   TV adaptations of things are tricky-- they're never quite the pictures in your head, but sometimes they expand or compliment the literary work in a way that makes you appreciate both more. The Lord of the Rings movies come to mind -as a great example of this -- but this isn't about anything as well loved and engrained in the geek culture. It's about a newer literary adaptation.Nope, this post is about, vampires, modern day vampire somewhat-pulp fiction.Specifically the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris and a new HBO series. HBO has used the books as source material for their series, 'TrueBlood'. Normally I'd be somewhat horrified by this, as the books are guilty pleasure reads for me --- they're fun and silly, and still well written. I was afraid it would turn the stories into slapstick. It didn't. Or that we'd see the bad over-acting vampire takes from earlier tv shows; but happily this didn't happen either.The series or at least the first episode is well done --- not exactly how I imagined things, but well cast, the actors are generally 'right' for the parts and can act them, and they seem to be staying fairly close to the story lines. The opening credits are also well done, to the point that you can pick out characters based on looks as they go by in the opening shots. I found a couple of items more overstated and more obvious in the visual live medium than in the book -- but I actually found I liked this, as it made me think about how I interpreted the book again. So, not quite what I imagined, but several people who actually care about the books are obviously involved in the production. I'm going to watch the show to see how it turns out...p.s. thanks to  ladysprite for mentioning the series existed and giving her thoughts on it, as it prompted me to watch while up in the middle of the night. |
|