| Small screen Vampirology | 10.13.2009 |
Vampires first reared their head on television in the form of the charismatic and powerful Barnabus Collins. He was an old fashioned vampire. Dark and brooding with an ominous aura about him, but so utterly charming that you couldn't help but be drawn to him. Dark Shadows brought vampires into the living rooms of America. This series brought a dark taint to the vampire mythos. Not that vampires were all pretty and fancy before this, but there was something unique in this show.
Kolchak took us from the quaint and charming (yet sinister) to the dirty nitty gritty city life. While his stories dealt with a variety of supernatural and unknown evils, one of his earliest adventures dealt with a vampire. Kolchak was an investigative reporter who constantly found the unseen and unknown. Often against the direct command of his boss, but he was a fighter and no way would he let something as minor as a boss derail him. Several years ago this series was revived with mixed reviews. It was a shortlived revival. Not even lasting half a season.
Nick Knight also known as Forever Knight in a different world. Nick Knight was a vampire cop. The pilot had Rick Springfield as Nick Knight, but failed to continue past the pilot. Sometime after that the series was launched with a different lead and a different title. An intriguing series with a vampire who had a conscience. He had a higher set of morals. He wasn't a vampire who saw himself as apart from humanity, rather as a lost member of humanity desperately trying to return to the fold.
The X-Files is easily the most identifiable series. Mulder is an FBI agent constantly seeking out and finding the unexplained. Delving into his investigations in spite of the response and attitudes of his superiors. Sound familiar? The creator of The X-Files commented publicly that Kolchak inspired the show. Mulder dealt with aliens, conspiracies and monsters. There were a few run ins with vampires. The most interesting one involved Mulder killing a boy who he believed to be a vampire and then having to explain himself to an investigative team who weren't exactly on the same page with the supernatural.
If Mulder became the heart and soul of the supernatural on tv, Buffy the Vampire Slayer managed to win the popularity contest. An incredibly successful tv show based off a really, really bad movie. For the three people who don't know, Buffy was a high schooler who found herself entrusted with protecting humanity from vampires. She had to balance pop quizzes with beheadings. Make sure she brought her homework and her stakes. A well done series that really and truly brought vampires back into the living rooms of America.
Following on the success of Buffy, one vampire from the series got his own show. Angel. Angel was a vampire that Buffy got romantically entangled with and thus never got around to staking. Well, she did stake him once but he got better. Angel took his series in a darker and more grown up direction than Buffy ever did.
Even Southpark got bitten by the vampire bug. They had an episode where Butters became part of the Southpark Society of Vampires. Was it good? Was it crap? It was Southpark. Make of that what you will.
Moonlight was a shortlived series with a vampire as a detective. It received some positive marks from critics yet still only managed to survive for a single season.
Supernatural is Flunky's territory. I don't want to step on her toes (she might hurt me.) They have had some episodes dealing with vampires, but in her words "I hate their vampires." Since every other aspect of the show requires she smoke a cigarette afterwards, I can only assume that their vampire aspect isn't very good.
True Blood brings vampires out of the closet. The dark underside of vampire society has been cleaned up a bit and made legal. As a minority group they deserve the same rights as everyone else. Those rights also include persecution. But of course the vampires aren't as cleaned up as the government wanted them to be.
Vampire Diaries seems to be the heir apparent to Buffy in the Twilight era of teen angst vampires. I haven't checked this out yet, but it seems to be well received so far.
This may not be the definitive listing, but it contains the shows with which I have at least a passing familiarity with. I am sure I missed some things. Many shows have touched on vampires in some way. I tried to focus mainly on shows that had a strong vampire influence.
Bloody MonkeyZ
Kolchak took us from the quaint and charming (yet sinister) to the dirty nitty gritty city life. While his stories dealt with a variety of supernatural and unknown evils, one of his earliest adventures dealt with a vampire. Kolchak was an investigative reporter who constantly found the unseen and unknown. Often against the direct command of his boss, but he was a fighter and no way would he let something as minor as a boss derail him. Several years ago this series was revived with mixed reviews. It was a shortlived revival. Not even lasting half a season.
Nick Knight also known as Forever Knight in a different world. Nick Knight was a vampire cop. The pilot had Rick Springfield as Nick Knight, but failed to continue past the pilot. Sometime after that the series was launched with a different lead and a different title. An intriguing series with a vampire who had a conscience. He had a higher set of morals. He wasn't a vampire who saw himself as apart from humanity, rather as a lost member of humanity desperately trying to return to the fold.
The X-Files is easily the most identifiable series. Mulder is an FBI agent constantly seeking out and finding the unexplained. Delving into his investigations in spite of the response and attitudes of his superiors. Sound familiar? The creator of The X-Files commented publicly that Kolchak inspired the show. Mulder dealt with aliens, conspiracies and monsters. There were a few run ins with vampires. The most interesting one involved Mulder killing a boy who he believed to be a vampire and then having to explain himself to an investigative team who weren't exactly on the same page with the supernatural.
If Mulder became the heart and soul of the supernatural on tv, Buffy the Vampire Slayer managed to win the popularity contest. An incredibly successful tv show based off a really, really bad movie. For the three people who don't know, Buffy was a high schooler who found herself entrusted with protecting humanity from vampires. She had to balance pop quizzes with beheadings. Make sure she brought her homework and her stakes. A well done series that really and truly brought vampires back into the living rooms of America.
Following on the success of Buffy, one vampire from the series got his own show. Angel. Angel was a vampire that Buffy got romantically entangled with and thus never got around to staking. Well, she did stake him once but he got better. Angel took his series in a darker and more grown up direction than Buffy ever did.
Even Southpark got bitten by the vampire bug. They had an episode where Butters became part of the Southpark Society of Vampires. Was it good? Was it crap? It was Southpark. Make of that what you will.
Moonlight was a shortlived series with a vampire as a detective. It received some positive marks from critics yet still only managed to survive for a single season.
Supernatural is Flunky's territory. I don't want to step on her toes (she might hurt me.) They have had some episodes dealing with vampires, but in her words "I hate their vampires." Since every other aspect of the show requires she smoke a cigarette afterwards, I can only assume that their vampire aspect isn't very good.
True Blood brings vampires out of the closet. The dark underside of vampire society has been cleaned up a bit and made legal. As a minority group they deserve the same rights as everyone else. Those rights also include persecution. But of course the vampires aren't as cleaned up as the government wanted them to be.
Vampire Diaries seems to be the heir apparent to Buffy in the Twilight era of teen angst vampires. I haven't checked this out yet, but it seems to be well received so far.
This may not be the definitive listing, but it contains the shows with which I have at least a passing familiarity with. I am sure I missed some things. Many shows have touched on vampires in some way. I tried to focus mainly on shows that had a strong vampire influence.
Bloody MonkeyZ
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