We here at The Vault certainly think that True Blood is the best show on TV. Even with all the gore and the sex and nutidy which is often criticized, the writing is excellent, it’s expertly acted, and it is the talk around the watercooler after the airing of each episode. So, why isn’t is as critically acclaimed as summer’s other Sunday night show, Mad Men? I think it’s because of the vampire subject matter which has been snubbed by critics for years.
Finally, this year True Blood garnished a nomination for an Emmy for Season 2, but it is once again nominated along with Mad Men. In most of the competitions for awards that True Blood has been nominated for in the past it often loses out to Mad Men, Slade wondered why and has written about it below?
Even though True Blood is a colossal hit, the biggest for HBO since The Sopranos, Mad Men gets more features, think pieces, and references from Maureen Dowd. If you doubt that it’s the darling of the prestige press, take a look at Katie Roiphe’s close reading in Sunday Styles yesterday, explaining how the appeal of Mad Men relies on “the thrill of casual vice, on the glamour of spectacularly messy, self-destructive behavior.” It’s a perfectly fine argument, but it would be much better if you replaced every mention of Mad Men with True Blood. The shows, both stylish and soapy and blessed with excellent actors work the same fantasy, but True Blood gives it to you with a splat.
It may be that old elite snobbishness toward lowbrow genres remains. Then again, The Sopranos earned acclaim for following and challenging conventions of the gangster drama, and the series did not shirk on the sex and gore either. And the period knowingness of Mad Men is no less heavy-handed than the political metaphors of True Blood.
The reason the vampire series has not been embraced as a must-see among the smart-set is, I think, its style of comedy. Its gleeful bad taste is part of the fun, but the sexual puns (“I want you to be my girlfriend, and I really want you to eat my biscuits”) and sloppy violence may cost the show some effusiveness among critics, not to mention a few Emmys.
Incidentally, this past week was a banner one for sex and scares. The magister (Zeljko Ivanek) was not the only vampire to be sent to “True Death.” The twisted Lorena (Mariana Klaveno) was also turned into a milky pool of blood by a stake through the heart. They will be sorely missed. Jason Stackhouse’s chiseled abs received loving attention. Male eroticism typically exceeds lesbian heat in vampire stories—although if you are looking for a counterpoint, start with the red-hot The Vampire Lovers, from 1970, which receives a rare big screen screening Thursday at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music—but this episode evens the balance with Sookie as the main crush object.
After one bite, Lorena declares her “delicious.” Sookie, later hospitalized after being drained of blood by a thirsty Bill, dreams up a bacchanalian outdoor party where mostly women dance together in flowing white robes in what looks like a stylized modern update of Hair.
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HBO’s True Blood was 8th in total viewing with 5.44 million, a new high in viewers, and HBO is only available in about 1/3rd the homes of USA and TNT; that’s pretty impressive. Add to that the fact that it was airing against the Emmys. Another 1.2 million viewers were added with the 11:30 PM replay. Awesome, as Jessica would say!
