UPDATE

Let's stop and re-evaluate a bit, shall we? Some things have changed, and when that happens, it's nice to take stock of things. Here's a little Q & A to get you caught up.

Q: So, what's changed?

A: Well, for starters, I've just agreed to turn that weekly post at Niners Nation I wrote about earlier into a bi-weekly post. Starting this week, I'll have one post on Friday mornings previewing the weekend's games in the NFL, and another on Monday morning reviewing the weekend action. I'm excited about this opportunity to reach a larger audience, but it will of course mean I have to post a little less over here.

Q: What does that mean for this site?

A: Hopefully, not much. Of course, since both my Monday and Friday football columns will be running elsewhere, they won't be here -- that means no more "For Who? For What?" or "Theoretical Gambling" -- but I will still write short posts that day to at least link to those posts. I'm also going to still try to post once a weekday over here, it's just unlikely that those posts will include my thoughts on sports -- at least not until after football season. I may have the occasional post about a baseball acquisition (today, the Giants signed former Reds reliever Jeremy Affeldt, and I might write something about that shortly, for instance), or random rant about something which doesn't fit into my football pieces, but most of what you'll find here will be related to my personal life, the entertainment world, or both.

Q: Do you have a preview of what exactly is to come for this site?

A: I'm glad you asked that, made-up person. As soon as I'm done answering this question, I'm going to do a quick update on the TV shows I've reviewed up to this point, and in the coming weeks I plan to see several Oscar bait movies to review. I'll also be turning my attention to established TV shows. Up until this point, I've only been reviewing old shows, but I want to review the latest seasons of some of my favorite shows to take a look at how they rate against their previous work.

TV UPDATE

Before I get to updating my reviews, I want to update my Top 10 Shows On TV list, even though I just wrote it last week. After catching up on the last couple episodes of 'Dexter', I need to ammend those rankings to raise it up at least one slot, and maybe more. Right no, they are peaking, with the current storyline one of its most compelling. I'm shocked to be saying this, but Jimmy Smits is the best thing that's ever happened to that show.

In TV, things can also change quickly. When you review a movie, you don't have to worry that the movie might change after your review, turning you into a liar. TV shows, on the other hand, can start off shakily, then turn it around and become very good with a few key changes. Other shows can have a terrific pilot and back it up with a couple good shows before completely crapping the bed. Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to go back and revisit the TV reviews I've done so far, which can all be found here.

LIFE ON MARS: This was very recent, and I haven't seen another episode, so my CONSIDER grade still stands.

ELEVENTH HOUR: I've seen a couple more episodes of this, but not much has changed. Still CONSIDER.

MY OWN WORST ENEMY: After giving it a PASS, I've seen one more episode (against my will), and there's been no change. I wouldn't hold my breath on it either -- it's been cancelled by NBC.

THE LIFE & TIMES OF TIM: I gave this a HIGHLY RECOMMEND, but while the show is still pretty good, it's become a bit spottier. Because of this recent inconsistency, I'm lowering my grade slightly to RECOMMEND.

FRINGE: Things are looking up a bit for 'Fringe' recently, as the last few episodes have shown it to be finding its own voice a little better. As with a lot of shows, the increased airtime has allowed the characters to become more three-dimensional, and thus the interplay between them is more compelling. They've also had some really cool bits on fringe science of late. Because of this improvement, I'm going to bump by original CONSIDER grade up to RECOMMEND territory.

TRUE BLOOD: Since I gave 'True Blood' a RECOMMEND grade, the show has stalled out a bit. I still like it, but I can see how somehow might say the characters are stagnating a bit as they run over familiar territory. I was prepared to drop their current grade until I saw the last episode, which I thought was better than the last few. I'm going to keep the original grade for now.

THE MENTALIST: The steadiest show on this list. You could argue that's because it's a predictable CBS procedural, and that might have some truth to it, but I like it, so I'll praise its consistency. Still RECOMMEND.

TV Review: ‘True Blood’

Before watching it, my feelings toward the new HBO drama, ’True Blood’, were similar to the last show I reviewed, ’The Mentalist’. That is to say, I had serious reservations. But this prejudice was much more mysterious. After all, the show’s creator is Alan Ball, the mind behind ’American Beauty’ and ‘Six Feet Under’ -- one of the better recent series on TV.

I’m such a huge fan of Ball's work, I actually get a little starstruck when I see him walking on Runyon Canyon (I live a mile or so away, and go five times a week, shine or shine). This is significant because I see many celebrities on the canyon, but the experience is so well-worn by now -- 11+ years after moving to LA, and having been through several moments like these -- that this occurrence rarely gets me excited any more. (Besides, it's usually somebody decidedly unexciting, and often untalented, like, say, Dane Cook.)

The problem I had came not from distrust of Ball’s skill (not to be confused with ball skills), but from genre –- I’m just not a vampire guy. Never have been. They don’t spook me, they don’t intrigue me, they don’t interest me. But neither was I interested in the behind the scenes machinations in a family mortuary –- before I met the Fisher family from Ball’s superb ’Six Feet Under’, that is. But that's what talented writer’s do –- make you care about the lives of people you’ve just met. And since Ball has already proven so adept at bringing life to the dead in his previous HBO Series, it seems poetic that he bring it to the un-dead in his new one.

’True Blood’ has a few of the typical vampire staples – you know, legends, and blood-sucking, and all that plas-ma (sorry) -– and it’s youthful energy is nothing new (’Buffy, The Vampire Slayer’), but it also has a kind of post-modern feel that’s new to the genre. It doesn’t take place in Transylvania, or Everytown, USA, where vampires appear to prey upon humans. It’s set in the not-too-distant-future -- or maybe an alternate present -- in Louisiana, in a world where vampires and humans live together in not quite harmony (it’s a little like racial tension). And though it’s based on a series of books -– The Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris, now a staff writer on the show -- it still has the trademark Ball dialogue, along with his signature dark humor and sexual adventures.

It also has a bit of a chick-flick angle -- centering around lead Sookie Stackhouse (a blond Anna Paquin) and her will-they-or-won’t-they vampire beau Bill (Stephen Moyer) which would seem to appeal to a broader female audience (my wife, as a focus group of one, would certainly attest*), while not completely alienating the meathead male demo. It’s got blood, sex (mostly involving Sookie’s brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten), and violence, but mixes it with drama, romance, and emotion.

I used to assume any new show on HBO, especially a hour-long drama, would be great. After ’The Wire’, ’The Sopranos’, ’Six Feet Under’, 'Deadwood', et al., they had me at “hello”. But since those shows have ended, and after several recent misfires -- all coinciding with a management shuffle at the top -- I'm much less confident. And I’m not alone. They could really use a success right now. Lucky for them, I think they have one.

'True Blood' isn't 'Six Feet Under'. It has a tendency to go a little crazy with the visual effects at times, and it can border on the overly dramatic as it revels in its own Southern Gothic charm. But that strikes me more as a matter of personal taste than a flaw, especially given its genre, and the writing and performances more than make up for any small missteps.

Using the age-old Hollywood scale of judgment –- HIGHLY RECOMMEND/RECOMMEND/CONSIDER/PASS (circle one) -– I rate ’True Blood’:

RECOMMEND


* The best modern test for how much you like a show is how long after it arrives on your TiVo do you watch it. The best honor you can give a show is to never have it on your TiVo -- as soon as you're far enough in to avoid watching commercials, you watch. My wife has this reaction to 'True Blood' -- the show airs on Sunday night, and it's rarely still around to see Monday morning.