Yes, I’ll try ‘The Vampire Diaries’

I’m not entirely sure what the majority of people out there think of the upcoming show The Vampire Diaries, which premieres on The CW tomorrow night. I’ve heard some people are very excited about it. Others, though, think it’s a Twilight ripoff and are really irritated that it made the cut.

But let me say one thing: It’s not Twilight. If Twilight were a chicken and Vampire Diaries were the egg, we’d have an answer to our lifelong question. The egg came first.

Let me explain. I’m sure you already know, but I’ll reiterate. The Vampire Diaries is based on a book series by L.J. Smith. They were first published in 1991–yes, we’re talking almost 20 years ago.

I haven’t read this series. But I have read another one of her series: The Secret Circle series. I’m not saying they’re the same (after all, one series is about vampires, and the other is about witches), but it does make me respect the author. I mean, the series I read wasn’t the best group of books I’ve ever read in my life, but they were enjoyable, and I read them more than once, so that gives them props in my book.

So we’re looking at a TV show based on a series that was developed and published 20 years ago. A series that just happens to be about vampires and a mortal girl, and it was aimed at a young adult target audience.

I’m not saying that Stephanie Meyer read this series and based her books on it. In fact, the plots are different, despite what the trailers lead you to believe. Honestly, I feel like Meyer probably should have read the series, just to do her research on what else is out there as far as competitors go, and if that’s the case, she probably made her books different on purpose. If she didn’t read them, well, that’s a whole ‘nother blog post.

But from what I can tell, Twilight is, of course, about a girl named Bella, who moves to Forks, falls in love with “vegetarian” Edward (meaning he’ll eat meat but not humans) and so on and so on. The Vampire Diaries is also about a girl, but here we have two vampire brothers–one who loves and wants to protect her, and the other who wants to have her for his meal.

I’m not saying they’re polar opposites, but I am saying that there are some differences. And I’m interested to see what direction it takes to further differentiate itself from the Twilight series.

I should also mention that apparently a spinoff series from The Vampire Diaries was just launched this year (first book was released February), so good for L.J. Smith. I’m glad she’s still writing, and hopefully this will give the series a little more credibility.

Twilight ruins everything. But Buffy‘s still the best.

The glorious world of publishing…kinda

CASTLE: 1.01 “Flowers for Your Grave”

I fell asleep mid-Heroes last night, so you’ll have to wait for that review. Fortunately, I did wake up in time to see Castle.

(Actually, I had no idea I fell asleep in Heroes until I realized that Sylar was not holding a stuffed rabbit anymore, and people with guns were bashing in doors. I figured I might have missed a step there. But back to Castle…)

I’m going to be honest. It was a wee bit hard to watch. I’m in publishing in my non-Raked life, and I’ve never been in such a glorious surrounding for a launch party. Maybe I just don’t have someone as glorious as Rick Castle on my list. I wonder if James Patterson has such glorious parties (btw, LOVED his cameo–can we bring him back week-to-week?).

Are authors really that popular? Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure that Stephanie Meyer is battling people off with a stick (it’s pretty easy, they’re all in the 4- to 5-foot height range). But mayors of towns? Can she really call in special favors to get FINGERPRINTS ASSESSED? I mean, don’t get me wrong. Celebs get special treatment. But I want to hear the truth of an author getting such special treatment.

So the show had its moments. Rick was funny sometimes, though he was a little over the top at times. The one thing I actually expected him to do was throw his shoe at the bad guy and he didn’t even do that.

As for Kate, she was dull as bricks. Not even a ton of them. Those might actually be interesting to watch someone drop. No, she was dull as, say, three bricks. Rick nailed her on having a past–someone she loved died and was never caught. Congratulations, Rick. You watched Crossing Jordan. And Bones. And Tru Calling. And probably about forty other procedurals out there (plus some, considering that Tru wasn’t really a procedural).

The thing is, I’m really bored with procedurals. I thought this show was going to have a twist–that all the murders were based off his books. By the end of the episode, we found out that only the first episode really had this uniqueness and that from here on out, Rick’s just hanging around while they find the bad guys in many other crimes. The same old regular procedurals we see every day, except this time, we’ve got a funny guy. Oh, and he’s writing about them Doogie Howser style at the end.

Honestly, I just seem to have lost any originality. Or, rather, the originality was used up in the first episode. Finding a woman under a pile of flowers was creepy and unique–and now it’s over.

So I guess I’ll give it another shot. I’ll try it out for another episode or two. I’m going to be honest, though. If it weren’t Nathan Fillion (man, Monday is the night for Whedon alums, huh?) playing Castle, I wouldn’t be continuing to next week. So we’ll see what happens. But I’d like to hear your thoughts, too.

Hey, how was Twilight?

I notice that a lot of people around wordpress have been searching for the new movie Twilight. Now, I’ve read Stephanie Meyer’s books, and I’m sure I’ll be seeing the movie. Maybe this weekend or the next (I’ve got family in town for the holidays, so I can’t do it before then). My question to all you readers out there is…

HOW DID YOU LIKE THE MOVIE?

I obviously read the first book, so I know what happens (so spoilers should be ok unless they really changed the story–in which case it’s not really Twilight, huh?). Was it good? Better than the Harry Potter franchise? Is Robert Pattinson as dreamy as the teenage girls think he is? A believable love story? How’re the fight scenes? Were teenage guys really there?

And what I really want to know…

How’s the movie compare to the book?

I’m just curious, so leave comments and treat it like a forum!