HBO: True Blood

You might not yet be watching, but damn well should be watching:

Out-in-the-open vampires living among us down in the bayou? A vampire rights movement which parallels the civil rights movement? Sex with dead things? Drugs? Prejudice? More sex? Blood? Great Cajun-inspired music? Even more hardcore sex? And even more blood?

I finally got down to watching HBO's True Blood On Demand today. The first season has ended - the second on its way; and I have found my new obsession.

Everything you love/hate about the South just got bloodier, filthier, funnier, and more colorful. The message and story are great; it speaks concerning our fears of the unknown, and the prejudices that sprout from those fears. If it's not racism, it's sexism; if it's not ethnicity, it's religion; if it's not class or sexual orientation or culture, it's vampire vs. human. We always find a group at which to aim our hatreds; is it an inevitable human trait?

Also, learn neat vampire-related slang terms like "glamour", "fangbanger" and "blood sacks". The uber-clever details flow like lava out an active volcano. Reviewers say it's "playfully grisly", "graphically sexy and scary", and "a broadly entertaining, deliciously twisted slice of modern Southern Gothic."

I won't got into too many details about the show - there are plenty of sites that have already done that - but I will tell you that you must watch it. At least a few episodes; I promise: it will sink its teeth into you.

The title credits are beautiful and capture the tone of the series impeccably. Here are some screen shots, as well as a link to the actual vid:

Brilliant opening credits sequence.

If you appreciate the filth: a good, stiff drink; unconventional love-makin'; dirty language; dark humor; the swamp; blood and mud; murder-mysteries; Sci-Fi; and New O'lins' backdrop... you just might love True Blood. I know I do.

So let's not allow this program to choke and die like my last favorite under-appreciated show, Arrested Development. Unlike AD, maybe True Blood will prove itself to be as immortal as its lead characters. We'll see.