True Blood

http://epguides.com/TrueBlood/

Anyone seen the first episode of this new HBO show? They were giving away free copies of the first episode on DVD at Blockbuster the other night - I didnt end up watching it before I took it back. However, upon browsing online, it appears that this show is based on the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris.

If I had've known, I wouldve watched it!

I'm reminded of the conversation I was following in the Twilight, movie thread - re: the plot line is interesting, if somewhat juvenile - however, though I've not read Twilight (and probably wont), I have read the Sookie Stackhouse books, and find them thankfully lighter than Laurell K. Hamilton, and still humorous enough to keep reading.

Anybody seen it? Anybody wanna see it? Thoughts? Anyone? Anyone?

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something witty goes here......

Yes, I saw the first episode. It was pretty entertaining. The mix of sex, blood, violence and religion is fairly edgy.

My main dislike of the show were the needle dick fangs. WTH?

A minor quibble were the fake Southern accents. It's minor because almost no one gets those right. There is one, count them, one, passable Cajun accent out of all the accents.

So far they are being pretty true to the first book. I really enjoy the books so much!

I did not picture Sookie or anyone in the show as white trash as this show does them. I have to say they do the white trash element pretty authentically though I don't particularly like that element.

The second show, the fangs were MUCH better looking. Yay!

The show was still pretty faithful to the first book. I actually have HBO on my vaca so I got to watch it on a real TV screen rather than a tiny window on my lap top.

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Bleacheddecay

ok, so by saying "true to the book" youre telling me they have lycanthropes in the show? hmm.

charlaine harris must be raking in the dough, and think, all she had to do was copy Hamilton's style, lighten it up a bit and ratchet it down a few reading level notches.

I'm sure she is raking in the dough but to say that she is copying Hamilton's style isn't how I see it at all.

Nor do I see it as being down a few reading notches. I don't typically make those kind of judgments but if I did, I wouldn't agree with that assessment.

There is less sex which, if you are going to write basically the same sex scene over and over, is not a bad thing at all.

Also there is less drama and over analyzing of everything. That's another good point.

I have found Harris's character development much more interesting overall so far. I feel Sookie has remained truer to herself.

The I can't have sex or I won't be a good person isn't there. That's a device I find irritating in the first Blake books. It was offset then by a kick ass character and non stop action. Guilty Pleasures remains one of my all time favorite books.

Things can and do get very dark in the Harris books. Yes, there are going to be lycanthropes on the show if they stay true to the book. So far though if there are any, they haven't been revealed.

A shape shifter has been hinted at but not explicitly explained to the audience. If you've read the books you expect it though.

I'm pretty sure I heard the name of the werewolf she goes to MS with in another book and he was at the bar but the were part wasn't mentioned and his was a brief appearance.

Personally I found the books to be great fun. Hamilton I read with a bit of reluctance these days. Whereas Harris I eagerly pick up and devour the same night.

BTW, have you read any Kim Harrison books? They begin with Dead Witch Walking and get better with every volume.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher were like that too for me. The TV series was not as faithful to his books or as layered and though fun, the show suffered for it.

Now that they've fixed the vag fangs. I'm fairly happy with the show. We shall see how it develops. I may have to wait though if I can't find it online cause I don't get HBO at this time.

I am LOVING this show.

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Pumpkins scream in the DEAD of night!

The books are, of course, so much better.

The show is interesting but not how I would have done it.

One of my favorite shows.

oh wow, true blood just took a turn for the better. i gotta say so far to love is to bury is the BEST. EPISODE. EVER!

the girl Bill turned has completely stolen this episode, if you ask me. at first using the preacher daughter cliche seemed quite trite, because you really didnt know where they were going with it, but the way she came out is actually quite hilarious - so is Bill's dismay.

almost done, and I find myself at the jail scene - and doesnt Mary Forrester give you that horrible sinking feeling? (I'm very glad to see this actress on the show though - it can only get more interesting from here. I love how they dont even give her a fake accent.) I thought she was naked chick on the side of the road, or isnt she? I just want to scream at the screen "NO TARA! NOOOOOO!!"

re: the accents. So far, I'm betting Arlene is the only real Southerner they have on the show, and for my money, she's the only real accent. The rest are HORRIBLY fake, and Bill Compton is straight from the UK. Which makes me wonder: is it me, or do you see a high instance of Brit-cum-American South roles? If that is case do you think it may be because the Southern accent is more distinct and easier to mimick (fake)?

I picked up the first episode of this the other night but the disk messed up about half way so I didn't get to finish it... those fake southern accents had me rolling though...

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the show itself is somewhat slow - the pace of the books is much faster and far more interesting (in that way). Much of the storyline is changed from the books, and someone told me that they intentionally took a creative license with the TV show - it will definitely go in another direction.

For example: Jason's sex-capades. Jason is not that much of a central figure in the books (and while he's no Sookie, he is definitely not a much of a stupid, himbo as they play him).

Tara: Tara is also not that much of a central figure, nor is she black in the book. Here character is exactly that depressing, but nowhere near as much of a fighter as Tara. You see TV Tara and think: Ouch! That must hurt. You read Book Tara and have nothing more than pity.

Im not sure why they extended Lafayette's character so long - its almost as though they sped up parts of the story, and lengthened other parts. Regardless though, when they did the Season Wrap Up (which is what I think that last ep was), they tied up a lot of loose ends and I think finally closed out at least all elements of Book 1.

I may give the books a try but am not to sure about the series... it was a bit like watching very bad porn at times... Cable needs to realize just because they can doesn't necessarily mean they should...

I was at a hotel that got HBO last night. Lately I haven't had the time or patience to watch the show online so I'm behind a few episodes.

I watched it anyway last night and OMG! My fav characters are gone, or ruined it seems.

Noooooooo!

I like the books way better. I think Jason was a stupid himbo in them but he wasn't featured as much.

Tara was simply irritating. She is the one character that I like better on the show.

I'm trying to figure out what is going on with the Pig and how Forrester fits into the world - I know the Lycans did feature prominently in the later books, but did I forget something?

Cait - I have to agree that the sex is ridiculously gratuitous and is a huge turnoff - its one of the main beefs I have with HBO's shows: Im not watching it to watch soft porn. its almost as though they feel that because they are HBO they have to add that to every show they do to push the envelope make it worthwhile. Its what turned me off of Oz- I think the first full frontal of I got of the dude, I was like....whaaa? It was too much for a television show.

Honestly, I think this is the only real addition to the show that Jason Stackhouse provides (Jason Stackhouse = Sex-capades). He exists for the viewers who feel that just because its a vamp show it should be oversexed. Yeah. Sometimes, out of sheer boredom, I just skip the Jason 15minutes altogether - you really dont miss anything that has to do with the actual storyline.

I got caught up on the show yesterday. It's a dirty, nasty show that's difficult to NOT watch. LOL.

I wasn't thrilled with the dig at homeschoolers made with Bill's childe. Most homeschoolers are NOT repressive freaks. At least not the ones I hang out with. I'm always irritated by wholesale dismissal and prejudice.

Likewise, while reading the books I didn't see everyone in it as red necks, white trash, trailer trash types. Why? Probably because I've lived in the South most of my life. I saw them as flawed human beings trying to get by. The portrayal of the characters in the tv smacks of prejudice, IMO.

Re: Jason and sex;

I just realized last night, that a lot of the sex, practically all of the sex with Amy, wasn't sex at all but a drug trip. LMAO. Crazy stuff.

I haven't read the books either but am considering giving them a shot after finishing the series.

Tara is the only actress that I find slightly annoying, her accent makes me want to clog my ears shut.

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You must have big rats if you need Hattori Hanzo's steel.

-Hattori Hanzo

Why -do you homeschool? Kidding! Kidding! No, it is a very irritating and myopic view - however I think since the type of people who homeschool do it because (1) they have children who are kicked out of regular school, (2) they travel and have lifestyles not condusive to a regular school schedule, or (3) have issues with the public schools system and want to manage/shape the mind of their own children - slapping a "HOMESCHOOL" identification on a person typically does easily and distinctively identify that group of people in category #3.

And category #3 people often have clearly identifiable reasons for homeschooling (plus a stay at home parent) - most of those reason have some kind of religious underpinning! So yeah - it is trite and an overbroad generalization, but using the "homeschooled" moniker is really just a plot device to shortly express to viewers that the person is assumed to not have been socialized according to normal public school patterns....and maybe a little repressed.

Not true in all cases by any means, but definitely probably true in some.

... .... ..... I definitely saw the lowbrow come out in the books, though probably not to the level they portray it in the show, but I always thought of it as Harris's way of poking fun at herself and her region. I considered it more of her way of explaining such a life and giving it a measure of dignity, meaning and character - kind of like The Departed or 8 Mile. Watching it you're thinking "ouch!" but youre also thinking this is humanity.

Though I do agree with you that the tv show does seem to portray every one of them as depressed and depressing. I've yet to see one of them happy other than Jason , but he's played as the lovable buffoon who would be happy if bombs were going off overhead so long as he was getting laid.

So yeah - i did watch the show and think that both the show AND the books failed to really capture the genteel and happy south that we all know exists as well. The books did portray the Bellefluers as a part of the wealthy elite, but with Portia, Andy and Terry (and later Bill), you still got the sense that they were desperately miserable.

Harris clearly thinks everyone's life sucks, but then, her other book series also portray this same kind of despair.

Amy was actually one of the funnier parts of the show - too bad they got rid of her, because if they are true to the books, Jason's life gets far more complex and.....well depressing from here on out!

I actually hate listening to her talk, though Ive grown accustomed to her character. The accent is clearly contrived, but then, so is just about everyone else's.

Mack,

We don't really fit any of those categories. Though I'm sure there are people who do. I know a lot of homeschoolers that this is true of as well, we just don't fit in a given category.

We homeschool because our kids asked us to. It has afforded them the opportunity to pursue their goals and interests in ways they would not have been able to do in our very good (according to rankings) public schools. We are not rich. We don't travel much. (Drat! I wish!)

There may be some control freak parents out there in homeschooling (and every other kind of schooling), but I would never hang out with them because that sort of thing turns my stomach. It is the prevailing prejudice that the kids were "bad" kids, misfits, or the parents are control freaks. That just irks me because the vast majority I've gotten to know in my very large community of homeschoolers are not any of those things.

Now back to the show:

I enjoyed Amy too except for the lack of caring toward vampires.

Though I've lived in the South all my life, I've never been "in" with the genteel people. I've always been an outside the box type as were my parents. I know there are quite a few of us that are happy, generous people. I know people from all social stratas but I know little to nothing about the genteel South. I may even have my own sort of prejudice about it. Hmm, interesting . . .

Started burning through this show recently, liking Season 2 a lot more than the first. At first i thought it was a decent premise but dumbing itself down with Sookie being telepathic, seems liked a lazy plot device but it's a pretty natural part of the show at this point so don't mind it. Similarly with the shifters, thought they were making it far too much of a fantasy show when they're were aiming for more realism. Accents don't really both me too much, like most the characters and the cliffhangers make it pretty hard to not watch the next episode.

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I'm like the opposite, Pyro. I loved season 1 a whole hell of a lot more than what's been in season 2 so far. I hate this new christian Jason, it just doesn't fit his character. I also hate the whole sub-plot with Maryann, she's a plain annoying character. The only thing that I think has really improved from season 1 is where they've taken Bill and Sookie. They've only gotten more interesting since season 2 started.

I agree that season 2 is far better than season one. The writing and characters are getting more complex in a good way for me.

Jason is searching. At Christian Camp he can be a hero again like he was in high school. He will have that OMG is this really what they are all about moment. I hated him in season 1 but in season 2 he actually has some good qualities that he is showing.

I love Marianne. I don't know what she is but I love her. She is fun and scary which is a great combination for me.

I still don't much care for Bill, and Sookie is just okay in my book, to me they are not more intersting. I love Tara and Lafayette though.

Sam and his shapeshifter lady are just okay so far. I'm still not thrilled with Sam or the coupling but at least it will divert him from Sookie somewhat.