TRUE BLOOD

TRUE BLOOD – S1: The death of the vampire has been greatly exaggerated. In fact, with the success of HBO’s latest series and the teenage tsunami that is Twilight, you could say that the undead have never been so healthy. Of course, both Stephanie Meyer’s work and True Blood emphasize the more feminine aspects of everyone’s favorite bloodsucker, turning up the heat on Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Bill’s (Stephen Moyer) interspecies flirtation like a cat on a hot tin roof. Taking full advantage of pay-cable’s forgiving sex and blood standards, producer Allan Ball has fashioned an adults-only version of Dark Shadows. And like most soap-operas, the real appeal lies in getting to know the characters, like our herione Sookie Stackhouse, a mind-reading waitress, Jason, her oversexed brother, Tara, her smart-mouthed friend, and Bill, the gentleman vampire who comes strolling into town for the first time since the Civil War. Relevant social drama plays out in the background, with vampires fighting for civil rights like any minority and surviving on a new synthetic creation called “True Blood” that should end their dependency on the real thing. But old habits die hard, and a series of murders in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, proves that some vampires simply aren’t ready to take humans off the menu. Based on a series of novels by Charlaine Harris, True Blood often tries too hard to fit the HBO mold, but the show settles down mid-season to become a clever play on the legendary monsters most folks believed to be dead and buried. The Blu-ray is the only way to go, with several commentaries and an enhanced viewing experience with pop-up interviews and information.