Return of the Cheesetastic Vampire Hero
Sep. 28th, 2007 11:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grammarwomanWhile I do appreciate that, as a geek, TV is finally starting to pander to my tastes (Chuck, Reaper, Pushing Daisies, Bionic Woman, Big Bang Theory. and the returning favorites Heroes and Ugly Betty), I got a definite taste of retread this season. Chuck? You could snidely call it Jake 3.0. (I did enjoy it, and it's not really a fair comparison; I'll definitely keep watching.) Bionic Woman? Yeah. Reaper? Brimstone, anyone? (Though I never really saw Brimstone, and Reaper has my thumbs up.) (But really, network guys? Could we please cut back on the wacky sidekicks? Thanks.)
The worst offender so far, though, has been Moonlight.
Those of you who know me at all, know that I love cheezy media, and vampires. (I'd list all the authors, series, movies, and such, but wow, we'd be here a looooong time.) Put them together, and I'm a giggly girl.
So yeah, way, way back, I loved a cheezy vampire show about a bloodsucker who was trying to atone for his sins against humanity by working as a homicide detective on the graveyard shift. It was called "Forever Knight", and it starred an affable blond-haired guy, Geraint Wyn Davies, who was about as anti-goth as you could get. (Several of the flashbacks featured a rockin' medieval mullet. Seriously.) They embraced their cheesiness (they shot in Canada, doncha know), and stuck to the formula (every episode had a crime, a flashback, displays of vampiric powers, and angst). Oh, the angst.
Then, of course, there was Angel. Dude, I don't have to go into how good that was, do I? Good.
Moonlight is just...bad. There, I said it. It's not like I had high hopes for this show to be, y'know, good, but this? Baaaaaaad. The lead, Alex O'Loughlin playing Mick St. John, (ETA: D'oh! I completely neglected to mention that he plays a private detective trying to redeem himself, the repeated plot being the whole damned point of this post) is unfortunately forgettable; he reminds me of a curly-haired basset hound, with a hangdog face and a limited emotive range. The supporting cast, name-wise, is great on paper, but "eh" on delivery. Sophia Myles, as a plucky reporter, has been stripped of her English accent and reduced to something of a cliched imperiled heroine (we find out that Mick rescued her as a child from a vampire kidnapper, and has been keeping tabs on her ever since). Jason Dohring plays Mick's best friend, the oldest vampire in the city, a paranoid playboy. Yeah. He's totally channeling Logan. Not that I didn't get a ridiculous fangirl thrill when he flashed the vamp eyes and fangs. I never said I wasn't easy for my celebrity boyfriends. (Did I mention that the first ep has a girl who attended Hearst College? *sigh*) I still have high hopes for Kevin Weisman; his brief scenes as the reporter's cameraman/Boy Friday showed some promise for Flinkman-type genius.
The story? Hah. Mysterious murders, crafted to look like vampire kills, but really done by a normal. Goth wannabes in a blood cult, led by a charismatic leader, who's an ass, but not actually the killer. Vamp rushes in, saves the girl, who's conveniently drugged and won't remember his display of powers. Dudes, that plot has been around the block so many times, the tread's completely worn off the tires.
Of course I'm going to keep watching. But I'm not going to be sad when it's canceled, except for the actors. (Jason? You could always give up Scientology and come worship me! I'm lots less crazy.)
In other news, Stargate: Atlantis was awesome, and I am happy. Sci-Fi? You had BETTER pick them up for Season 5, or else. You've got very little good karma left with me.
The worst offender so far, though, has been Moonlight.
Those of you who know me at all, know that I love cheezy media, and vampires. (I'd list all the authors, series, movies, and such, but wow, we'd be here a looooong time.) Put them together, and I'm a giggly girl.
So yeah, way, way back, I loved a cheezy vampire show about a bloodsucker who was trying to atone for his sins against humanity by working as a homicide detective on the graveyard shift. It was called "Forever Knight", and it starred an affable blond-haired guy, Geraint Wyn Davies, who was about as anti-goth as you could get. (Several of the flashbacks featured a rockin' medieval mullet. Seriously.) They embraced their cheesiness (they shot in Canada, doncha know), and stuck to the formula (every episode had a crime, a flashback, displays of vampiric powers, and angst). Oh, the angst.
Then, of course, there was Angel. Dude, I don't have to go into how good that was, do I? Good.
Moonlight is just...bad. There, I said it. It's not like I had high hopes for this show to be, y'know, good, but this? Baaaaaaad. The lead, Alex O'Loughlin playing Mick St. John, (ETA: D'oh! I completely neglected to mention that he plays a private detective trying to redeem himself, the repeated plot being the whole damned point of this post) is unfortunately forgettable; he reminds me of a curly-haired basset hound, with a hangdog face and a limited emotive range. The supporting cast, name-wise, is great on paper, but "eh" on delivery. Sophia Myles, as a plucky reporter, has been stripped of her English accent and reduced to something of a cliched imperiled heroine (we find out that Mick rescued her as a child from a vampire kidnapper, and has been keeping tabs on her ever since). Jason Dohring plays Mick's best friend, the oldest vampire in the city, a paranoid playboy. Yeah. He's totally channeling Logan. Not that I didn't get a ridiculous fangirl thrill when he flashed the vamp eyes and fangs. I never said I wasn't easy for my celebrity boyfriends. (Did I mention that the first ep has a girl who attended Hearst College? *sigh*) I still have high hopes for Kevin Weisman; his brief scenes as the reporter's cameraman/Boy Friday showed some promise for Flinkman-type genius.
The story? Hah. Mysterious murders, crafted to look like vampire kills, but really done by a normal. Goth wannabes in a blood cult, led by a charismatic leader, who's an ass, but not actually the killer. Vamp rushes in, saves the girl, who's conveniently drugged and won't remember his display of powers. Dudes, that plot has been around the block so many times, the tread's completely worn off the tires.
Of course I'm going to keep watching. But I'm not going to be sad when it's canceled, except for the actors. (Jason? You could always give up Scientology and come worship me! I'm lots less crazy.)
In other news, Stargate: Atlantis was awesome, and I am happy. Sci-Fi? You had BETTER pick them up for Season 5, or else. You've got very little good karma left with me.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-29 06:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-29 03:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-29 12:20 pm (UTC)Didn't the Forever Knight pilot star one Rick Springfield, of "(We all need) The Human Touch" and General Hospital fame? I'm a little scared I remember this, if I remember correctly. I never saw the show.
I'm never worried about the story in a pilot - especially a network pilot. Consider "The Train Job". I watch pilots for character interaction and dialog. If there's something cool in the plot, that's even better.
I'm so looking forward to Angel Season 6 this November. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-29 03:09 pm (UTC)Oh, me too -- that's one of my favorite episodes. I didn't even mention how much I enjoyed the metajoke that she played a vampire in "Underworld".
Didn't the Forever Knight pilot star one Rick Springfield...
Ding ding ding - nice memory ! I think it was actually a TV movie that they later turned into the series. It amused me, because I saw the movie, then whlie late-night channel-surfing a while later, I caught a part of the show which seemed eerily similar, and got sucked in.
Consider "The Train Job".
Dude, that was a classic example of a Fox hatchet job. They rejected the real pilot and made Joss pull another introductory episode out of his ass.
I do get your point, though.
I'm so looking forward to Angel Season 6 this November. :)
Boy howdy! I'm a couple issues behind on Buffy Season 8, too; I need to remedy that.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-29 06:07 pm (UTC)Pretty much my point. Because it was Joss and Tim, we all knew every step of development for Firefly. We have no idea how much the network screwed up the original vision, if you can call it that, of the original pilot.
Of course, it's also possible that it was pitched as "Well get a British actor to sound all American. It's the latest trend. We're thinking Myles... it's working great in 'The Office'"
Such thinking gave "Dr. Who" Perry-I'm-only-here-for-my-bikini-scene, for the sake of Pete.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-29 11:38 pm (UTC)That meddling bitch stole my TV boyfriend!