The Sly Oyster | culture & entertainment on the sly

I finally got a chance to see HBO’s new vampire series True Blood, based upon the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris.  Leading up to the series I was worried about the marketing of the series and curious how this thing would play out.

After only one episode it’s tough to determine how I feel about it, just because there isn’t a lot of material to go on.  But any worries about the series’s tone are pretty much gone.  Yes, the marketing was pretty much crap, however the bayou vampire tales seems perfectly atune to creator Alan Ball’s sense of dark humor and fantasy.  The show is shot, in terms of cinematography, very much like Ball’s first show Six Feet Under.

All I know so far is that Sookie (Anna Paquin) is a telepathic waitress who becomes anamored with the 173-year-old vampire Bill.  She’s stuck in her little world with her saucy friend Tara.  Not a whole lot happens in the first episode plotwise because it needs to establish all the characters who inhabit this world.  Vampires are out of the coffin due to the Japanese product Tru Blood, a synthetic blood.  It is strange to see a vampire world where there is no slayer or vampire hunter or whatnot.  In that sense, this is a take on the vampire mythos worth watching and difficult to gage exactly where the show is heading.

A few minor caveats: if Sookie can read minds why is she a measly waitress in Louisianna, wouldn’t she put that to better use?  Bad, bad southern accents.  Also, the vampire teeth FX were pretty horrible and not the least bit believable (they are sorta like a switchblade complete with a SFX similar to when Wolverine unleashes his claws).  Finally, and this should be no surprise to Alan Ball fans, but I hope the show doesn’t keep with the overt vampires as symbolism for homosexuals.  I’m not against exploring that subtext or even having that be one level of the show, but it comes off as sloppy and hamhanded and not the work of a master like Alan Ball.

So far so good though.  And how about those opening credits?

Okay we get it. Vampires are a stand in for oppressed minority groups. Ugh. Usually this sort of thing isn’t so bad, except when they insult our intelligence to read the subtext. With this new trailer, we get an idea of what the series is going to be about. It’s clear that this series is in trouble. HBO has shown nothing in the marketing of this show that it’s going to be anything other than an obviously campy vampire romp.

A pittance too, for I could read and watch any sort of vampire show/book. Which is to say, that despite my reservations I’ll be checking this one out as well in three weeks. Call me a sucker (pun soooo not-intended). If Alan Ball’s name weren’t attached to this show, would I be remotely interested? Probably not.

It worries me slightly that HBO is going to such great lengths to promote or viralize the upcoming Alan Ball vampire show True Blood . It also worries me that they aren’t doing a very good job of it, or that it takes so many variables, like fake commercials, fake websites, comic books, et cetera to establish the world they’ve created for the show. I know that’s the standard operating procedure for marketing nowadays, but still. It’s just a television show.

In the show, Vampires are out of the closet and drinking the Japanese product Tru Blood, which allows them to walk amongst us.  Couldn’t all of this be done through clever background? We still know very little about the actual nuts and bolts of the show.

I’m not sure how HBO and Alan Ball (Six Feet Under & American Beauty scribe) will pull off a vampire show or what the angle will be on vampires, but the notion that vampires can walk amongst regular humans because of a product from Japan called Tru Blood is intriguing.

The poster was sorta meh?, but the viral videos on YouTube providing lots of background for the show are promising, or maybe the right word is intriguing.

Still, it stars Anna Paquin, as a barmaid in Louisiana who can read people’s minds. It’s based on the “Southern Vampire” series of books by Charlaine Harris. We’ll at least be checking it out when it debuts on Sept. 7. Since we love all things vampires.

Hopefully, some sort of slayer or big corporation conspiracy will take place, or at the very least Kate Beckinsale will show up in some leather outfit.

The network that helped to redefine television (there words not ours, of course) has been in a rut lately.  One generation is gone, now that The Wire ended and another is beginning.  It doesn’t help that Showtime has clearly stolen their mojo (yes you read that right, as of this post Showtime is the better of the two networks for television).  But the network has several projects in the works from big name talent and many of them sound promising.  Variety has a rundown of what viewers can expect from HBO in the coming years.

I’m glad my old roommate Jersey introduced me to the mad genius that was HBO’s sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and Dave.

There was nothing like it on television and probably will never be anything like it again. Sketches bled into one another and you’d be watching a sketch about a cooking show only to have it turn into something else only to morph back into the original sketch.

The show almost defeats explanation. The good news is that Bob Odenkirk and David Cross will be teaming up once again for another HBO comedy show. The two are never funnier than when working together.

HBO has officially picked up the pilot Bob and I pitched them and wrote. We should be shooting in LA in the beginning of MAY. We’ll keep you posted on exactly when and where (we’ll have room for 150 audiencers). We are both very, very excited about it and feel it’s really strong and important to the health of America. We know that America is hurting right now and old people like to say that “Laughter’s the best medicine” So, keep hope old people, an injection of 10cc’s of funny is about to be shot all up in your funny bones!
Just to get you started, here are two completely disparate lines from the show. They are taken out of context and have nothing to do with each other, but are nonetheless actual lines of dialogue. Enjoy!

HUNT WALKS THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR, ANGRY

HUNT
“I’ve never had to suck so many little pricks in my life!”.

The Producers eyes light up.

AND this one!!!

COURTNEY
“Huh? I thought I was still in the shower”.

OKAY! One more!!!!

DAVID
“He burps the Star Spangled Banner. You people love that shit.”

Strange. But that’s the good news, the bad news, at least according to this report in the Hollywood Reporter, is the premise for the show sounds rather pedantic. ” Odenkirk and Cross co-wrote the project, which will star Cross as himself. He leaves Hollywood to move into a suburban, gated community where he has two roommates, a right-wing conservative and a liberal hippie.” Nothing to get excited about, and if this was coming from anyone besides Bob and Dave, I wouldn’t be excited at all. Hopefully, this show will defy explanation as well.

No word from HBO on when the show will begin airing, but probably sometime in the fall or winter. After the jump you can get a taste of their comedy stylings if you haven’t already. Plus there’s an interview with David Cross or writing, Mr. Show and Arrested Development. MORE »

Looks like there isn’t much on the site yet, however you can watch full episodes of their shows In Treatment, boxing highlights and clips from Flight of the Concords.  This means HBO has probably signed a deal with YouTube to legitimize their content.

Unfortunately, we can’t watch full episodes of their groundbreaking work like The Wire, Rome, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City or Deadwood.  

And that probably won’t happen becauase it’s a subscription channel.  But, would people be willing to watch unediting versions of HBO shows with commercial interruptions if they were available on YouTube?  I think I would.  C’mon HBO give us what we want.

In light of the indifference towards FX’s short lived series Over There, we have to keep an eye towards the reaction to HBO’s seven-hour miniseries about the Iraq War, Generation Kill,  for a few reasons.

One, it’s creators are David Simon and Ed Burns.  The duo behind The Wire, which seemed to get the internets all worked up over Season 5 and the show’s overall greatness.  Will that greatness transfer to a show about the War in Iraq?

The second reason is that this type of content seems to be met with indifference from the public at large and critics aren’t sure how to react.  Do negative reviews mean they condone the war or vice versa.

Lastly, is it appropriate to paint an entire generation of soldiers as blood-thirsty killers?  Isn’t it kind of hypocrisy to train soldiers to do a specific and necessary job (for which I might add no one else in this country would want to do) and then turn around and brand them as immature killers.  It’s too early to decide, but I do know that the connection between videogames and music to violence is tenuous at best, pathetic and shortsighted at worst.  Via: Kottke

The HBO mini-series is based upon the book Generation Kill by Rolling Stone reporter Evan Wright.  The non-fiction book details the early movements of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and depicts the complex challenges faced by the U.S.-led mission in the war’s early stages. This video is more of a news report about the book.

Season 4 of HBO’s superbly crafted and incredibly nuanced show, The Wire, was one of the single best seasons of television ever. It ended in such tragedy. Much like the cops and drugs dealers the show depicts, The Wire has always teetered on uncertainty. The ratings were never that good and the critical buzz never resulted in Awards buzz, like it’s sibling HBO shows, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Deadwood, etc.

Hopefully, all of that will change when Season 5 debuts Jan. 6. This time around Det. Jimmy McNulty is back front and center where he belongs and the focus shifts from the plight of urban schools to the plight of the media in covering complex social issues.

“It made sense to finish ‘The Wire’ with this reflection on the state of the media, as all the other attendant problems of the American city depicted in the previous four seasons will not be solved until the depth and range of those problems is first acknowledged,” [show creator David] Simon asserts. “And that won’t happen without an intelligent, aggressive and well-funded press.”

After spending much of season four as a supporting character, Dominic West’s Jimmy McNulty will be front and center once again this season (West also directed an episode). The season opens with he and the rest of the special detail continuing to stake out drug dealer Marlo (Jamie Hector), while Col. Daniels (Lance Reddick) re-assigns Freamon (Clarke Peters) and Sydnor (Corey Parker Robinson) to the investigation of state Sen. Clay Davis (Isiah Whitlock).

Meanwhile, the city editor of the Sun (Clark Johnson, who also directs on the series) works with a team of reporters to break a story linking a politician to one of the co-op’s dealers. In addition to Johnson, new regulars this season include Tom McCarthy (”Boston Public,” “Flags of Our Fathers”) and Michelle Paress, along with Neal Huff and Michael Kostroff, both of whom had recurring parts on the show in the past.

Unfortunately, something tells me that not even The Wire could wake up the sleeping media. One thing is for sure though, this show might be the greatest show ever produced. Or maybe just my favorite.

Amazon has posted three “prequels” of sorts. One is about Prop Joe in 1962, another about McNulty and his partner Bunk in 2000 and lastly, a young Omar prowls the streets in 1985. Take the jump for some season 5 promos. If you’re at work I’d advise some headphone love cause the language is NSFW. MORE »

HBO, always in search of that next new great show is developing a little sumpin’ sumpin’ with Patton Oswalt and Bradley Cooper.  The duo, who know a thing or two about comedy chops, will be portraying CIA agents as disgruntled civil servants  in the show Intelligence, which is still under development.

The project, created by Michael Patrick Jann, is a workplace comedy about an elite counter-intelligence unit hidden undercover as disgruntled civil servants.

Jann, who recently helmed an episode of HBO’s offbeat comedy series “Flight of the Conchords,” will write “Intelligence” and is on board to direct. He will executive produce alongside Cooper and Oswalt.

Michael Patrick Jann is probably best known for his work on The State.  

In Other HBO News: Be sure to check out their new mini-series Five Days.  It airs every Tuesday in Oct. at 8 p.m.

In “Five Days”, a beautiful young mother from the family-friendly suburbs outside of London mysteriously disappears, and her children, abandoned in her car, also end up missing. Focusing on the day of the woman’s vanishing and four random days that follow, this new HBO miniseries traces the ripple effects when a family’s life-altering trauma becomes not only a complex police investigation, but ripe fodder for tabloid headlines. As police search for clues over three gut-wrenching months, the woman’s husband and family learn that nobody is quite what they seem.

Sounds cool to us.

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are teaming up for yet another World War II project. It’s good to see the creative duo are taxing their brains to come up with different projects. Following in the footsteps of “Saving Private Ryan” and “Band of Brothers” will be a new mini-series following to US Marines during the Pacific campaign.

We kid because this is fantastic news. If it’s almost as good as “Band of Brothers” then television lovers will be in for a real treat. Production begins this summer in Australia for a targeted release in 2009.

Variety reports that directors and cast members are not attached. “The Pacific” will be based on several sources, including Eugene Sledge’s “With the Old Breed” and Robert Leckie’s “Helmet for My Pillow.” It will follow the stories of the two authors and a third soldier while stationed in Melbourne.