Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Ten reasons to guzzle 'True Blood'

From Digital Spy UK

Fresh from its run on FX UK, the superb True Blood finally arrives on Channel 4 and is sure to amass a legion of new fans with its tense yet funny storytelling and winning romantic intrigue. There will be skeptics out there no doubt grumbling 'oh no, not another vampire-themed show'. So here are ten reasons to sink your fangs into this superb slice of compelling drama set deep in Southern America.

1) The pedigree

The background of key figures behind and before the cameras is impressive. True Blood creator Alan Ball was behind the similarly morbid and hugely-lauded series Six Feet Under and scooped an Oscar for his American Beauty screenplay. The lead star Anna Paquin, who plays kooky waitress Sookie Stackhouse, also landed an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the tender age of 11 for her role in 1994 art flick The Piano, and won an army of fans playing Rogue in the X-Men movies. In addition, the source material for the series is The Southern Vampire Mysteries by award-winning novelist Charlaine Harris.

2) The naughtiness

Mainstream US television has some crazy censorship issues, whereby it’s fine to show numerous faceless characters being gunned to pieces in various action dramas, but the end of the world if there's a swear word or Janet Jackson has a wardrobe malfunction. Fortunately, True Blood is an HBO production and there’s an abundance of visual and verbal decadence to devour. The opening episode is quick to set its stall out by deploying the two 'c's very early on - 'c**t' and cunnilingus.

3) Whodunnit?

Evoking the compelling murder-mystery element of Twin Peaks, there’s a killer on the loose in the remote Louisiana town of Bon Temps. Video evidence suggests that Sookie’s decadent (and highly amusing) brother Jason is responsible, but several other suspects soon enter the fray. It’s great fun to do a bit of detective work of your own while watching the show, especially as the bumbling police officers in the show seem incapable of doing it themselves.

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