Let's talk vamps for just a minute. I do believe that Dracula was the first story. I know that it has been made into a movie several times and I have seen at least one of those. I remember being fascinated by Dark Shadows as a KID.
The Anne Rice series on vampires reignited vampire love among readers. The movie Interview With The Vampire was one of the best book adaptations I have seen.
Joss Whedon created a successful TV series from a fairly dreadful movie (both by the same name), Buffy The Vampire Slayer that ran seven seasons. It generated a spin-off, Angel, that ran five seasons.
And then Twilight scored big for Stephanie Meyers. Four books and five movies. As usual, the books were better than the movies and struck a chord with youth (the target audience).
Some would say it was the success of Twilight that made The Vampire Diaries on the CW a success. I am not one of those people. I think people are fascinated by vampires and I would watch Ian Sommerhaulder, who plays Damon Salvatore, in ANYTHING.
The CW decided to spin off a show from that series this season aptly called The Originals.
Do I think people are tired of vampires? Nope.
However, it isn't just limited to vampires. The Walking Dead is HUGE, even though I don't watch it. Zombies are possibly the only element of the supernatural world that has no appeal for me. But, I am a lone voice in this wilderness. It is so popular that I even kinda sorta know who this guy is:
Zombie Killer Badass, though I couldn't tell you his name...
Do you remember Fringe? That show was science meets the supernatural. Crazy good show.
And Lost? That show contained supernatural elements. It most certainly wasn't just a plane crash.
The show that covers everything supernatural is, of course, called Supernatural (CW). I think this is the tenth season of Dean and Sam out there saving the world from supernatural calamity.
Most people who like supernatural stuff also like superheroes. It is a bit supernatural, after all. Marvel has been huge at the box office. The Avengers was so popular that Joss Whedon is back on the small screen with Agents of SHIELD.
Other superhero TV shows currently on the air: Arrow and The Tomorrow People. Both on the CW.
Do I know what the next Big Thing will be? Nope. But, I don't see interest in the supernatural or superheroes falling by the wayside anytime soon.
Are any of those shows YOUR favorites? What do you think about vampires and supernatural stories? Is it flash in the pan or here to stay? Did I miss anything supernatural or superhero currently running on TV? If so, let me know in the comments...
I -loved- Dark Shadows, when I was a kid, too. I never knew it was supposed to be a soap opera, lol. Buffy and Angel were two other shows that I really enjoyed and own all five seasons of Angel on DVD. To this day, I can't watch "Bones" because I keep waiting for Boreanaz to sprout fangs :D
ReplyDeleteI was pleasantly surprised with "The Tomorrow People" and will definitely keep watching to see how it develops.
A lot of cool shows mentioned in this post!
I was able to set aside the Angel personal in order to watch the show Bones. I love David Boreanz in that show, too. He is just a great actor. Period. However, I did let the first few seasons pass me by (because I, too, was still hung up on Angel being cancelled), so I ended up catching up via DVD.
DeleteI am hopeful about The Tomorrow People, too. We shall see...