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Ron Miller's DARK CORRIDORS VOL. 10, No. 33 |
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"THE VAMPIRE DIARIES"  Nina Dobrev is flanked by two vampire brothers--Ian Somerhalder, left, as the sinister Damon and Paul Wesley as the romantic Stefan in "The Vampire Diaries."
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Can it be the dark side
of "Dawson's Creek"?
of TheColumnists.com
Who can explain the current vampire rage among America's high school kids that has made the "Twilight" novels the book world's biggest best sellers and the first "Twilight" movie a blockbuster, while also helping make HBO's "True Blood" a hit TV series and best sellers of the books it's based upon?
Well, whatever the appeal is, I'm sure it's also going to make a hit out of The CW's new fall series "The Vampire Diaries" and spur sales of the young adult book series that's behind the TV show. The show's premiere last week was the biggest opening in the history of the network.
And if there had never been a "Twilight" or a "True Blood," I wouldn't be surprised if "The Vampire Diaries" might have started the craze all by itself. Based on the opening episode, I'd say it's a well-made show that taps into the same recipe that made "Dawson's Creek" such a popular show with teen viewers back in the 1990s. All they've done is recruited a few vampires for the local high school. Makes all the difference in the world.
The basic storyline is hard to resist: A handsome vampire named Stefan falls in love with his pretty classmate Elena, who's almost an exact double for his long lost love. Even though he's incredibly old, he still looks like a high school kid, so Elena falls in love with him, too. Then trouble begins: Stefan's nasty brother, Damon, shows up and immediately recognizes who Elena looks like, so he goes after her, realizing he can really hurt his brother if he messes her up.
This might not work so well if they hadn't cast the roles perfectly.
Elena is played by Canadian actress Nina Dobrev, who comes from the great mass of Canadians who worked in the "Degrassi Junior High" series or one of its spinoffs. She's a natural beauty and a very persuasive actress. She also looks as if she has a good deal of untainted blood running through her veins.
Stefan is played by Paul Wesley, who has that lean Matt Dillon sort of look, and comes from the daytime soap opera "Another World." This is good training for future vampire actors. Remember "Dark Shadows" began as a daytime serial.
And the beastly brother Damon is played by Ian Somerhalder, a former boy fashion model who has spent some time in ABC's "Lost," another excellent training program for actors likely to play weird people in the near future.
Now if you're thinking: Wait a minute! Both "Twilight" and "True Blood" are about nice girls who fall in love with boy vampires. Isn't this going to get a little tiresome after awhile? Well, of course, it will. But the important thing is to enjoy it before it does.
Though I am far removed from my high school days, I think that time of life is a very emotional one for most of us and, for that reason, a great setting for drama. I loved "Dawson's Creek" for the first couple of years because they did such a good job of capturing the angst of teen life and translating it into drama adults could enjoy. It also had Katie Holmes going for it and I still haven't grown tired of her.
"The Vampire Diaries" comes from the same people who made "Dawson's Creek" and I feel like the new show is going to keep that sort of realistic approach to high school stories, even if we have to swallow a big lump of nonsense right away when it comes to the blood-sucking kids on campus. I haven't read any of the "Vampire Diaries" novels by L.J. Smith, so I don't know where the plots will lead us, but so far, so good.
At least in the opening episode, they weren't going for gross-out moments with lots of blood flowing. We didn't see people die in front of us nor did we see any of those horny vampire sex sequences that inflame "True Blood." What they did, instead, was start setting up some characters you know will be interesting in episodes to come, such as the girl who never seems to get the boy she wants and the testy teacher who probably is going to regret humiliating the vampires in his class one of these days.
I'm also interested in seeing more of Steven R. McQueen, who plays a boy named Jeremy Gilbert, just to see if he has inherited any of the acting chops of his famous grandfather, the late Steve McQueen.
Maybe I like "The Vampire Diaries" because I like both high school dramas and vampires and relish the thought of mixing the two genres together. Sure, the "Twilight" saga does that pretty well already, but you have to wait too long between the "Twilight" feature films. I'm happy to indulge myself on a weekly basis, which is the steady appeal of television.
If the writing continues to score points, I'm going to be a regular viewer of "The Vampire Diaries" because the atmosphere is suitably creepy and the production quality is high. And Nina Dobrev may be the next Katie Holmes.
Besides, how can you not like a romantic storyline where the young lovers keep meeting in the local graveyard? Nothing that exciting ever happened to me in any cemetery.
©2009 by Ron Miller.
The photo is courtesy of The CW network. This column first posted
Sept. 14, 2009.
Ron
Miller is a former nationally syndicated television columnist
and the author of "Mystery! A Celebration," the official
companion book to PBS' "Mystery!" series. He currently
writes about television mysteries for MYSTERY SCENE magazine.
You can comment on this column online. Please address your message to either "The Editors" or Ron Miller. To send an email, click here and don't forget to mention Ron's name: talkback@thecolumnists.com
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