CW Milking the Twilight Craze with The Vampire Diaries
I will admit that while flipping through channels, I briefly stopped to watch some of the prizes given out at the Teen Choice Awards. One of them was for Best Twit (a word with connotations far surpassing the purpose of the award) to Ellen Degeneres for her entertaining twitter updates.
But, I also got a glimpse of the thousands of teens and tweens the CW will be targeting with its new show The Vampire Diaries. Based on the teen novels by L.J. Smith of the same name, the network seems primed to take advantage of the success of Twilight and the teenage vampire craze.
At the center of the Vampire Diaries is Elena, a popular and beautiful 17 year old Mystic Falls high school student who struggles to deal with her grief after both her parents are killed in a car wreck. The rest of cast is like a carbon copy of Gossip Girl as Elena’s brother Jeremy turns to drugs to deal with his emotions and their circle of friends quibble over everyday adolescent concerns.
But everything changes when a mysterious new student named Stefan Salvatore is thrown into the mix. He and Elena are instantly attracted to one another, but Stefan harbors a dark secret, he’s a vampire. Soon Elena finds herself torn between Stefan and his darker brother Damon, who resents his brother’s abiding respect for humanity.
Elena somehow resembles an old lover named Katherine who the two vamps shared, but whose death led to their vampirism long ago. The whole thing is like a juvenile version of the love triangle between Jean-Claude, Anita and Asher found in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels with Stefan and Damon fighting over Elena like two dogs over a chew toy.
On the plus side, these vampires don’t sparkle in the sunlight but instead wear special rings that allow them to be out during the day (oh brother). Having already discussed the juvenalization of vampires in Twilight, this show seems like just more of the same as it rides the wave created by Stephanie Meyers and her special brand of sparkling undead.
And just in case you were blind and couldn't spot the striking similarities between this show and Twilight, here are some frighteningly parallel screenshots from both for your inspection:
But, I also got a glimpse of the thousands of teens and tweens the CW will be targeting with its new show The Vampire Diaries. Based on the teen novels by L.J. Smith of the same name, the network seems primed to take advantage of the success of Twilight and the teenage vampire craze.
At the center of the Vampire Diaries is Elena, a popular and beautiful 17 year old Mystic Falls high school student who struggles to deal with her grief after both her parents are killed in a car wreck. The rest of cast is like a carbon copy of Gossip Girl as Elena’s brother Jeremy turns to drugs to deal with his emotions and their circle of friends quibble over everyday adolescent concerns.But everything changes when a mysterious new student named Stefan Salvatore is thrown into the mix. He and Elena are instantly attracted to one another, but Stefan harbors a dark secret, he’s a vampire. Soon Elena finds herself torn between Stefan and his darker brother Damon, who resents his brother’s abiding respect for humanity.
Elena somehow resembles an old lover named Katherine who the two vamps shared, but whose death led to their vampirism long ago. The whole thing is like a juvenile version of the love triangle between Jean-Claude, Anita and Asher found in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels with Stefan and Damon fighting over Elena like two dogs over a chew toy.On the plus side, these vampires don’t sparkle in the sunlight but instead wear special rings that allow them to be out during the day (oh brother). Having already discussed the juvenalization of vampires in Twilight, this show seems like just more of the same as it rides the wave created by Stephanie Meyers and her special brand of sparkling undead.
And just in case you were blind and couldn't spot the striking similarities between this show and Twilight, here are some frighteningly parallel screenshots from both for your inspection:
What is it with vampires and the woods? You'd think with all that raw stake material lying about they'd avoid it like the plague.
No offense to the kids out there, but I'd love to see Count Dracula, Count Yorga, Blackula, the vampires from Dusk till Dawn and Barlow (from Salem's Lot), invade these towns and take down all of the wimpy vampires as well as the rest of the population.
ReplyDelete...and another thing, I noticed Barnabas Collins in your header - thank you, such nightmares he gave me as a kid! Yes, I am that old.
ReplyDeleteNot old just aged =). I was spared Barnabas' reign of terror when I was little and am just now getting into the series on DVD.
ReplyDelete