The religious fundamentalism and really the Southern conservatism have been brought up only in somewhat caricature ways, hasn’t it? If The Wire is the cornerstone of HBO’s quality TV, then it’s the complexity and the withholding of moral judgments. True Blood? I know Jason and Louisa will try to convince me otherwise, but at the moment…I’m not quite seeing it.

Oh the title sequence! I want to write on nothing but the title sequence! A friend of mine made an amazing True Blood vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8Jx_OJwbjw) that uses the title sequence. I kind of want to write an Antenna post just on the title!

I’m getting really tired of the HBO sophistication argument. While I’m a big proponent of not having all media be PG13 by default, I don’t think maturity needs to be expressed in gross (and often sexualized) violence alone. How about maturity of morality and complex issues. That to me made The Wire a sophisticated show. Not explicit murders…

Colorfest on ABC is an interesting term. I think of Pushing Daisies as the epitome of quirky, and, yes, the novel definitely fit under that term…

And yes, there is much less explicit violence in most of the novels in comparison to the show. I definitely think that trying to expand the TV show to include not only a mixed gender audience, but a “sophisticated, upscale” HBO audience is a factor in the show’s darkness and violence. When we were writing this post, Liz and I both talked about how, to us, the Sookie from the novels seems more like a Pushing Daisies-esque “colorfest on ABC” (credit to Liz for the term) rather than the dark ensemble show that is TB. Also, the credit sequence for TB actually seems even darker and more ominous than the show itself even is, which is interesting.

And, fwiw, I also agree that there’s certainly something to the notion that moving from the first person sensuality of the novels to the ensemble of TB brings with it some sort of voyeuristic sexual exhibit. So, no, you’re definitely not overdoing the second wave feminist there. 🙂

Erica, I agree that I prefer the books. I also feel dissatisfied with stories like Sam’s, or Eric’s maker, that contradict later plots in the books. Maybe if True Blood moves away from its source material, as Dexter did, this might be less of an issue.

And Mary, Lindsay and I also just read the latest book and were disappointed! Nothing happened. I do think that it’s about Harris being under pressure to keep turning out the Sookie books – I’ve heard she now has two continuity assistants just to keep things straight. Can’t blame her for wanting to capitalize on the popularity of her series, but it really seems like the story of the books might already have petered out.

I spent last summer consuming the Sookie books one after the other and enjoyed them very much. After the first few episodes of season 3, I’d say I prefer them at this point. Sookie, while often irritating, has such a strong voice in the books that’s completely lacking in the series, which also often forgets that she’s a telepath and only remembering when it’s convenient rather than it being the central element that defines her character. The change from 1st person to large ensemble cast of characters is going to necessitate Sookie’s character receding in prominence a bit, but I miss her observations (and penchant for describing her awful clothes in detail).

Lafayette and Jessica are by far the best additions in the TV series. Yet, the addition of Sam’s drama with his family feels forced *spoilers* since in the books he does fall into the background as Sookie’s universe expands. It’s not easy to just leave a central character behind in a television series, especially one as well-liked as Sam, but did they have to go to cliche town to buy his story? The characterization of Sophie Ann is also terrible, and by far the most disappointing change they’ve made in a series of mostly good ones.