on Teletoon up there, said there were a few scenes that were not in Disney's version but nowhere near as many cuts as I expected. They cut references to fake websites/email addresses, Benny saying, "holy crap," in Doug the Vampire Hunter, and in Three Cheers for Evil, two comments about a movie with a three-boobed alien and getting kicked, "right in the babies," (aka testicles). But again, that's really not too bad... I truly expected Disney to make more cuts. I'm glad they didn't, it's one of the reasons why I like the show, it's not all simple, old jokes.

I enjoyed the Season 2 premiere... but it's taken me some time to warm up to it. I really think there was too much going on for one half-hour episode. Hopefully laying all that groundwork now (Sarah returning, Vampire Council, evil mist thing) will mean future episodes won't be so packed. I really wanted to see more about the Council and Erica's time with Dirk... and I was a bit confused with Sarah. She's super nice and happy now but her fuse is much shorter as well. Maybe in another episode we'll see her talking with Erica about how she feels or something. Oh yeah, I have to say, the cuts to commercial breaks were pretty awful... that final scene was especially weird, when it cut off in the middle of Sarah's laugh. I hope that's not how it'll be from now on... I thought it was jarring.

Anyway, I'm so happy the show is back and I'm curious about the ratings as well. Compared to other Disney Channel shows, they only bumped up advertising for the show about a week ago, so I wonder how well it did... but the movie got something like a 2.2 rating when it re-aired last Sunday and that's pretty good, especially considering the show's been MIA for so long.

ETA: I forgot to mention... I noticed that Ari Cohen (Mr. Morgan) has been knocked down to a guest star [Laura DeCarteret (Mrs. Morgan), while not in this episode, is still listed in the main credits, as is Ella Jonas Farlinger (Jane)]. That saddens me, as I really love him and the Morgan family as a whole... the parents may be clueless but they're not useless and I like how you can tell that they love their kids.

Edited by omgsowicked, Jun 30, 2012 @ 3:30 PM.

[Bitterswete]

I really wanted to see more about the Council and Erica's time with Dirk

Yeah, that whole thing with Dirk could've been it's own episode, or at least the B-plot in a less busy episode. Instead, it kinda got lost in everything else going on. (Sarah being a bit out of control, the Counsel being unhappy Sarah won't "join the family," the Counsel being after the guys because they think they're hunters, the mystery behind the killer mist.) Poor Dirk's plot barely got touched. I mean, I at least would like to have seen him right after he found out vampires were real. Instead, they cut from him finding out to him having accepted it already.

I do like the idea that there's someone who hates vampires enough to use black magic to kill them off. Are they good? Are they evil? It would seem like someone killing off vampires would be trying to do good, but you never know.

Edited by Bitterswete, Jun 30, 2012 @ 4:43 PM.

[Kaoteek]

Wasn't too impressed with that season premiere. Everything felt rushed, half-cooked, and nothing was really convincing. Meh.

[Bleu]

At the end of the episode, I thought Ethan was going to turn about to be responsible for the mist without knowing it, but can't remember my reasoning.

Unhappily, it seems that the next episode will have an evil Romani.

Edited by Bleu, Jul 1, 2012 @ 4:28 PM.

[karicola88]

I agree about Dirk - he would have made for a great story - but I disagree about the council being a good storyline. I really didn't like the council and I'm very happy that they've been sidelined. It just seems like an unnecessary and annoying element that turns the show into something else, and it's just too easy to incorporate to create some silly, unnecessary drama. All throughout their little "discussion" I kept waiting and rooting for Sarah to just beat them all up. I like the sort of free aspect of the vampires and the sort of mysterious sense of these characters being the only ones in town.

I have to say, I am really impressed by the show now! I agree that the s2 premiere was a little weird and disconnected and slapped together, but the latest episodes have actually been really funny and tightly written. There was a hilarious JJ Abrams reference, and a bunch of smaller witty one-liners (the episode with the possessed girl scouts in particular was rife with really funny jokes every few lines) and they seem to have excised whatever made the show feel a little cringeworthy in the first season. There was something about the directing or something else in the first season that made the show feel cloying in parts, but that's gone now. I never feel the need to cringe anymore!

I'm so glad to see Sarah really hasn't changed as much as the s2 premiere and the commercials seemed to indicate. I was worried about that! I loved Sarah's stressed out but morally upright personality in the first season. And she seems to be roughly the same, trying to reason Erica out of taking her torture of the freshman too far, looking after people and saving the day as usual. But I still miss just how hilariously beleaguered she was in the first season, and what a fun dichotomy her badassery was to that. In general I find most of the characters very well-rendered, and 3-dimensional, aside from Rory and Erica. But Erica actually seems to be getting some dimensions; I loved how she took down the sewer monster with science and they reminded us she was a huge geek. It indicated a subtle sense of loss and longing. I hope they touch on it again, and hopefully using Sarah's friendship to do that. ! It'd also be interesting to get some insight into that friendship and how they're friendship has reconfigured since Erica has decided to change so much. Maybe Sarah will reveal she really hasn't changed as much as she'd like to think.

They seem to be toning down Sarah's badassery! In the first season she was just awesome and ridiculous and there was something so endearing about this beleaguered, stressed-out, stick in the mud character also being able to take down an army of zombies, two adult vampires, a werewolf, and various other nasties singlehandedly. There was a sense of super heroine going on. But now they've clarified that Erica is slightly stronger and she seems to work more in teams. A little sad. I wish they had kept her ridiculous super hero awesomeness instead. I still love that scene where they cut to a bunch of knocked out zombies at the smoothie place.

The acting has also improved. Rory was nigh unbearable in the first season for me, but the actor has really reigned it in into something more tolerably, and adorably, goofy. Erica's actress has also toned down the camp JUST enough. Sarah's actress also is going for a bit more weight and substance in her performance and less over-expression. Ethan too. Benny's actor was always fine.

Anyway, I really really like this show a lot now! Before it was sort of a guilty pleasure, but now I can genuinely say it's pretty good. It's just a bit campy! But in this case, it works.

Edited by karicola88, Aug 25, 2012 @ 4:22 PM.

[KerleyQ]

But Erica actually seems to be getting some dimensions; I loved how she took down the sewer monster with science and they reminded us she was a huge geek. It indicated a subtle sense of loss and longing. I hope they touch on it again, and hopefully using Sarah's friendship to do that. ! It'd also be interesting to get some insight into that friendship and how they're friendship has reconfigured since Erica has decided to change so much. Maybe Sarah will reveal she really hasn't changed as much as she'd like to think.

I also like the changes in the Erica character. I think they needed to make her less of the cartoonish one-dimensional vampire that she was in the movie and S1 to make it apparent why Sarah chooses to remain as close to her as she is, and they did a good job of working it into the fabric of the show without it seeming out of nowhere. I find the changes in her character believable, too, for the most part. I like that they've kind of softened her towards the guys, but, even though it seems rather "new" this season, you can see why it would have happened during the time between the end of S1 and the beginning of S2. Sarah was, apparently, her only friend, so with Sarah gone, Erica likely felt lonely, and, given her pre-vampire social status, that's probably a feeling she goes to great lengths to avoid. And since the boys are Sarah's closest friends aside from her, I can see why she would have felt a natural inclination to turn to them as friends with Sarah gone. Being who she is, she's not going to overtly declare them her close friends or anything, but she still clearly feels more bonded to them than she did in S1.

They did a good job of subtly establishing that shift from the start of the first episode this season, too. When Erica was excited about something, she called Ethan. I felt like that small scene did a lot to establish the difference in her character and the reason for it (with Ethan wondering if Sarah was back, indicating that she'd been gone from their lives for a while).

[karicola88]

I think they needed to make her less of the cartoonish one-dimensional vampire that she was in the movie and S1 to make it apparent why Sarah chooses to remain as close to her as she is, and they did a good job of working it into the fabric of the show without it seeming out of nowhere.

Yes! I think that's so important and so essential and they really did touch on it in a properly small way. We saw that the campy vampy attitude is kind of window dressing for the geek inside, indicating that Sarah's friend is in there too. We can kind of assume that Sarah gets to see a bit more of that old Erica than the viewer is privy too. We've also seen Erica's slight protectiveness of Sarah, the warmth when Sarah turned, and vice versa, and their hilarious views on each other. From what's been shown, I think Sarah looks at Erica's changes as a phase. I kind of hope that turns out to be somewhat true and she learns to reconcile who she was as a human with the fun vamp she wants to be. In any case, the development with her is really subtle. I love how for all her badness she's still properly attached to Sarah like glue and would fight to the death for her, and vice versa; one (badness) doesn't cancel out the other (friendship). And they're not just "friends" because it's convenient (*cough*Vampire Diaries*cough*), they really are friends and that's clear.

I think this show handles the relationships better than a lot of much more acclaimed network or cable shows. Like, the friendships and relationships just make me happy, they don't frustrate and annoy me like on The Vampire Diaries, which for all it's production values and plot twists just ironically kind of doesn't have as much subtle depth as this show when it comes to the relationships. I can't believe I just said that...Wow. I kind of actually believe that. The viewer is beaten over the head so much with who loves who and all the favoritism of certain characters that it's hard not to kind of scream. This show's only real flaw was that it occasionally made me cringe in the first season, but now that's gone!

[Slade347]

Anyone still watching? I've been enjoying the second season, although there are times when I wish the show would go even more out there with their characters (especially the comic relief trio of Benny, Rory & Erica), but that's probably a lot to ask for from a show that's probably aimed at tweens more anyone else.

Still, I do find myself laughing a lot at most of the episodes and it's got that low key vibe that Canadian shows are known for. Well, at least known for by me. I even like the way they've laid out the Ethan/Sarah relationship, always a potential stumbling block in any show. I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out in the season finale next week.

BTW, did anyone notice that Disney aired a promo for next week's episode giving away who the Big Bad was during the original airing of the episode? Nice job, guys.

Oh and the new version of the theme with Vanessa Morgan and Kate Todd singing? Umm....no thanks.

[kcblue86]

I'm still watching, although not completely regularly. It's so different from the other shows on Nick or Disney. The Canadian-ness of it really makes it remind me of the kid shows from the nineties. The finale next week looks really interesting, and I really hope the new version of the theme was a one off kind of thing.

[Bitterswete]

Anyone still watching?

I'm still watching, and I've really enjoyed this season. The season premiere kind of had me a little worried. Things seemed a tad off in that episode. But the show quickly settled down and got into a groove.

I liked how Erica seemed to be more a part of the group and helped with a lot of the evil-fighting (although sometimes reluctantly), Rory was toned down a bit, that we got a bit more of Ethan's mom and sister, etc. And I was really glad that Sara's uber-aggressive attitude didn't last very long.

One thing that disappointed me was that Jesse didn't turn out to be a bigger part of the season. I know he's evil and everything but I like him and, after last season's finale, I thought he'd be around more. But that's really my biggest complaint, and I'm glad season 2 won't be completely Jesse-free.

[Slade347]

Well, the season finale certainly had quite the cliffhanger, didn't it?

And there were some parts (especially Benny and Sarah in their ghost makeup) that actually creeped me out. It makes me wonder what the reaction was for some of the younger kids watching?

Still, a good finale and they got me thinking about how that cliffhanger gets resolved. Now, let's all cross our fingers and toes in hopes that we get a third season.

[bananagramz44]

It's so weird there hasn't been any news about a third season. But there is good news! It seems the show won some $50,000 award called the Shaw Rocket Prize and it was nominated for two Writers Guild of Canada Awards in the youth/children's category. And one of the bigwigs apparently did some gushing at a press conference about the show's ratings. Considering all that I think it would be really weird if the show wasn't picked up for another season, and I have a feeling the delay has something to do with the weird air-times between Canada and the US; it aired later in Canada for some reason, with the finale only airing in December 2012. Now that I think about it I think news of the second season took longer than the time that's elapsed for news of the third season.

Anyway, I thought the finale was excellent and was really impressed with how it felt like the story was honing in on just how much these characters love each other. It felt steeped in character and loads of fun; I loved the weird Benny phone program/spell. The two things I didn't like are things I'm sure are just personal gripes that other people may not share: I didn't really like Benny's grandma saying Ethan secretly valued Sarah the most out of everyone; even if it's true deep deep in his heart. It felt like it took a little bit away from the gang as a whole, and from Ethan's relationship with Benny considering they've known each other for ever and the show has mostly been about friendship, not epic romance. And that's what I love about it! The second thing is much smaller; I enjoyed how hilariously ineffectual the vampire council was and didn't like that the little girl vampire could mind control Erica and Rory. Rory I could understand, but I would have liked to see Erica be all like "bitch please." And I didn't exactly love the heavy-handedness with Ethan's fear and powers.

Otherwise, I'm surprised the show has stuck so closely to maintaining it's own tone and to keeping the characters steeped in their own histories and consistent and endearing. Erica at her worst is still always a loyal friend to Sarah, and Sarah at her most wet blanket-y is still a badass and refreshingly moral, and Rory at his loopiest is still well-meaning. It's a lot more than I get from most shows; it might be a function of there being less episodes, a small cast, less pressure, and less overall attention, but the show generally feels like a breath of fresh air and like it subverts a lot of the staleness and cynicism and 2-dimensional "romances" that abound lately in fiction. And I was really impressed with some of the humor this season. Erica's "eat science!" attack on the sewer monster; Benny's JJ Abrams "referential/reverential" internet conversation; and a bunch of stuff I'm not remembering. It was all so good! Even going all out with the supernatural in the finale all felt like more of a smokescreen to just show how much all these characters care about each other. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed that they don't go in a more banal direction for the third season.

Edited by bananagramz44, Mar 1, 2013 @ 7:15 PM.

[omgsowicked]

The show also won best cross-platform project at the Canadian Screen Awards, too!

Was it really longer for the second season renewal? Huh... I guess it doesn't feel like it because the first season was newly airing on TV. I really do wish we knew what the hangup was... the second season ending later may have made them wait for ratings info but I checked BBM Canada, their rating system, and the Fall 2012 ratings were released last month. According to one of the writers on the Official Facebook group, the show didn't get very good ratings in Canada, so I can see why they're taking their time with it but more time between seasons means more time for people to forget about the show (and the way it's looking to me is that they wouldn't be able to get anything out until the very end of this year or 2014). But I've never paid attention to a show's renewal before so I really don't know what I'm talking about, nor do I have any clue what the show's chances are anymore.

I enjoyed the second season very much but I missed the fun of the first season. I hope they find a happy medium between the two in S3 because I missed that goofiness a lot (my favorite episodes were Siren Song and Halloweird because they were so silly, while I loved Independence Daze and Part 2 for the drama). It made sense to go so darker, since the last two episodes needed it, but nearly every episode of S2 was a life or death situation. I hope they have a better balance next time.

I also didn't like Grandma saying Ethan cared for Sarah more than Benny. I didn't feel it was warranted or necessary, and found it a bit damaging to Ethan and Benny's friendship, which is one of the biggest highlights of the show. Besides, Grandma watched the boys grow up together; Sarah's only been in their lives for a few years. As for the romance element, S2 (Hottie Ho-Tep, to be exact) turned me off to Ethan/Sarah, unfortunately. I had high hopes, between Sarah becoming immortal for Ethan, her behavior toward him in Welcome Back Dusker, and him growing up a bit, that they'd go from babysitter/babysittee (unequal) to friends (equal) and then grow from there, but she still acts as if she only spends time with him and his friends because she works for his parents and feels morally obligated to help them out, and he's still acting doe-eyed and possessive over her (which is kind of refreshing, coming from a male character, but still a bit too much). I had hoped they would have evolved a bit, maybe spend more time as friends before launching into the romantic aspect, but that didn't happen, so I'm not so sure what to expect in the next season. I hope I can get back on board with them.

Now what I'd love to see is Benny and Erica getting together... I think that would be a lot of fun. Speaking of Erica, I'd really like to get to know her better; more about her dorky past, her insecurities, what she gets up to with all her vampire activism. And I liked that they showed so many different friendships within the group; I need to see more of Ethan and Erica together because the two of them together are surprisingly awesome.

Edited by omgsowicked, Mar 3, 2013 @ 1:21 AM.