Comment: Last week's TV
Comment: Last week's TV - The Vampire Diaries
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Monday, 08, Feb 2010 04:25
By Matt Robinson.
Is it just me or are we currently in vampire overload? When Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended in 2003 it looked like the genre had essentially died with it. Now, since Twilight hit the big screen in 2008, making huge stars out of Robert Pattinson and Kirsten Stewart, the genre has been reborn. We've got Being Human, True Blood and now the latest to the mix The Vampire Diaries (ITV2).
There is not much to unpick in terms of plot, it is all rather formulaic. Set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, the series follows Elena Gilbert and her brother Jeremy dealing with the death of their parents. Elena then meets centuries-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore who is haunted by the return of his vicious brother Damon who has returned with a vendetta against his brother.
It therefore seems strange that the show is penned by Kevin Williamson, who is most famous for writing Dawson's Creek. Why is such a good writer retreading plot lines already well tracked in True Blood and, indeed, Twilight and Being Human? When you digest the script, it becomes clear, the dialogue is smart and incredibly sharp. The acting is better than expected also. Nina Dobrev shines as heroine Elena, while Paul Wesley plays her new beau Stefan, the vampire with a conscience, who is new in town and already at risk of being lured back to the dark side.
Ultimately the show does show promise, and to be fair it is aiming at a different market to True Blood. That said there is not much that feels fresh. Apparently the show does warm up about six episodes in, if you can stick with it for that long. For now though it provides a different take on the US teen drama, with added bite. However to sustain viewers' interest it will have to up the sex and bloodshed it frequently teased at so well in the opening episodes. Perhaps for now though it would be best to leave the genre alone for a while.
This brings me nicely onto Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show (E4), which was decidedly lame in comparison to its parent show. Who'd a thought a few years ago we'd been discussing a Family Guy spin-off.
I think Stevie's pre title line - "What, he's getting his own show!" - in the first episode of sums up the general response to the sheer presence of this show and its poor quality. Why Seth MacFarlane thought this would be a good idea is baffling. Let's take a character that is not even that popular at the best of times and give him his own series.
The show follows Cleveland Brown and his son Cleveland Brown Jr moving from Quahog, Rhode Island to the fictional town of Stoolbend, Virginia. There are no vampires here, just bears. Cleveland is fed up with life and decides he needs a fresh start. Before the first episode is up, he has married his school sweetheart and moved in with her troublesome kids. That's essentially all you need to know.
On paper it sounds like a hoot. Sadly the jokes are few and far between and when they come they are not that funny. The characters are essentially poorer imitations of Stevie, Meg and co. There are barely any cutaway scenes, which Family Guy regularly throws at you with great effect, oh and Cleveland lives next door to a bear - what?
I can only hope the show improves, the theme song may have got into my head, but apart from that, there is nothing that memorable.
Family Guy may be the show that has survived multiple cancellations but sadly I can't see The Cleveland Show lasting for more than one series.
Fresh off the back of the success of the recently rebooted 90210 comes a reboot of Melrose Place (Fiver) the grittier, darker show in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise, created by Darren Star in 1990.
Unlike the glitz, glamour and teen angst of the high school set 90210; Melrose Place focuses on a bunch of sun-kissed twentysomethings living in a LA apartment block. The series opens with the death of long term Melrose Place resident Sydney Andrews (Laura Leighton) from the original Melrose Place series of the nineties. This sets the stage for a dark murder mystery plot which is set to form the basis for the first half of the season.
From first impressions the show looks very promising. The characters are engaging each with a motive for murder, creating huge scope for heighten drama and tension. The writers certainly laid it on thick too with a marriage proposal, an indecent proposal, characters with parental issues, a batch of dark secrets oh and a bit lesbian kissing all in the first episode.
Of course with all the Beverley Hills, 90210 shows there is a collection of beautiful people, but unlike the rather shallow 90210 on E4, Melrose Place offers something more, intrigue. You'll certainly want to keep coming back for more.