The vampire may be eternal in books and on film but when it comes to television they often suffer a short life. Whether it was CBS’ Moonlight, Lifetime’s Blood Ties, ABC’s The Gates, and Fox’s Kindred the Embraces, the vampire TV show has anything but an eternal life.
In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s our lovely creature of the night did enjoy a very long lived life that turned into syndication in regards to Buffy and Angel. However, while it was a wonderful gift from Joss Whedon, that was not the norm. Today, HBO’s True Blood and CW’s The Vampire Diaries are breaking records. Can they break the vampire’s curse of a short lived life on television?
So, what is the best vampire television shows that are available to the true vampire fan? Here they are in alphabetical order with a few honorable mentions at the end.
- Angel (1999-2004) The successful spin off of the UPN/WB's hit, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Many feel that Angel did better in his role alone rather than being a brooding hunk of mess for a weepy teenager (sound familiar). Once he went on with his own show, the chemistry between he, Cordelia, Fred, Wesley and the others really made this an awesome show- action, mythology and more.
- Being Human SyFy (2011- present). There was fear that this show would be just a copy of the BBC version, it has shown to in this second season that is has power of its own.
- Being Human BBC (2008-present). It started out strong during the first two seasons and we are hoping that it will not end as a flop. It is still on this list until we see how season five unfolds. The death of its three main characters to bring in an entire new cast may be good or bad. We will see when it returns in 2013.
- Blood Ties (2006-2007). Well, Henry Fitzroy is all you have to say about this one. A hot vampire who isn't ashamed of being a vampire, a cool female cop and her goth sidekick. Unfortunately it was cancelled after 2 season on Lifetime. you would think that all the women would love Henry. Maybe if they brought it back it would be more successful. It was released before its time.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) The show that brought vampires back to the television. Buffy may not have been the most loved character but Vamp Willow, Angel, Druisilla, Harmony and Spike were the most loved vampires on the show. It really is the most creative and entertaining vampire show.
- Cliffhanger: the Curse of Dracula (1979) This is the show that got me loving vampires. Michael Nouri, now famous for playing Ziva David's dad on NCIS, played Professor Alucard. The show ran an hour a week but did 3 20 minute segments. One was the vampire segment, the second was a cowboy and the third was an alien show. It only ran for one year but it was very entertaining.
- Dark Shadows (1996-1971).This show is the one that many people will credit for their love of vampires and of course Banabus Collins. With the new movie coming out maybe the interest in this show will increase again. It appears a little quirky now but it was a breakthrough for the time.
- Forever Knight (1989) Another Canadian show featuring a detective that is a vampire who0es main mission was to seek out a cure for being a vampire. This may have possibly been the beginning of the brooding vampires on television.
- Kindred the Embraced (1996)The short lived show based on the White Wolf role playing game Vampire the Masquerade. The show told the structure of the vampire world and how politics and power played a large role in this. The show was cancelled when it's lead actor, Karl Frankel was killed in an accident. There were only 8 episodes but they were great!
- Moonlight (2007-2008) A show that met its death when the writer's strike hit and left it off the air too long. Mick St. John was a detective vampire who once again was searching for a cure to his affliction (sound familiar?) It was a good show with a great cast. Josef, Mick's friend was a wonderful vampire who was sexy, fun and well behaved like a vampire.
- True Blood (2008-present). The present HBO hit show that is based on Charlaine Harris' hit books. The show pushes the cable requirements for blood, violence and sex. The first season was strong as well as the last one. It looks like this one may break the Buffy record for longest living vampire television show. Buffy lasted 7 seasons and True Blood will be entering its fifth season this June.
- Vampire Diaries (2009-present) The lighter version of True Blood is Vampire Diaries. It is marketed as a young adult television show but is loved by just as many adults. It's darker and more violent than Twilight but less so than True Blood. The Salvatore brothers are just the right mixture of good and bad.
These are what I chose as the BEST of the vampire television show but this is not all inclusive and does not include foreign shows or children's shows. But for the love of the vampire here are some honorable mentions. Some may not be "truly" vampire shows but they do either have a vampire in it.
Here are the honorable mentions The Addams Family, The Munsters, Vampire High, Ultraviolet, The Gates, Blade the Series, Dark Shadows Remake, the 1990 Dracula Series as well as the television adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, part of the series Mystery and Imagination that was shown in 1968.
So, which of these are your favorite vampire shows and why?
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