True Blood Kicks HBO In The Ass… Well, Something Did.

About a month ago, I told Nikki Finke (the harpy) to shut the hell up about HBO’s True Blood, and their quick expansion of the show for another season. Since then the show has done quite well, and I’m here to defend it again… although, I don’t quite love it actually. There are a lot of reasons I stand behind the show despite my own reaction, and now there’s one more… maybe nine… maybe more.

The L.A. Times recently reported on a major push toward new shows by HBO. A push that dwarfs their past efforts. That push is probably based on the success of True Blood, which, as reported in that article has been signifcant –

“Since its premiere in September, the first five episodes of the Southern vampire drama have averaged about 6.5 million viewers across a week, putting it on track to be HBO’s third-most-watched series, after The Sopranos and Sex and the City.”

The reports are out now that HBO has at least nine pilots in the works (the L.A. Times article says nine, but I’ve heard varying numbers), as well as several features. Is that because True Blood is doing well? Probably not in any real sense. I mean, there are a lot of factors that make it clear HBO was going to redouble its series efforts anyway. Still, it didn’t hurt, and I’ve got to think it helped them along to actually spending their production budget.

HBO now has Jim Carrey, Noah Baumbach, Tom Wolfe, Martin Scorsese, Ted Danson, Jason Schwartzman, and many others attached to various projects, and that’s exciting. But, it’s mostly exciting because it’s HBO. And, that’s because HBO will make things like True Blood. They’ve had a lot of flops along with their successes, but they play with tricky shows. The Sopranos could have been just slightly different, and people would have hated it, but it would have been worth trying still.

Slashfilm reported today that HBO is going forward with a pilot based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series which will be titled A Game of Thrones. That’s a tough game to play, but as the producers say, if anyone can do it, it’s HBO. High Fantasy as a series is so far removed from the world of television that it almost steps right over into just being completely stupid to try.

That’s why I love True Blood whether I love True Blood or not.

The show is definitely odd. It has scenes which rival late-night Cinemax… which is to say they’re very nearly porn. And, now that we’re a few more weeks in, the show goes down some odd roads, has some fairly irritating characters, and doesn’t absolutely appear to know where it’s going. Is the thing in general something that works and/or is an interesting, worthy effort? I’m not completely sure. But, I still watch it.

It’s a show that explores a variety of issues using roads unavailable elsewhere. Is it one of the best shows on television? No, frankly. But, it is interesting in its own very weird way. On the other hand, if the question is, “is it worth watching more than an awful lot that’s on TV right now?” the answer is unhesitatingly, yes.

It’s worth watching despite its flaws, and perhaps (if we can throw why we watch a show into a world similar to why we like people) because of those flaws. It falls short of being something I absolutely must recommend to everyone (well, because it’s at least NC-17 for a start), but in ways that are at least trying something, and in ways that make it somehow more real than most of television.

I may not love it, but I like it, and I appreciate the effort. If it’s success kickstarts (or at least monetarily legitimizes) HBO’s series efforts, that’s just win-win.

Here’s the trailer-

True Blood: Fangtasia Pint Glass
Enjoy your favorite beverage with this True Blood(tm) pint glass. The 16-oz glass comes emblazoned with the Fangtasia logo on one side and the HBO(r) logo on the other.

True Blood: Men’s Real Blood Is For Suckers Tee
This soft and comfortable True Blood(tm) men’s crew neck t-shirt features a 100% combed ringspun cotton construction. “REAL BLOOD IS FOR SUCKERS.” is printed on the front of the shirt, while the Tru:Blood logo is printed on the back of shirt under the neckline.